Tag: Department of Environment
Turtle eggs destroyed after nest dug out
(CNS): The Department of Environment is urging the public not to disturb turtle eggs they see along the beaches after a nest was dug out on Grand Cayman on Monday. Officials said people should never dig up turtle nests if they see the baby turtles emerging from the sand along the beach, even when they […]
DoE explains magnitude of green iguana cull to LA
(CNS): The Department of Environment director spelled out to the Legislative Assembly on Thursday the magnitude of the challenge presented by the number of invasive green iguanas on Grand Cayman ahead of the planned cull. In order to make an impact on the growing population and ensure the cull’s success, cullers will have to kill […]
Poachers undermine conservation efforts
(CNS): The Department of Environment recovered dozens of illegal conch and lobsters taken out of season from the Barkers area on Sunday, which were donated to the Pines Retirement Home. The poached catch was seized following an operation in West Bay by DoE conservation officers, who recovered 43 conch and seven lobsters that were illegally taken […]
Pirate tour boat crushed coral colonies
(CNS): A number of small coral colonies were damaged when The Jolly Roger, a pirate-themed tour boat, ran aground in the George Town Harbour last week. Following a survey by marine researchers, the Department of Environment said that two colonies of starlet coral (Siderastrea sidera) and four colonies of brain coral (Diploria strigosa), as well as a […]
7MB turtle nests have narrow escape from bulldozer
(CNS): Department of Environment volunteers and staff were able to rescue four turtle nests on an empty Seven Mile Beach lot last week when they intervened to stop an excavator that was clearing vegetation in the area. The team arrived just in time to stop the heavy equipment from driving over one nest, but discovered […]
DoE booted off cruise port steering committee
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Tourism Ministry has formed a new steering committee for the controversial cruise port development project but the Department of Environment is no longer represented. The original committee had not met for more than a year before it was reformed several weeks ago, and it is not clear why the new committee […]
Divers urged to report coral bleaching
(CNS): Following the launch of the Coral Watch Programme by the Department of Environment last year to help monitor the impact of bleaching on Cayman’s reefs, the DoE is urging divers and snorkellers to look out for and report any changes to the reef they see over the coming weeks that could suggest a bleaching […]
DoE brings in abandoned dangerous fishing device
(CNS): Department of Environment researchers managed to bring in a fish aggregation device (FAD) on Friday, which was found off the coast of East End and could have posed a threat to the reef, marine life and sea vessels had it not been retrieved. Officials from the department explained that FADs, which require a permit […]
Land crabs threatened by traffic and development
(CNS): A new scoping study by the Department of Environment Terrestrial Research Unit found that almost 3,000 black land crabs were killed on the Queen’s Highway in East End during the two month peak migration season last summer. Writing in the DoE magazine, Flicker, graduate research student Kinsey Tedford, said there is much local anecdotal […]
DoE needs info to stop 2020 iguana doomsday
(CNS): With only CI$1.1 million in the budget and a doomsday scenario of around 4.6 million green iguanas on Grand Cayman by 2020, the Department of Environment is urging everyone interested in adapting an existing business or starting a new one to help remove the pest to take part over the next ten days in […]
Battle against turtle poaching continues
(CNS): Following news that poachers made off with a wild turtle that had been nesting on Barkers Beach last week, the Department of Environment has confirmed that they managed to save another turtle on Seven Mile Beach that poachers had flipped on its back in the early hours of 11 July, thanks to the vigilance […]
