Mission Blue founder Dr Sylvia Earle (centre) with Save Cayman’s Gabriella Hernandez (left) and Morgan Ebanks
(CNS Local Life): On the heels of Mission Blue founder Sylvia Earle’s visit last month to the Cayman Islands, the global organisation dedicated to protecting the oceans is partnering with local environmental group Save Cayman. Mission Blue advocates for protected marine spaces worldwide. The greater George Town harbour area has recently been selected as one of 14 new Hope Spots around the globe, which Mission Blue describes on its website as “special places that are vital to the health of the ocean”.
“We are pleased to work with Mission Blue,” said Morgan Ebanks of Save Cayman. “We hope that this new partnership will enable us to better educate our people and those around the globe about the value that our marine environment holds ecologically, economically, and culturally.”
Earle, in commenting on the partnership, said, “May the George Town harbour Hope Spot serve as an example to the world, encouraging people to take responsibility and ownership of their environment. The ocean is in trouble, but you can do something about it. We welcome the Cayman Islands to our global community as we work together towards this common goal. We want people to own their ocean and for Hope Spots to become a shared vision large enough to save and restore the ocean, the blue heart of the planet.”
Save Cayman said in a press release, “The serious damage incurred last week to Eden Rock reef by a cargo vessel that has permanently scarred this globally renowned area, should serve as a reminder as to how negligence and hubris can impact upon our environment and economy. It is a wakeup call on the continual vigilance and work that needs to be done as a community to protect the national treasure which is the George Town harbour.”
Save Cayman was founded in response to the proposed cruise berthing facility, which would require dredging a large area of the George Town harbour reef. The group is committed to advancing eco-tourism and environmental stewardship in the Cayman Islands.
Through the partnership with Mission Blue, Save Cayman hopes to work collectively to create more awareness about marine-based issues in Cayman with the aim to encourage environmentally conscientious action based on the needs of the community.
You cannot honestly believe that Cuba will not continue cruise line tourism? Cruise ship business will just not leave from USA. They will pick another island or Central America to leave from.
A Trump Presidency and Republican Senate puts the liberal ideas of an open, developing, and prosperous Cuba on ice for the foreseeable future. Whether or not we proceed to borrow hundreds of millions to build a pier in spite of that reality, won’t fix the headwinds facing Cuban-American relations. I doubt very much that the CCL and RCL strategic route development plans are the same as they were even a month ago. If anything, they’d surely be doubling down on their own de-risked private island destinations where they control the experience and reap 100% of the profits. We are gullible suckers if we believe otherwise.