Caicos Islands Research Articles

Effect of severe hurricanes on biorock coral reef restoration projects in Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos Islands.

Artificial reefs are often discouraged in shallow waters over concerns of storm damage to structures and surrounding habitat. Biorock coral reef restoration projects were initiated in waters around 5 m deep in Grand Turk, at Oasis (October 2006) and at Governor's Beach (November 2007). Hemi-cylindrical steel modules, 6m long were used, four modules at Oasis and six at Governor's Beach. Each project has over 1200 corals transplanted from sites with high sedimentation damage, and are regularly monitored for coral growth, mortality and fish populations. Corals show immediate growth over wires used to attach corals. Growth has been measured from photographs using a software program and is faster at Governor's Beach. After hurricanes Hanna and Ike (September 2008) the Governor's Beach structure was fully standing since the waves passed straight through with little damage, the Oasis structures which were tie-wired rather than welded had one module collapse (since been replaced with a new, welded structure). Hurricane Ike was the strongest hurricane on record to hit Grand Turk. Most cables were replaced following the hurricanes due to damage from debris and high wave action. The projects lost about a third of the corals due to hurricanes. Most of those lost had only been wired a few days before and had not yet attached themselves firmly. These projects have regenerated corals and fish populations in areas of barren sand or bedrock and are now attractive to snorkelers. High coral survival and low structural damage after hurricanes indicate that Biorock reef restoration can be effective in storm-impacted areas.

Atlantic Hurricane Season of 2008*

Abstract The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season is summarized and the year’s tropical cyclones are described. Sixteen named storms formed in 2008. Of these, eight became hurricanes with five of them strengthening into major hurricanes (category 3 or higher on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale). There was also one tropical depression that did not attain tropical storm strength. These totals are above the long-term means of 11 named storms, 6 hurricanes, and 2 major hurricanes. The 2008 Atlantic basin tropical cyclones produced significant impacts from the Greater Antilles to the Turks and Caicos Islands as well as along portions of the U.S. Gulf Coast. Hurricanes Gustav, Ike, and Paloma hit Cuba, as did Tropical Storm Fay. Haiti was hit by Gustav and adversely affected by heavy rains from Fay, Ike, and Hanna. Paloma struck the Cayman Islands as a major hurricane, while Omar was a major hurricane when it passed near the northern Leeward Islands. Six consecutive cyclones hit the United States, including Hurricanes Dolly, Gustav, and Ike. The death toll from the Atlantic tropical cyclones is approximately 750. A verification of National Hurricane Center official forecasts during 2008 is also presented. Official track forecasts set records for accuracy at all lead times from 12 to 120 h, and forecast skill was also at record levels for all lead times. Official intensity forecast errors in 2008 were below the previous 5-yr mean errors and set records at 72–120 h.

The Identity and Distribution of the Mealybug SpeciesNipaecoccus filamentosus(Cockerell) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)

The mealybug Nipaecoccus filamentosus (Cockerell) was described originally as Dactylopius filamentosus Cockerell from South Caicos Island in the Turks and Caicos Islands. It has been listed in error from the Bahamas and from Mexico and the mealybug name wrongly applied to a similar species now known as Nipaecoccus viridis (Maskell). Furthermore, the name Dactylopius filamentosus, as first applied by Cockerell, has been recorded in error from various localities in the Old World because of erroneous synonymy early in the 19th century. The mealybug species N. filamentosus has neither been described nor illustrated adequately since it was first named over 100 years ago and its identity has remained obscure. We now describe and illustrate this mealybug and confirm that it is a local species occurring in the Caribbean area only.

The shrimp genus Salmoneus Holthuis, 1955 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Alpheidae) in the tropical western Atlantic, with description of five new species

The present study examines the diversity of the alpheid shrimp genus Salmoneus Holthuis, 1955 in the western Atlantic. Five species are described from the shallow waters of the Caribbean Sea: Salmoneus hispaniolensis sp. nov., from the southern coast of the Dominican Republic; S. camaroncito sp. nov. from Panama and Honduras; S. armatus sp. nov. from Panama; S. degravei sp. nov. from Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, and Tobago; and S. wehrtmanni sp. nov. from Panama, Honduras, Mexico (Yucatan) and Tobago. In addition, S. ortmanni (Rankin, 1898) is reported from new localities in Panama and Costa Rica; S. carvachoi Anker, 2007 from Mexico (Yucatan) and the Brazilian states of Pernambuco and Paraíba; S. cavicolus Felder & Manning, 1986 from Turks and Caicos Islands; and S. setosus Manning & Chace, 1990 from Mexico (Yucatan). Most specimens were collected at shallow depths (0.5–2 m), on soft bottoms ranging from mudsilt to coarse sand mixed rubble, under rocks or coral rubble; S. degravei sp. nov. appears to be associated with burrows of the callianassid ghost shrimp, Neocallichirus grandimana (Gibbes, 1850).

Preliminary assessment of a possible lemon shark nursery in the Turks & Caicos Islands, British West Indies

Juvenile lemon sharks, Negaprion brevirostris, were captured at shallow-water sites around South Caicos over a 16 month period. Capture and recapture rates were relatively low, and residency time appeared to be short, possibly indicating that South Caicos is just part of a larger nursery area. Nonetheless, the presence of neonates with fresh umbilical scars confirms that parturition did take place within the study area. It is suggested that the juvenile sharks utilise a larger activity space than in previously studied areas, and that this is facilitated by strong tidal movements over a large expanse of contiguous habitat.

A New Fossil Land Tortoise in the Genus Chelonoidis (Testudines: Testudinidae) From the Northern Bahamas, With an Osteological Assessment of Other Neotropical Tortoises

An extinct tortoise, Chelonoidis alburyorum n. sp., is described from nearly complete, beautifully preserved fossils from Sawmill Sink, a deep inland blue hole and cave system, on Great Abaco Island, Little Bahama Bank, in the northern Bahamas. This tortoise is part of an extensive fossil fauna in peat deposits associated with an immense debris cone in the entry shaft of this water-filled cave. The peat fauna also includes intact skeletons, skulls, and isolated bones of Cuban crocodiles (Crocodylus rhombifer), large birds, native rodents (Geocapromys ingrahami), and bats. The turtle remains include the first complete skull, first intact shells, and first associated vertebrae and appendicular skeletons of a tortoise from The Bahamas and/or West Indies. A morphological assessment of this tortoise and other Neotropical tortoises shows greater similarity of this new species with modern Chelonoidis nigra from the Galápagos Islands and fossils from the greater Caribbean area, than with the Cuban Chelonoidis cubensis or living and fossil continental Chelonoidis. AMS radiocarbon dates obtained from bones from the holotype and female paratype of the new tortoise, and from three Cuban crocodiles from Sawmill Sink, indicate a late Holocene age (2,580-3,820 yrs BP) for the peat deposits that produced the fossils of Chelonoidis alburyorum. Two other fossil faunas from this sink are thought to be older, possibly Pleistocene in age. These older fossils lack sufficient carbon to permit reliable radiometric dating. Chelonoidis alburyorum is one of a series of tortoise fossils recently found in blue holes, caves, and archaeological sites in the Bahamian archipelago, including the Turks and Caicos Islands, BWI. Two other fossil species from Abaco and the Turks and Caicos Islands, both in the genus Chelonoidis, are also new to science and will be described elsewhere. Affinities of the fossils from other Bahamian banks remain unstudied. A morphological asssessment of Neotropical tortoises shows greater similiarities between the new species, modern Cheolonoidis nigra, and to a lesser degree fossils from the greater Caribbean than with the Cuban Chelonoidis cubensis and continental Chelonoidis.

Marine Turtles in the Turks and Caicos Islands: Remnant Rookeries, Regionally Significant Foraging Stocks, and a Major Turtle Fishery

Abstract This study reviews the status of marine turtles in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) using data gathered during a multidisciplinary study involving field surveys, questionnaire-based interviews, and molecular genetics between 2002 and 2006. Large aggregations of foraging turtles in the archipelago's waters are dominated by juvenile green (Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata), with provisional mixed-stock analysis of these species suggesting that the aggregations originate predominantly from larger and relatively proximate source rookeries in the Wider Caribbean region. This study also suggests that the islands host remnant nesting populations of turtles, with hawksbill turtle nests recorded more frequently than green and loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) nests. The TCI islanders retain a culture of turtle use, with the current regulated and legitimate harvest likely to be one of the largest among the Caribbean Islands. This study suggests that historic and current har...

Ecological assessment to detect imminent change in coral reefs of Admiral Cockburn Land and Sea National Park, Turks and Caicos Islands

AbstractCoral reefs of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCIs) (Caribbean Sea) constitute some of the few pristine coral reef systems in the world and play a crucial role in the islands’ economy because they support rich fisheries catches and tourism development. Ambitious development plans involving increase in fishing and tourism pressures are about to bring changes in coastal zone resources of the TCIs associated with increased sediments and nutrients and reduced predation by herbivorous fish on coral reefs. Understanding change is critical when attempting to protect the resources that these coral reefs support and to adopt proper management strategies. Yet, an environmental assessment program to detect imminent human‐induced changes on the surrounding reefs of the TCIs is lacking. Thus, (i) we obtained baseline data on benthic composition and coral community structure at seven reef sites of representative reefs of the TCIs within the Admiral Cockburn Land and Sea National Park (ACLSNP) of South Caicos Island and (ii) performed a priori statistical power analysis to calculate replication requirements for safely and confidently detecting small (δ = 0.1), medium (δ = 0.3), and large (δ = 0.5) effect sizes for a number of relevant to anticipated changes, univariate, benthic indices and for power β = 0.95. The platforms of the margin reefs studied (9–12 m depth) appeared rather variable regarding benthic composition but quite homogeneous regarding hard coral community structure. Mean percent cover of algal functional groups was 0.1 ± 0.3 (mean ± sd) percent for coralline algae and Halimeda, 0.1 ± 0.6 (mean ± sd) percent for macroalgae, 21.7 ± 33 (mean ± sd) percent for turf algae and 4.8 ± 4.0 (mean ± sd) percent for hard coral cover. The dominant benthic component, however, was carbonate substrate (mean ± sd = 30.4 ± 34.3), thus indicating an accreting reef framework. Mean hard coral density, colony size and recruit density were 5.5 ± 1.8 (mean ± sd) corals per 20‐m line transect, 13.0 ± 2.3 (mean ± sd) cm maximum colony diameter, and 1.3 ± 1.4 (mean ± sd) recruits per square foot, respectively. Due to high natural variance, hard coral colony size and density were practically the most sensitive indices in detecting even small size changes on benthos. Also, the geometric mean of log‐transformed colony size‐frequency distributions of the most abundant hard coral taxa, i.e. Montastrea annularis, Agaricia spp., Siderastrea spp. and Porites asteroides were practically sensitive for the same purpose. We hope that the study will optimize the spatial component of a necessary environmental impact assessment program on coral reefs of the TCIs once the natural spatial variability of the system has been assessed and sensitive, benthic, univariate indices have been identified for representative reference coral reef sites of the TCIs.

Infrastructures of the Imagined Island: Software, Mobilities, and the Architecture of Caribbean Paradise

Software is receding and rescaling island space, assembling islands in new configurations of territoriality and governance. Paying attention to software-supported mobility, sovereignty and place-making offers a key terrain for thinking about the contemporary rescaling of Caribbean states, island territories, and the imaginary ‘offshore’ economies within them. Travel and leisure destinations, especially in the Caribbean, are being disembedded from national territories and repackaged as unique natural enclaves connected to global metropolitan transport, media, and data flows. Through a discussion of Zaha Hadid's masterplan for a new resort on Dellis Cay in the Turks and Caicos Islands, the author explores how state space, informational space, and tourist space are converging in new fantasies of mobility, accessibility, and island paradise. The new software- supported spatialities, theorized as urban or metropolitan, are actually affecting remote Caribbean islands and other dispersed enclaves as much as (though in different ways than) ‘advanced’ urban regions. Indeed, as Caribbean states and territories adjust to complex new infrastructures and architectures of mobility, the deformations and refoldings of space described here may precociously prefigure processes of postcolonial urbanism that are restructuring private property, cyberspatial property, and state territory in other parts of the world.

Beyond Sun, Sand and Sea: The Emergent Tourism Programme in the Turks and Caicos Islands

Beyond Sun, Sand and Sea: The Emergent Tourism Programme in the Turks and Caicos Islands

Ontogeny of Deeveya spiralis Kornicker & Iliffe, 1985, collected in anchialine caves in the Caicos Islands (Crustacea, Ostracoda, Halocyprida, Deeveyidae)

Three juvenile instars (A-3, A-2, A-1) of Deeveya spiralis from caves in Cottage Pond, North Caicos Island, and Conch Bar Cave, Conch Bar, Middle Caicos Island, are described and illustrated. The ontogeny of the species is compared with that of Deeveya bransoni Kornicker & Palmer, 1987. The changes that take place during the ontogeny of members of the genus are described.

Beyond Sun, Sand and Sea: The Emergent Tourism Programme in the Turks and Caicos Islands

Mass tourism began in the Caribbean in the 1960s with the advent of low cost air travel. Jamaica, Barbados, and the Bahamas were among the first places to develop a resort-based tourism programme. Within 20 years, these locations began to experience the problems that are now typically associated with unplanned growth. For emergent tourist destinations, these older islands can serve as a model of what not to do. One location that has taken some lessons to heart is the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) in the lower Bahamian archipelago. While TCI offers itself as a sun, sand and sea destination, tourism officials seek to attract upscale visitors with a long term investment in the islands. The problem they are wrestling with is how to develop an island image based not only on the sea-based amenities but also the local history, natural attractions and expressive culture. In response, a diverse heritage group has begun a dialogue about how to do this. This paper describes the current state of tourism in the TCI within the context of new directions in Caribbean tourism.

Co-management of sea turtle fisheries: Biogeography versus geopolitics

Abstract Co-management between local communities and government agencies is promoted as a strategy to improve fisheries management. This paper considers the potential for co-management of sea turtle fisheries within four UK Overseas Territories (OTs) in the Caribbean, and for co-ordinated management among those territories. We focus on fisher incentives for engaging in co-management and on the potential to scale up co-management to a regional level. This paper presents data from Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, and Turks and Caicos Islands, where 110 turtle fishers participated in a socio-economic survey undertaken as part of the ‘Turtles in the UK Overseas Territories in the Caribbean’ project. Based on three established criteria for co-management (perceived crisis in stock, willingness to participate and community cohesion), results suggest that fisher support for co-management exists within each OT, but the extent of support for and views of specific management interventions varies among OTs. The implications of results for co-management in each territory, and for establishing co-ordinated management regimes in the region, are discussed in the context of current debates about the nature of resources and scalar (mis)matches between resource and management regimes.

The Trouvadore Project: The Search for an Enslaved Ship and its Cultural Importance

Trouvadore was one of numerous illegal slave ships taking Africans from Africa after Britain had outlawed the slave trade in 1807. The vessel wrecked off the coast of East Caicos, Turks and Caicos Islands in 1841 and 168 of the survivors entered the local community, increasing the population by 7%. The Trouvadore Project, led by the Turks and Caicos National Museum, is uncovering the story of Trouvadore and the cultural legacy of the survivors. Bringing together many disciplines, including archaeology, this project provides information about Trouvadore for the present population of the Turks and Caicos, many of whom are direct descendants of the African survivors.

Phylogeny and historical biogeography of the cave‐adapted shrimp genus Typhlatya (Atyidae) in the Caribbean Sea and western Atlantic

AbstractAim To infer phylogenetic relationships among five species of the cave‐adapted shrimp genus Typhlatya in order to test competing hypotheses of dispersal and colonization of the disjunct cave localities occupied by these five species.Location Typhlatya species are found in caves and anchialine ponds across the northern margin of the Caribbean Sea, along the Mediterranean and Adriatic coasts and on oceanic islands in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific oceans. This study focuses on five species, one from Bermuda, one from the Caicos Islands and three from the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico.Methods Partial sequences (c. 1400 bp) from the mitochondrial cytochrome b, 16S rDNA and COI genes were obtained from representative samples of the five species. Phylogenetic inference was carried out with maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood analyses. Parsimony networks were constructed for the Bermudian species Typhlatya iliffei and one Yucatan species Typhlatya mitchelli, to determine the degree of connectivity among populations inhabiting different cave systems.Results All three land masses were recovered as monophyletic. The two insular marine species from Bermuda and the Caicos Islands formed a clade, while the three continental freshwater species from the Yucatan Peninsula formed another. Within both Bermuda and the Yucatan, shared haplotypes were found in different cave systems, suggesting recent or ongoing gene flow among populations in both locales.Main conclusions The two insular marine Typhlatya species originated from an ancestral marine population, possibly already cave‐adapted, that is suggested to have colonized the Caicos Islands and subsequently dispersed to Bermuda via the Gulf Stream. Divergence estimates suggest that colonization occurred before the formation of present‐day anchialine cave habitat, which did not form on either island until the late Pliocene to early Pleistocene. Divergence estimates also indicate that the Yucatan freshwater species split before the formation of freshwater cave habitat in the Yucatan. These species could have inhabited crevicular marine habitats before the late Pliocene/early Pleistocene in the Yucatan or elsewhere in the Caribbean, and subsequently migrated to freshwater caves once they formed.

Re-evaluating the Taxonomic Status of the Booby Cay Iguana, Cyclura Carinata Bartschi

Cyclura carinata, a Bahamian rock iguana, currently has two recognized subspecies. Cyclura c. carinata is found on numerous islands and cays throughout the Turks and Caicos Islands. The second subspecies, C. c. bartschi, is now only known to exist on Booby Cay, a small island off of Mayaguana Island, Bahamas, which is also within the subspecies historic range. Support for subspecific status is weak. Geographic isolation appears to be the only strong indicator of genetic isolation. Recent conservation attempts made on the species behalf have raised questions regarding the validity of subspecific designations. We used mtDNA sequence data to ask whether there is any genetic variation that distinguishes C. c. bartschi from ten sampled populations of C. c. carinata. Our findings show that the Booby Cay population is fixed for a common mtDNA haplotype found in Caicos Island populations of C. carinata. In contrast, four different haplotypes were found among populations designated C. c. carinata. We conclude that there is insufficient evidence to support C. c. bartshi as a subspecies and recommend that the Booby Cay population be included in ongoing conservation efforts currently focused on the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Turks and Caicos Islands 2006 coral reef assessment: Large-scale environmental and ecological interactions and their management implications

La salud de los arrecifes coralinos de las Islas Turcas y Caicos (uno de los mejores sistemas arrecifales en la región) es vital para su bienestar económico y ambiental. Los métodos tradicionales de evaluación proporcionan relativamente poca información porque cubren un área muy pequeña para caracterizar con precisión complejos sistemas arrecifales, no pueden captar integralmente pautas a gran escala y además la alta variabilidad espacial intrínseca de los arrecifes inhibe la capacidad de los datos obtenidos en pequeñas áreas para identificar cambios o causas. Las investigaciones espacialmente extensivas suministran más información, sobre áreas mayores y en menos tiempo que las intensivas, revelando gradientes a gran escala que los métodos intensivos son inherentemente incapaces de identificar y brindan un nuevo paradigma que pudiera usarse ampliamente para el manejo ambiental, con mayor efectividad económica. A principios de junio de 2006 se llevaron a cabo investigaciones extensivas, evaluándose 26 parámetros ecológicos y ambientales en 47 sitios arrecifales a lo largo de las Islas. Se puso especial énfasis en identificar las diferentes zonas de algas a lo largo de gradientes ambientales. Los datos obtenidos están siendo utilizados para desarrollar estrategias nacionales de manejo de la calidad de agua y de restauración de corales.

The Other White Gold: Salt, Slaves, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and British Colonialism

In one of the more famous slave narratives—in part because it was the first published account by a woman—Bermuda‐born Mary Prince reported that “my master sent me away to Turk's Island. I was not p...

Karst and Early Fracture Networks in Carbonates, Turks and Caicos Islands, British West Indies

Abstract Historically, studies of Quaternary carbonates have not adequately addressed the influence of early fracture networks on diagenesis. Because of this lack of detail, understanding and predicting fracture-related diagenetic heterogeneities and preferential fluid flow pathways in ancient carbonate successions is particularly challenging. The Pleistocene oolitic grainstones of the Caicos platform provide an excellent opportunity to evaluate the relative importance of fractures on early diagenetic alteration styles, and are a suitable analog for subsurface carbonate reservoirs. Detailed analyses of fractures (e.g., orientation, aperture, spacing, fill material) from Caicos outcrops combined with high-resolution, three-dimensional ground-penetrating radar (3D GPR), assisted in exploring the causality and distribution of fractures and relationship to karst. Four models were evaluated to explain the observed distribution of dolines: (1) gravitational, fractured-margin controlled, (2) tectonic-fracture controlled, (3) antecedent-topography controlled, and (4) a hybrid model. Based on observations of numerous fractures (n = 306) on the western Caicos platform, early fractures are abundant and dominantly margin-parallel. These fracture networks are well established in limestones prior to mineralogical stabilization, thereby indicating that diagenetic heterogeneities evolve very early in carbonate diagenesis. The spatial distribution of dolines on Providenciales is likely the result of a complex interplay between the antecedent topography, margin-parallel fracture systems, and meteoric fluids. Resultant diagenetic alteration is far more complicated than simple, unconfined, meteoric lenses associated with topographic highs. Any attempts to model early diagenesis in carbonates should not dismiss the role of fractures as diagenetic facilitators and diagenetic anisotropy templates.

New species of epacteriscids (Copepoda, Calanoida) from anchialine caves in the Caicos Islands and the Bahamas

One new monotypic genus, Caiconectes, and one new species in each of the genera Azygonectes and Bofuriella are described from the Caicos Islands. In the Bahamas, a third new species of Bofuriella is described from Cat Island and the hitherto unknown female of Minnonectes melodactylus Fosshagen & Iliffe is recorded from Great Exuma Island. Caiconectes shows many plesiomorphic features, with some slight reductions in mouthparts, probably related to raptorial feeding. Swimming legs show maximum segmentation and setation; leg 1 has long and thin outer setae on the exopod, and the third segment of the endopod bears seven setae. The species is considered pelagic. The first male specimen of Azygonectes is described from A. plumosus sp. nov.; in both sexes, caudal seta V on the left side is approximately 2.5 times body length. The single female specimen of Bofuriella spinosa sp. nov. from Cat Island differs from other congeners in having a lateral genital aperture on the left side, and more setae on the mandibular endopod and on the coxal and basal endites of the maxillule. All cave calanoids hitherto described from the Caicos Islands are not recorded from any other parts of the Caribbean; thus pointing to an isolated position of the islands.