2005 Event

Saba featured in travel magazines
Story and photo courtesy Suzanne Nielsen, St. Maarten Daily Herald

  SABA—The island has received coverage in two important travel magazines, “Caribbean Travel and Life” and” Islands Magazine,” just published at the New Year.

  In Caribbean Travel and Life, Saba is the lead article in the cover series entitled, “25 Secret Islands.” Author Bill Belleville was on Saba last October for the month-long Sea and Learn series of nature lectures. Sea and Learn is dedicated to educating tourists and interested parties in the unique ecology of the island by inviting scientists to share their knowledge of specific species such as sharks, butterflies, and plant life. The scientists also conduct research on land and in the Saba Marine Park.

The article on Saba, entitled “Head in the Clouds” recounts how easy it is to become enchanted on Saba. Belleville recounts his adventures with local ecologist Tom van’t Hof on a walk through the island’s elfin forest. “I have traveled widely through the Caribbean, but Saba is inimitable,” says Bellville.

The “Islands” article is in the section “day trips,” and reprises a trip from St. Maarten to the unspoiled queen for a morning of hiking and an afternoon of diving.

Enjoy News Stories since Sea & Learn's inception:
Sea & Learn News 2004 & Older

Discovery of new octopus behavior on Saba introduced at Grand Finale Evening
Story by Suzanne Nielsen, The Daily Herald.  Photos by Suzanne Nielsen and Roger Hanlon

SABA—Marine biologist researcher Dr. Roger Hanlon discovered octopus behavior on Saba that has only been observed and documented at one other location – the Pacific -- in the world. 

The Saba octopus disguises itself as a flounder in its shape and swimming habits. The Saba discovery will be analyzed and written up for publication in a scholarly journal and compared to the flounder behavior of an Indonesian mimic octopus, which has no scientific name yet. 

The Saba mimic octopus species is identified as “Octopus defilippi:” In its flounder configuration, it is only about 3-4 inches long. Its coloration and size make it very difficult to spot. “This is a very rare behavior,” said Hanlon, who is senior scientist at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory.

Hanlon’s research crew spent over 50 man-hours in the shallow water off Fort Bay hoping to film and photograph the illusive behavior. Last week, the group was rewarded and captured excellent footage of the small creature folding back its arms and moving over the convoluted seabed only one-quarter of an inch above the substrate--just like the flounders prevalent in these waters. This film work debuted to a delighted audience at the final Sea and Learn public session earlier this week. Hanlon’s world-class photography has been used on a Discovery channel nature series narrated by British director Lord Richard Attenborough. 

The Sea and Learn octopus research project involved the Saba Marine Park in the morning and interested locals on dive boats in the afternoon. He also gave public lectures on general octopus camouflage techniques and held several sessions with Sacred Heart elementary school pupils. 

Hanlon’s first trip to Saba in December 2004 served as a reconnaissance trip for his first octopus monitoring work in the Caribbean. He identified five species of octopus around Saba. After hearing Hanlon’s lecture about the Pacific mimic octopus, local diver/photographer Michael Chammaa captured a picture of a small local octopus disguising itself as a flounder. He showed this to Hanlon, who immediately made this the focus of this year’s return trip—to provide the first case of octopus mimicry in the Atlantic Ocean 

Hanlon has alerted local divers and dive masters to watch for these behaviors and to contact him with their observations and eventual photos so that he can add this information to his growing database. 

Dr. Powell introduces book to Saba 
Story by Suzanne Nielsen, The Daily Herald.  Photos by Suzanne Nielsen

SABA—Dr. Robert Powell, who has introduced his book on Windward Island Reptiles on St. Maarten and St. Eustagious, autographs his book for some Saba youngsters at the Gala evening of Sea and Learn. Powell also gave several public and school lectures on the topic of reptiles and amphibians on the three islands. He has remained on Saba to participate as an observer in the Dutch Caribbean Alliance Board meetings.

Paloma Hassell double winner at Sea and Learn Gala 
Story by Suzanne Nielsen, The Daily Herald.  Photos by Suzanne Nielsen

SABA—The final program of the month-long Sea and Learn program brought out a capacity crowd at the Tropics Café Monday night. The Sea and Learn Board gave out awards to participating Saba school children, debuted original footage of scientist Roger Hanlon’s octopus survey showed on the Tropics Café large screen, and concluded with Dr. Robert Powell signing his book on Windward Island Reptiles. 

Sea and Learn put together a contest to encourage young Sabans to attend the evening lectures given by visiting scientists. Residents Tom and Lynn Franzson donated an underwater camera for the student attending the most often with a parent. Paloma Hassell – who also participated in the Sea and Learn Scouts Science Camp, won with the most attendance. Her brother Kenji came in second, following by Tim van der Veldt. Both young men won free drive trips with Sea Saba Dive Center. 

Paloma also won the Halloween costume contest “Come as your favorite animal” for her outstanding peacock disguise. She won Friday evening dinner and a movie tickets for two at the Tropics Café. 

Sea and Learn Board President Lynn Costenaro introduced the Board of the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance, who is on Saba for a three-day meeting, and thanks the board, local residents, and the community for supporting the annual event.

Saba’s Sea and Learn featured in Caribbean Travel and Life

SABA—The island’s month-long nature attraction—Sea and Learn—has garnered a two-page spread in the current edition of the monthly American travel magazine “Caribbean Travel and Life.” 

With pictures of dive sites, Tropic bird babies, humming birds, and tree frogs, editor Debbie Snow spoke about her experiences in the many public lectures and fields trips that Sea and Learn offers to all island residents: locals, students, and visitors. 

“I didn’t know Big Bird from a bucket of Kentucky Fried,” she claimed until she had a chance to go out on a bird identification field study. She continued that in one week of Sea and Learn, she had had learned more than a year of the Discovery channel. The program features prominient researchers and scientists if a variety of nature-oriented fields, from sharks, birds, and bugs to important ecological issues. 

Snow observed that the development of the free program three years ago was appropriate for an island, which concentrates on eco-sensitive tourism since it has no beaches or large-scale resort developments. She pointed to the fact that the program is supported by many local businesses and Sabans take advantage of the world-class nature experts on the island by attending the events. 

Sea and Lean will continue with daily lectures and frequent field trips until the end of the month. The final wrap-up ceremony will take place on October 31, 5:30pm at the Tropics Café. There will be a book signing, a feature film, and award to participating children.

Saba hosts migratory birds

SABA—More migratory birds may be landing on Saba to get their bearings after recent hurricanes disrupted normal migratory patterns, noted bird specialists Tadas Birutis, at a recent Sea and Learn lecture at the Brigadoon Restaurant. Participants reported seeing the uncommon “common snipe” in English Quarter and at Rendezvous. 

Birutis said that hurricanes did not damage bird populations directly. Rather they destroy bird habitat and thus their feeding grounds. “Birds will be aware of changing weather patterns long before humans evacuate,” he observed. 

Birutis hosted a Monday morning bird watching hike to Rendezvous. Participants were rewarded with a chat with a gaggle of seven cheeky female Lesser Antillean Bullfinches, who followed the group all the way to the Eco-lodge. He had a sophisticated recording device and played back the sounds to attract the birds. He also mimicked the birds as he has mastered many birdcalls. 

To help beginners identify birds, Birutis spent time distinguishing specific markings on various species, but also flight behavior. Flight movements are based on what the bird is searching for: a predatory bird such as a falcon (often seen down from Mt. Scenery) will suddenly dive straight down to its prey, whereas the King bird will make sharp, banking turns as it follows the flight of an insect. 

Birutis said that Saba has many spots that offer excellent bird watching: The Fort Bay area for herons, boobies, egrets, pelicans, etc.  The plateau across from Green Island also affords a wonderful outlook, with nearby cliffs home to numerous species. The small pastures and open area off the pathway to the Ecolodge are also remarkable. 

“You don’t have to be in the open: you can start right in Windwardside,” Birutis said. Doves, thrashers, and many other birds can be observed “right down town.” 

Birutis recommended a new illustrated guide called “”Birds of the West Indies,” by Herbert Raffaele et al, published by Princeton Field Guides. He said that no Saba base line information had been gathered on resident or migratory birds and that this would be an interesting line of study for researches.

Saba home for seven bat species
Story by Suzanne Nielsen, The Daily Herald.  Photos by Suzanne Nielsen and Allyson Walsh

 SABA—The island is fortunate to have seven species of bat, said international bat expert Dr. Allyson Walsh at a Sea and Learn lecture at the Eco-lodge. 

“Bats are the unsung heroes of the forest,” said the British scientist, who is Director of the Lubee Bat Conservancy in Gainesville, Florida. “They control the insect population and pollinate our fruit trees,” she explained.

The status of bat populations is of considerable concern to conservationists because of their importance in the ecosystem. Walsh cautioned that island dwelling bats are more endangered than other bats, and remain in the extinction “hot zone,” mainly due to loss of habitat. In the Lesser Antilles, bats are the only native mammals and two of the 11 species found in the area are regionally endemic. Walsh said that St. Eustatius has four species, and St. Maarten seven, with St. Maarten having the only bat that fishes.

Bats do a lot more than just “hang around”--fruit and nectar bats are particularly important because they pollinate fruit trees and disperse seeds. Bats are the only flying mammals and over half of the 1,111 species are classified as threatened or near threatened with extinction. Bats vary in size from hummingbird to the flying fox, which weighs over two and one-half pounds with a wingspan of over six feet.

Saba’s seven documented species include four fruit bats and three insect species. They live in caves – Walsh found Jamaican Fruit Eating bats (artibeus jamaicensis) in the Sulfur Mine--in rocky overhangs, and, as it turned out, near the Sea View Grill, where Walsh took a group for on a field trip to experience the bats navigation system of echolocation.

The Bat Conservancy (www.lubee.org) is an international non-profit organization founded in 1989 by the late Luis F. Bacardi, of the rum family member, who had a strong passion for endangered wildlife and a particular fondness of bats. The Conservancy works to save fruit and nectar bats and their habitats through conservation, research, and education.

  Southern Stingray Research Expert on Saba
story by Suzanne Nielsen, The Daily Herald; Photos by Matt Potenski

SABA—A packed Sea and Learn lecture audience at the Swinging Doors was treated to an advance preview of a monumental study on Southern Stingrays carried our as a Master’s Thesis by Matthew Potenski. Potenski is a graduate research associate with the Guy Harvey Research Institute at the Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center in Dania Beach, Florida.

Potenski said that not much is known about the cartilaginous fish, which is found throughout the Caribbean. Most dives on Saba will allow a glimpse of these interesting creatures on the dive sites that have the sandy bottoms where the Stingrays feed. 

The study was carried out as part of the Cayman Islands Stingray Ecology and Conservation Project. Most of the research was carried out in well known areas, such as Stingray City and Sandbar in North Sound, Grand Cayman, where tourist snorkelers and scuba divers hand feed frozen squid to Stingrays. Potenski was particularly interested in determining whether Stingray growth patterns and reproduction would be affected by the fact they were hand fed, It is very difficult to judge the age of a specimen, other than by autopsy, but he was able to make some comparisons to Stingrays tracked in the wild and others held in captivity.

Stingrays are not an endangered species and are not commercially fished. There value is as an added attraction to people looking for an interesting Marine environment. Although the ray is equipped with a venomous barb on its tail, Potenski said that it is not aggressive and most wounds come about by accident rather than intent.

The study involved the careful capture of the animal in order to tag it, take a DNA sample, and weigh and measure it. Some were fitted with tracking devises. Potenski is preparing for publication next year, but he has drawn some conclusions:  clearly ray behaviors change when tourists feed them during the day since they are normally nighttime feeders and they tend to be larger since energy is not wasted in foraging.

Potenski will be leading a free Stingray field trip for snorkelers and divers on Sunday afternoon. Interested parties should sing up at Sea Saba in Windwardside.

Saba Science Camp 2005
Learning to ask questions
Story by Suzanne Nielsen, The Daily Herald.  Most pictures by Jeff Bozanic

 SABA—“What did you learn,” demands Jeff Bozanic of his eight charges at the final session of the 2005 Saba Science Camp. “To ask questions,” they all respond. Teaching children to explore their world by first asking questions was the point of the Camp. 

START

The Sea and Learn October program expanded this year to include a weeklong, all day, land-and-sea Science Camp for Saba school children. The event was co-sponsored by the Sea and Learn Foundation, Child Focus, and the Saba Conservation Foundation.

The Camp Directors and organizers, Jeff Bozanic and wife Rebekah Halpern, were part of Sea and Learn faculty last year and returned this year with an entire curriculum of experiential activities to excite interest in the natural world. 

Before arriving from California, the Bozanics spent months gathering information on appropriate exercises, purchasing materials and instruments, scouring local museums for ideas, and packaging all together with their own three young children and Grandmother Flynn as child minder. They used their own vacation for their two-week stay on the island and volunteered their services. 

The eight camp participants were taken from the on-going Sea Scouts Program run by the Saba Marine Park, under Scout leader Sue Hurrell.  The youngsters had pre-qualified by achieving merit badges in swimming and water sports. In additional to parental permission, all participants had to sign a “contract.” This stipulated that they would pay attention to safety, be positive and supportive of everyone’s efforts, participate in all activities, be respectful, care for equipment, leave all electronics at home – and that they understood they would have to leave if they could not follow the rules. 

“We have to have this in place,” said Director Bozanic. He explained that the school levels of the children were very diverse with an age spread from 11 to 15 years. The outdoor activities expose the children to potentially hazardous conditions. “We have to depend on them to follow instructions and to be committed to the agenda,” he commented. All students kept a notebook of their scientific data. 

Other Sea and Learn faculty experts were pulled in for day lectures and field trips on biodiversity, fish parasites, and indigenous bats. Additional support was provided by Trail Manager James Johnson, two Saba University Medical Students, and three Work Abroad volunteers from the Marine Park. Numerous other individuals made meals, hiked equipment into the campsite, and generally helped out. Bozanic said this extra support was key to success. 

Camp Goals

Teaching scientific methodology was one of the major messages of the Camp. At every turn, the students were encouraged to ask a question, form a hypothesis, design a test, conduct the experiment, and form a conclusion….which in turn led to new questions. 

Also important was the chance to build self-esteem by mastering certain proficiencies – such as the ropes course. Team-building skills were fostered by collaborative games in which the team was made responsible for the success of its individual members. Time was also spend on establishing a conservation ethic, so that the participants would appreciate threats to the land environment and the impact of ocean trash and oil spills on the heath of ocean animals. Everything that the children carried in to their sites had to be carried out. 

Adapting to the rainy weather, the first day was spent in the cavernous gym on St. Johns. This gave time to get acquainted, start building a team mentality, learn about scientific investigation, undertake land-based exercises that would later be used underwater, train on the ropes for cave exploration, and talk about pollution and ecology. 

Field Trips

Accompanied by James Johnson, the group did its first field trip to the Tide Pool area below the Saba Airport Runway. This is the big lava field descending from the mountain and proved to be a great teaching tool. The various tidal pools contain different fish, algae, and other critters, and the students were asked to consider why the pools differ--Why weren’t they all the same? 

The Tidal Pool area was a great location to discussion geology, volcanic origins, and climate zones. It also provided several anatomy lessons—a sea urchin was carried back to the science lab to be dissected. A bonus was the skeleton of a Saba goat found on the rocks. This allowed for a quick review of skull and backbone components, but also how animals graze (after looking at tooth wear and tear). Students learned that anthropologists use these methods to reconstruct possible past habitat. 

Along the Crispeen Trail, the group was joined by biodiversity expert Dan Bisaccio, who showed how to make a quadrant and tag trees for further study. Bat expert Allyson Walsh joined the kids at the Sea View Grill where the kids had dinner on the terrace and listened to the bats’ echolocation noises on her special amplifying equipment as they flew around the night sky. 

The overnight on Paris Hill had to be the experience of a lifetime! Everyone got to rappel into the cave interior. Blindfolded children erected tents with instructions given by a team member. Other team building games brought shouts of laughter to the top of the hill. Not to speak of the toothpaste in the sleeping bags or the boys who decided to use the last drinking water to wash up before lights out! 

The last day was spent on the Marine Park Boat laying out transepts, counting fish species, examining corral health, and testing water quality. 

Final Presentation

Sunday evening at the Tropics Café was the wrap-up and final presentation. Saba Comprehensive Student Cristian Hassell assisted the students to prepare a public slide show. Each student gave a standup presentation: Kenji Hassell tackled “Jumarring,” a rope/harness activity used in the cave exploration. Brian Hassell explained how to make a plankton tows and how these animals were viewed under a microscope. Sharuska Oleana presented a survey of the tidal pool activities. Underwater transects were explained to the packed audience by Omar Hassell. Dahlia Hassell described the camping overnight near the Paris Hill caves. Paloma Hassell was the expert on cave mapping; John Johnson explained how the ropes course worked; and Tim van der Velde told about the adventures in biodiversity experiments.

Bozanic remarked that Saba is perfect for such a Science Course because of the natural diversity found in such abundance and the close proximity of the Marine Park. The couple is working on the notion of creating a Science Camp that could travel to various Caribbean locations to give school children a chance to explore their own islands through experiential learning. 

The equipment used for the camp will remain on Saba for use in future youth activities.   Bozanic and Helpern's accommodations are generously sponsored by Ricky Lawrence, the owner of Mountain Spring Villas.  

Saba's Cloud Forests
story by Suzanne Nielsen, The Daily Herald

SABA—Saba’s famed Elfin forest could need 300 years to recover completely from the September 21, 1998, destruction by Hurricane Georges, estimates well-known conservationists and marine biologist Tom van t’ Hof.

Van t’ Hof’s free lecture, entitled “Saba’s Cloud Forest, Recovery after Hurricane Georges,” showed “before and after” pictures of the area to a packed Sea and Learn audience Monday night at the Brigadoon restaurant.

Van t’ Hof said that the Montane Cloud Forest on top of Mt. Scenery only covers about eight hectares, but it is unique amongst such forests because of the dominance of Mountain Mahogany trees, some of which reach a height of 15-18 meters. When hung with epiphytes and moss, these gnarled trees give the impression of a fairy world and create an atmosphere unlike any normal forest.

Many of the trees were uprooted during the category four storm, which was followed by Hurricane Lenny a year later. Support vegetation was also destroyed and now skeletal braches reach toward an open sky. However, this openness has also helped regenerate the area, and samplings eight-ten feet tall are now visible as they reach skyward.

Van t’ Hof stressed the importance of the cloud forest to the rest of the island. “It operates like a giant sponge, pulling in water,” he explained. Scientific calculations of indicate that the forest was at its climax in growth, and will now go through a new cycle after the devastation. Dimensions of the adult trees indicated that some of them were between 200-300 years old. Van t’ Hof said that it is difficult to know how long the recovery time will be, however, hundreds of years is indeed possible.

Van t’ Hof and audience members discussed encouraging island government to declare the zone a protected area so that everything can be done to preserve it for future generations.

 Earlier this year:

Since October 2004, we've also had two encore Sea & Learn events:   Roger Hanlon did an octopus camouflaging monitoring project in December 2004 and Mark Marks gave great talks on white sharks in January 2005. 

In late January 2005, three Saba Teens, along with a chaperone, traveled to the Yucatan Peninsula to participate in Habitat Net's International field research project.  Students from India, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, United States, Indonesia, Mexico and now Saba will continue the work of biodiversity research already in its tenth year. The "Youth Accord on Biodiversity" was presented to the United Nations in time for Earth Day 2005.  Read the full report at:         www.sprise.com/shs/habitatnet/default.htm. 

In March 2005, Sea & Learn guest lecturer Stewart Chipka officially launched www.sabaorchidresearch.org.  The website like the facility is dedicated to Caribbean orchid research.  Whether you're a student looking to join a post doc program or just an interested gardener, Stuart and Saba are ready to host you.

And, Sea & Learn is proud to announce the winning of another international award.  Presented by Unterwasser Magazine and VDST, German Federation of Scuba Diving, Sea & Learn on Saba won 2nd prize for its scientific work with Project Seahorse.

There's no reason you can't participate as well.  Remember, Sea & Learn on Saba is fun, it's free and it's for everyone.  For more information or a reservation, email:  info@seaandlearn.org or contact one of our sponsors. 

Read more from our previous events in 2004 and 2003:

Shark Expert part of Sea and Learn
photo of Mark Marks and article courtesy of Suzanne Nielsen & St. Maarten Daily Herald
©shark research  photos courtesy of Mark Marks

SABA—International shark expert and research biologist Dr. Mark Marks lectured Monday evening to a crowd of about 75 at the Brigadoon restaurant in Windwardside.

Marks’ talk was accompanied by close ups of his personal encounters with White sharks, all taken in open water without the protection of a cage. Many of the photos were taken off Dyer Island, South Africa, where Marks conducted his studies in the behavioral ecology of the White Shark over an eight-year period. Although the white shark is relatively rare, it is wide ranging in all seas in both hemispheres.

Marks reminded his audience that there are more than 500 species of shark or rays, basically unchanged over seven million years. He compared the intelligence of the shark with that of a domesticated household pet. “These are the world’s largest carnivores at more than 21 meters and are highly self aware,” Marks said. Since these sharks are warm blooded, they can move very quickly and unpredictably, which allows them to track and capture other intelligent species, such as dolphins.

While undertaking shark research off Guadalupe Island in Mexico, Marks noted 66 different shark behaviors and was able to observe the shark’s social interactions and possible cooperative hunting. He noted that the shark would sometimes attack, but not necessarily kill its prey, or again kill it, but not completely devour it. “The simple answer to this is that they have had their fill, and it’s easy for them to come by the next meal,” Marks explained.

Marks will meet with the children’s Scout group on Wednesday afternoon, and will give another public lecture on Friday evening. During the week, he will be available to resident and tourist divers as this week’s Sea and Learn nature expert in residence.