SOME Bajans have a habit of throwing garbage into the gutter or storm drain in preference to actually littering the road. They see it as the lesser of two evils but volunteers who will be cleaning selected beaches and underwater areas this weekend know better. They will be the ones with the task of picking up all that garbage which washed into the sea and onto the beaches.

In recent years, they have collected about 13 tonnes each time from selected beaches. The full realisation of this type of pollution was very graphic during the last heavy rains. People who live and work in coastal areas found themselves deluged with water and garbage as dry storm drains came alive gushing out their contents onto the beaches and into the sea.

The 13 tonnes is what remains after what was erroneously eaten by marine life. Floating plastic can resemble jelly fish and fool sea turtles into eating it only to discover that their digestive systems have become clogged - and they die. This weekend will see clean-ups as part of the International Coastal Clean-up Day organised annually by the Washington-based Centre for Marine Conservation.  Volunteers collect, weigh, and catalogue marine debris which is fed into an international database.

The beach clean-up will take place on Saturday. Volunteers normally meet at and register at each beach. It is being spearheaded by the Adopt-Your-Beach Committee whose chairman Shawn Carter of the Barbados National Trust can provide further details for people wanting to volunteer. The underwater clean-up will be done on Sunday in Carlisle Bay starting at 9:30 a.m. and is being coordinated by the Coastal Zone Management Unit (CZMU).

"We continue to select Carlisle Bay for this event, as it is Barbados' largest bay, and is also a natural sink for debris coming all the way from the Belle Gully via the Constitution River," Andre Miller of CZMU said. "By comparing the results of the underwater clean-ups over the years we can often detect any changes in the types and amounts of litter discharged in inland Barbados.  In some cases, however, some of the debris collected has been sourced to yachts and other vessels anchored in the bay."

CZMU will provide mesh bags, gloves, light refreshments, emergency equipment and T-shirts for all participants. The Barbados Coast Guard will provide surface support. Though not finalised, one or more dive shops will be offering tanks and equipment at a reduced rate for all participants. There may even be prizes for the group who lands the most debris.

THE Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, met recently with his ministers and scientific advisors to get to the bottom of a massive fish kill in Kuwait bay. More than 2 500 tonnes of mallut have died, a streptococcus infection having been confirmed as the direct cause of the mass kill.  One of the possible sources being explored is the Streptococcus iniae which caused a fish kill in the southern Caribbean in 1999. The sale of fresh and frozen fish has been banned and scientists are trying to determine the types of and sources of pollution in the bay.

The Middle East News Online said: "Parliamentary sources who believe that the reason behind the fish catastrophe is chemicals expressed their belief that there are some attempts to hide the real reason of the devastating occurrence."  
They believe the chemicals could encourage bacterial growth to reach crisis porportions.  The news agency quoted unnamed sources as saying that fish pen owners reported the "sea waters were not normal" from August 8 to 10 and they had to leave the waters quickly because of severe itching, especially as water alkalinity was too high.

A "CODE BLUE" has been sounded for Caribbean biodiversity which scientists say is in need of dire protection.

It will take US$1 billion annually to protect the rich diversity of flora and fauna from disappearing and upsetting life-supporting ecosystems of countries and regions. This is significantly more than the US$80 million donated by private trusts annually for the last ten years. The report by Norman Myers of Green College, Oxford University, and his colleagues was published earlier this year in the journal Nature. 

A hotspot is defined on the basis of the percentage of endemic flora and fauna remaining and the degree of the threat. In real terms it is any region which has at least 0.5 per cent of the world's 300 000 endemic species and which at the same time has lost at least 70 per cent of its primary vegetation in which the endemic species live. Endemic species are those which are unique to a particular area and do not occur anywhere else. For example, the Turners Hall woods is home to several endemic species, not found anywhere else in the world and if the woods were to be destroyed the species would vanish from the face of the earth. 

The Caribbean has only 11.3 per cent of its primary vegetation remaining in which 2.3 per cent of all endemic plant species on the earth and 2.9 per cent of all endemic vertebrates live. As the primary vegetation continues to shrink the endemic life may be lost and therefore there is a need to protect them. Biodiversity is part of the chain of life, and as more of it vanishes, it disrupts the ecosystem of the region and impacts on the quality of life. Should the ecosystem of a particular country collapse, life as we know it would come to an end in that country.

BARBADOS through the Barbados Marine Trust carried out the first reef check on April 22 and Round 2 is scheduled for Saturday at 9:30 a.m. The objective is to document the health of six reefs: at Oistins, Hastings, Carlisle Bay, Batts Rock, Folkestone Tropicana. The meeting point for Carlisle Bay and the South Coast sites is Underwater Barbados, Bay Street, St. Michael, and for the West Coast sites, volunteers are to meet at Coach Houe Beach, St. James.

In this event, gear and tanks will be provided free of charge. At each meeting point, participants will be given slates, pencils and measuring tapes and will be taught the monitoring methodology one hour before diving. Reef checks, it is advised, should be carried out in water 40 feet or shallower. All divers interested in participating in either reef check on Saturday or the underwater clean-up on Sunday should contact either Angelique Brathwaite or André Miller at 228-5950/51/52.