Science & Nature
Sea urchins facing fatal mystery threat
(CNS) The long-spined sea urchin (Diadema antillarum) is experiencing another high mortality event throughout the Caribbean, and although it may not have reached the Cayman Islands yet, the Department of Environment is asking people to report any sightings of sick or dead urchins in Cayman waters to help the scientists collect data.
Seawall won’t help small George Town beach resort
(CNS): The owners of Coral Sands resort in George Town have been warned that their application to build a seawall to help protect their beach will likely have the opposite effect because it is too close to the water. The small condo complex is asking for planning permission to build a near 5ft seawall close […]
DoE warns of SCTLD holiday risk to Sister Islands
(CNS): The devastating spread of stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) to all of the reefs around the entire coastline of Grand Cayman has still not yet reached the Sister Islands. But the Department of Environment is worried that this extremely contagious and fatal disease could be easily transferred by boaters over the Easter holidays […]
Loggerheads not ‘fooling’ around in 2022
(CNS): The Department of Environment’s turtle team was delighted to discover that the report on the first day of this month of the first nest of the 2022 turtle nesting season on Grand Cayman was not an April Fools’ joke. The very early nest was reported by a couple who discovered it on 1 April […]
Early prediction calls for nine hurricanes in 2022
(CNS): With Caribbean and subtropical Atlantic sea surface temperatures warmer than normal, hurricane experts are predicting an above-average season this year with at least nine hurricanes, including four major ones, making landfall. The first prediction for this year was published Thursday, two months before hurricane season begins, and reminding everyone that regardless of the predictions […]
Trees planted to offset COP26 but more face bulldozer
(CNS): A dozen more trees went into the ground last month when the Ministry of Sustainability and the National Trust partnered up with youth climate ambassadors to partially offset their travel to the COP26 climate conference in November. However, the tree-planting, while welcome, comes in the face of local deforestation as planning applications to bulldoze […]
Call for all hands on deck for Earth Day Cleanup
(CNS): Young and old are being called on to volunteer for this year’s Chamber of Commerce Earth Day Cleanup on Saturday, 23 April. Businesses, community groups and schools are all encouraged to organise teams and to select a location for the cleanup. Â
Cayman farm turtles reveal hope for biodiversity loss
(CNS): A collaborative research project into the green turtles that were released into the wild by what was at the time the Cayman Turtle Farm has shown that the accelerating biodiversity loss from global warming and other human activity could in some circumstances be assisted by the reintroduction of captive-bred animals.
Resort developers dismiss need for bird, turtle protections
(CNS): The developers behind the proposed resort at Beach Bay, Lower Valley, have asked the Central Planning Authority (CPA) to ignore directives from the Department of Environment on Phase 1B of the project, which is a CI$43 million residence tower alongside the already approved plans for a ten-storey $170 million hotel.
Activists urge officials to tackle Barkers dumping
(CNS): Environmental activists Plastic Free Cayman partnered with a number of other non-profit organisations at the weekend to conduct a pre-Easter Camping clean-up at Barkers Beach near the kite-surf area. Almost a hundred volunteers picked up over 800lbs of largely plastic waste that had washed up on the shore, but the activists noted the local […]
DoE v CPA legal battle confirmed for June
(CNS): The unprecedented forthcoming legal battle between two public sector entities, effectively setting government against government, has been listed to be heard in June. The Department of Environment and the National Conservation Council have requested a judicial review of a Central Planning Authority decision that ignored a legal directive not to grant planning permission.
