[Coral-List] Low fishing areas of the Caribbean

Frank Muller-Karger carib at seas.marine.usf.edu
Fri Jun 4 15:14:28 EDT 2004


Dear Melissa:
Just a point of clarification - the turbidity you saw nearshore off the 
northern coast of the Dominican Republic is most unlikely to be of 
Orinoco origin, and more likely due to local rivers (possibly also 
bottom resuspension if you had weather and six-foot seas as you say); 
the turbidity is likely seasonal and intermittent, and high in patchy 
areas, locally off river mouths and downstream along the coast due to 
high sediment load, associated with poor land use and clearing of 
vegetation inland, etc.
Cheers,
Frank

Melissa Keyes wrote:

>Dear Mark, and fellow Listers,
> 
>I sailed all along the virtually uninhabited north coast of the Dominican Republic three years ago.  The mountains drop into the sea, and there are few streams or rivers or bays. There's no road along the coast, either.  I saw no fishing boats except a few tiny ones near the few villages, maybe five or six in all, outside of Puerto Plata and Sosua..
> 
>The water was green like "up North", due, I presume, to the Orinoco Plume, and the fact that the D.R. is downstream from Puerto Rico, and the Virgins.  I got into as shallow depths of water as ten meters, and could not see any bottom features at all through the greenish water.
> 
>I was unable to stop for a dive, much to my chagrin.  The weather and seas were too rough, and I was pushing toward safe harbors.  I've always wanted to go back and slowly work my way along the coast, diving every few miles.  This coast is very poorly charted. Haven't found anyone crazy enough to want to try to sleep anchored in six foot seas.  I bet the corals and fish populations there are untouched and beautiful, though.  There's a dive op in Luperon, and the people who dived with them said it was very nice, lots of fish and healthy corals.
> 
>Maybe next year!
> 
>I'm very much looking foreward to the book.  Please post where to buy it when it's published.
> 
>Cheers,
> 
>Melissa Keyes
> 
>s/v Vinga, St Croix, USVI. Bonaire, N.A.
>
>		
>---------------------------------
>Do you Yahoo!?
>Friends.  Fun. Try the all-new Yahoo! Messenger
>_______________________________________________
>Coral-List mailing list
>Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>  
>

-- 

__________________ FMK __________________
Frank Muller-Karger
Institute for Marine Remote Sensing/IMaRS
College of Marine Science
University of South Florida
140 7th Ave. South
St Petersburg, FL 33701

Phones:
  (727) 553-3335 Office
  (727) 553-1186 Lab.
  (727) 553-1103 FAX

e-mail/www:
<< carib at marine.usf.edu >>
<< http://imars.usf.edu>>
_________________________________________




More information about the Coral-List mailing list