TIME: Taming the Lionfish
Saturday, May 14th, 2011
Taming the Lionfish:
Can Predators Be Trained to Control an Invasive Species?
In March, on a small reef off the coast of Honduras, a group of pioneering conservationists started teaching sharks how to hunt. A half-dead lionfish, speared earlier by a diver, was released into the midst of a swirling mass of grey reef sharks. Sensing the lionfish’s final twitches, the sharks descended on the weakened prey. Unsuspectingly, a second lionfish wandered into the frenzy. Within seconds, it, too, was gone. All that remained was a trail of mush emanating from a shark’s toothy maw.
Floating in the nearby blue, photographer Antonio Busiello was there to capture the moment he and members of the Roatan Marine Park, a grassroots community organization in Honduras, had spent three months waiting for. “We weren’t sure the sharks would hunt on their own,” Busiello recalls from his studio in Los Angeles. Although not yet common behavior, the reef sharks’ voluntary hunt brings hope of a new way of battling the long-problematic proliferation of lionfish in the region. The aquarium pet turned invader, with it’s voracious appetite, prolific breeding and territorial nature, has locals and scientists up and down the Caribbean and Northern Atlantic worried about the threat it could pose to coastal ecosystems and economies by wiping out the stocks of small fish in an already stressed ecosystem.
Read more at:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2070599,00.html#ixzz1MMPLz8WQ
Win free diving at Anthony’s Key Resort!
Thursday, November 18th, 2010
Win a week of diving at Anthony’s Key Resort!
Anthony’s Key Resort has kindly donated a “Diving Package for One” to the Roatan Marine Park. The prize includes:
- 1 week hotel accommodation
- 3 meals a day
- 3 single tank boat dives per day
- 2 single tank boat night dives per week
- unlimited shore diving during shop hours
- air tanks, weight belts and weights
- buoyancy control workshop
- daily dolphin show presentations
- day excursion to Maya Key
- Island Fiesta Night on Anthony’s Key
The Roatan Marine Park will be holding a raffle where one lucky winner will have the opportunity to spend a week diving and relaxing at Anthony’s Key Resort. For only $50, you could be fortunate enough to see the beauty of the world’s second largest barrier reef first-hand. Help support the conservation efforts of the Roatan Marine Park as well as enter to win a week of diving FREE!
The raffle will run until 31 January 2011 with a maximum of 200 tickets to be sold; however the minimum number of tickets sold must exceed 100.
The weeks “Dive Package” is only valid from August to December of 2011, excluding holiday periods.
How to Enter the Contest
Roatan Marine Park has partnered up with SOL International Foundation to host the raffle. To enter the contest, click here or follow the link below. Contest expires 31 January 2011.
Important: In order to enter the contest, you must donate $50.00 on behalf of the “Roatan Marine Park Raffle” on the donation page. In doing so, your name will automatically be entered into the raffle.
Donate today for a chance to win!
https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=11862
About Anthony’s Key Resort
For over 40 years, Anthony’s Key Resort has been Roatan’s premier diving destination resort. Guests have the opportunity to dive spectacular reefs, interact with dolphins, hike lush tropical gardens, bask in the Caribbean sunshine and much more. All this while staying in either hillside cabanas nestled in lush foliage or oceanfront bungalows perched on stilts over lapping waves.
AKR is a PADI Gold Palm 5-Star Instructor Development Center and has been a pioneer in the diving industry for more than 40 years. It is ranked as one of the world’s top dive resorts and boasts amenities including a modern fleet of three Custom Pro 48 and seven Pro 42 dive boats, an on-site recompression chamber and staff physician, and the opportunity to dive and snorkel with dolphins. Upon arrival, guests are assigned a boat, each staffed with a dive master and captain to ensure divers see a variety of dive sites throughout the week.
AKR offers an all inclusive package which comprises of 3 daily meals including coffee, milk and juices for breakfast; coffee and iced tea for lunch and dinner. Select from several entrees at lunch and dinner in their main dining room, or enjoy sumptuous buffets featuring regional specialties. Everything is freshly made and the selection is remarkable. Sodas and alcoholic beverages are also available at a reasonable charge.
Discover what avid divers, adventure travelers, nature lovers and active families already know: that AKR is the family-run Roatan resort designed by nature. These all-inclusive packages with the unique combination of adventure and tranquility keep guests coming back to Anthony’s Key Resort and Honduras’ Bay Islands again and again. Win your chance to experience this great adventure.
For more information on AKR please visit www.anthonyskey.com
Plastic Soup
Thursday, March 18th, 2010
Although Honduran law states that all plastic brought to Roatan must be removed from the island, Roatan’s coast is awash with a toxic “plastic soup.” Plastic bags are used for an average of just 20 minutes before being dumped, and can take centuries to rot. Millions spread like urban tumbleweed through towns before ending up in the sea. Plastic waste in the oceans kills around 100,000 whales, dolphins, seals, turtles and other large animals each year. An estimated one million seabirds also die from strangulation, choking or starvation after eating seaborne plastic. Once an afflicted animal’s body has rotted, the bag is released back into the sea, to kill again and again.
The sheer volume of plastic in Roatan’s waters is appalling. It is an utter disgrace. People have often fought over fishing rights, claiming “ownership” over popular fishing grounds, but when it comes to protecting marine wildlife from plastic pollution, people’s sense of ownership and responsibility mysteriously fades. Isn’t it our responsibility to prevent these animals from becoming the victims of our careless, plastic bag culture? After all, there are perfectly adequate substitutes.
Pilot studies in the UK have successfully demonstrated that society CAN flourish without plastic bags. Major British supermarket chains have launched a “bags for life” policy. These are replaced free of charge by the store when they wear out and recycled. And it’s not just developed nations: In India people can now be jailed for seven years just for carrying a plastic bag.
Where major corporations have taken the initiative, it has encouraged millions of people to change their behavior. This initiative could easily be applied here too. It is absolutely vital that we urge all stores to act responsibly, possibly introducing a small charge for plastic bags. However, we as consumers must also change our attitude – bring our own bag! It is time to break the carrier bag habit. It’s not difficult, it’s not painful, but it IS responsible.
Cozumel in Roatan’s Future
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
Cozumel is Mexico’s largest island, nestled just 12 miles off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, measuring in at 28 miles long & only 10 miles wide. Cozumel itself was a sleepy little fishing community until 1961, when Jacques Cousteau declared the island one of the most beautiful scuba diving areas of the world. By 1970, Cozumel’s population had reached 10,000 and today the island boasts a population of more than 75,000. Over the years, the recreational scuba industry grew and Cozumel became a Mecca for divers with visitor numbers swelling annually. In recent years, the cruise ship industry has boomed, and with the island being the gateway to the Caribbean, ships now deliver an estimated 10,000 people daily to this once quiet island.
Once regarded as the jewel of Mexico for its pristine reefs, due to unregulated development and unsustainable practices, the reefs fringing the island have rapidly degraded and the island’s main tourist attraction has shifted from diving to golf. From a paradise to an environmentalist’s nightmare in a manner of a few decades, one must wonder, “Is Roatan on the road to a similar fate? “While those living on Roatan would never dream of comparing our island with Cozumel, the reality may be gradually emerging as more and more tourists visit the island. With direct international flights, the Bay Islands are no longer only accessible to backpackers but cruise-shippers, day trippers and jet-setters alike. With the building of additional docks to accommodate yet more cruise ships and the continuous sprouting up of new developments, this island paradise is rapidly reflecting Cozumel’s blunder. As the island evolves and the concrete is laid, how can we carelessly dismiss Roatan’s tropical splendor and magnificent reefs? It is time to truly demand that we “Keep Roatan Beautiful.”
Welcome to the new Marine Park website!
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
Welcome to the new official website of the Roatan Marine Park!
Completely redesigned from the ground up, the new website offers up-to-date information about the community outreach, education, and research efforts of the Roatan Marine Park. Find out how our patrols help reduce illegal poaching around the island. Learn about the laws and legislation protecting the incredible but fragile marine ecosystem surrounding our island. Take a look at the environmentally-friendly products available in our Eco Store, where all proceeds go to help protect Roatan’s reef.
That’s not all! Our new website makes it easier than ever for you to help the Roatan Marine Park achieve our goals. Now you can use our simple online forms to report problems with our moorings infrastructure and help us hunt down lionfish invading our reef. Donating to our cause has never been easier: just click the ‘Donate’ button on the upper left of any page to send a safe, secure donation of your choosing directly to us.
Want to learn more about our island? Explore over 170 of the dive sites surrounding the island using our custom-designed interactive map powered by Google Maps. You just might discover a your new favorite place to splash in!
Given that this website has just been launched, there may be a few bugs lingering around in the code. If you encounter any problems using this website, please send an email to the website administrator at steve@thescubageek.com.
We hope you enjoy the new official website of the Roatan Marine Park! Please contact us at info@roatanmarinepark.net and let us know what you think!
