APPROACH
APPROACH
Expedition
MONSERRAT
OCTOBER 2015
The Expedition
In October of 2015 the Waitt Foundation teamed with our colleagues at the Waitt Institute to support an expedition to their new Blue Halo Initiative site, the Emerald of the Caribbean: Montserrat. We were joined by a dozen international volunteer scientists, the crew of our research ship and two Barbudan Fisheries officers with their boat, in order to conduct scientific assessment around the entire island. We conducted close to 600 dives, made transects that cover almost 4 linear miles and our results were astonishing. Over 44,000 fish counted, 188 species confirmed, 43 of 62 Caribbean coral species observed and quite possibly as many as 150 different species of sponges. The people of Montserrat were very welcoming of our effort and we have high hopes that this jewel of the Caribbean will be the next successful Blue Halo site in the region.