Programs Blog

November 7, 2024  

Location: Dominica 

Weather: 86 °F and Sunny 

Hi, I’m Keegan back again writing another blog. After a long day of travel that included car rides, a boat trip, and airport waits, we finally landed in Dominica on Saturday November 2nd, around 8:30 pm. I would love to say it was all worth it once we got to see the beautiful island views, but it was already dark, so that all you could make out were the silhouettes of the mountains. Along with it already being dark, we still had a two-hour car ride before reaching our final destination. On this ride upon the narrow and curvy roads (in the rain) we encountered numerous frogs in our path as well as a party bus; other than that it was just Jeremy asking Sara his normal car ride questions. Questions such as, who she thinks out of the seven of us is going to live the longest, or if we were all stranded on an island how we would team up for survival—you know, normal car ride questions. After a plethora more of these questions we arrived at our house for the next four days. We all unpacked and ate dinner, still unaware of the stunning views that awaited us in the daylight. I would also love to say the sounds of rain on the rooftops lulled us to sleep, however Dominica was celebrating their Independence Day. The sounds of celebration filled the air as we drifted off, finally succumbing to the exhaustion of the day.  

The next morning the first thing I did was walk out onto our little balcony to look at the mountains that were once just silhouettes. The beautifully green mountains surround us on one side with a view of the ocean on the other. While this view was amazing, it’s not the reason we are here. So far on the island we have toured and met with people from the Kalinago Territory as well as completed our first reef survey at Bubble Beach in partnership with a local dive shop called Nature Island Dive.  Simon Walsh, the owner of the dive shop, and Jake Levenson are involved with Oceans Forward, a local conservation team. Oceans Forward does a great deal of marine conservation work in Dominica, but they also produce rum with 100% of the proceeds dedicated to funding the conservation and protection of marine organisms and their habitats.  

Today we visited with Dr. Lennox Honychurch who talked about his past in Dominica and how he worked in crafting policy related to historic, cultural, and environmental conservation. He also told us a bit about the several books he has written and how he has also authored books that are used in school systems throughout the Caribbean. We have one more survey site in Scotts Head that we will do later in the week. We will also be helping with a regional study having to do with recruitment of Diadema (urchins) through the use of bioballs. I don’t know much more than that, but I am very excited to see the whole process and learn more, as well as see some baby Diadema! 

Thank you all for tuning in and until next time, 

Keegan Kukucka, Syracuse University