By Kendyl Berna | Founder- Beyond The Reef
Thank you again to every donor who contributed to our campaign. We succesfully got into the GlobalGiving program which now gives us easy access for online donations.
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Beyond The Reef has just completed their 1-year survey of the "Willy T Wreck" and were blown away by the growth that has taken place in 1 year. Not only is the ship loaded with benthic growth such as sponges, algaes and corals forming, it has becomes the home to quite literally thousands of fish. The bottom floor of the ship has become home to thousands of small blue spats, while above the ship we documented barracuda, sharks and an array of Caribbean reef fish. It seems there are a few "resident" sharks living aboard the ship who have now been documented and reported from others multiple times. A reef shark that likes to sit underneath the captains table and a nurse shark that nestles itself in the sand at the bottom of the ship.
Beyond The Reef has also just purchased additional shark tags and recievers to continue shark research and monitoring in the BVI on a larger scale for the first time ever. The BVI is a shark sanctuary yet there is very limited research to go along with the policies put in place for sharks. Our goal is to place the receivers around Anegada where we suspect a breeding ground to be taking place. Our question is whether those sharks remain local to the BVI or if this breeding ground feeds out to the greater Caribbeans shark population.
Lastly, Beyond The Reef is hoping to begin fascilitating beach clean ups with local children in the outer islands. Not only will this help to clean up the outer islands, but the boat ride, the exploration of lesser known islands, the marine education and the community impact taught on their weekend outings will hopefully spark a lifelong interest in environmental stewardship within the children.
Thank you again for your support of Beyond The Reef and we will keep everyone updated on our progress!
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