andros island bahamas
Bahama Islands News, Articles and Information
Marine resources at risk
The protection of the country's marine resources is a matter of national security, according to a local environmentalist. A guest on More 94 FM's 'Real Talk Live', Margo Blackwell, Director of The Bahamas Environmental Research Centre, said local authorities must work together to combat poaching."The police has power, customs has power and the Defence Force power has that power," said Ms Blackwell. "We need to combine our efforts."
Ms Blackwell added that the largest island in the country, Andros, has only one Department of Fisheries officer stationed there. More must be done to protect the underwater environment, she urged.
"I think this is a National Security issue," she stated. "I think it is so important that our resources be protected."
In May Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources, Leslie Miller, expressed his concern over the country's dwindling marine life.
Mad dash for water!
Grand Bahama residents are readying themselves for whatever Tropical Storm Ernesto brings their way, stocking up on hurricane supplies and buying stores out of gallons of water.In fact, residents have made a mad dash for the item, which has become the hottest commodity and folks are being advised to stock up early.
With a tropical warning and hurricane watch remaining in effect for Grand Bahama, Bimini, Andros and the Berry Islands, Grand Bahamians are not taking Ernesto lightly.
Yesterday, Andros, the Berry Islands and Bimini experienced four to six inches of rain as rain bands continued over the northwest Bahamas and the Florida keys.
A better organized Ernesto had formed and forecasters say tornadic activity is possible.
As of 5:00 p.m.
Ernesto keeps S. Florida on edge
Forecasters placed the Florida Keys under a hurricane watch Sunday, they prepared to issue a similar alert for Broward and Miami-Dade counties and Gov. Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency as the first hurricane of the year -- Ernesto -- threatened the entire peninsula.After eight hurricanes in the last two years, with thousands of people still living under blue tarps, the state's recurring nightmare is recurring today.
Though Ernesto was temporarily downgraded to a tropical storm Sunday night, forecasters issued a hurricane watch for the Keys and for Andros Island in the Bahamas, meaning that hurricane conditions were possible within 36 hours. All tourists were ordered to leave the Keys.
The storm was expected to re-intensify and forecasters said the hurricane watch could be extended by dawn today through Miami-Dade and Broward and to other areas.
Boca man says sharks are scary
Eric Weiss was snorkeling for lobster off the coast of Andros Island in the Bahamas when he encountered a mysterious shadow in the ocean's distance five summers ago. The shadow turned out to be an 8-foot bull shark. "It kept its distance but it definitely knew I was there," said Weiss, a Boca Raton resident and sophomore at the University of Florida. "I knew bull sharks are bad news because they are one of the most aggressive sharks even though it's rare to see one," Weiss said. "I pretty much had it in my head that if a bull shark saw me he would definitely come over and see what's up." And it did, getting as close as about 15 yards from Weiss before disappearing. "It was scary being there," Weiss said. "It was a big boy." Despite encounters like Weiss', shark populations are decreasing globally, said George H.Bahamas Ministry of Health and National Insurance Announce End of Malaria Transmissions on Great Exuma
The Bahamas Ministry of Health and National Insurance advised on August 4, 2006 that local transmission of malaria on Great Exuma had positively ceased. This conclusion and announcement is based on the passage of three successive incubation periods of 15 days with no new cases of the disease identified. Upon confirmation of a case of malaria on June 6, 2006, the Ministry of Health, with assistance from the Pan American Health Organization, began an aggressive program on island to identify possible infections, treat where necessary and eradicate environmental sources of the disease. The investigation revealed a small cluster of 19 cases and all were successfully treated. No cases were reported outside the island of Great Exuma. Nassau/Paradise Island, Grand Bahama Island and Out Islands including Abaco, Andros, Bimini, Cat Island, Eleuthera, Harbour Island and Long Island were unaffected.
Bahamians celebrate
From Andros to Acklins to Grand Bahama, Cat Island, Eleuthera and Fox Hill, something will be happening all over The Bahamas this August holiday weekend and Bahamians are on the move to these destinations to be participants and spectators in the various activities.The evidence is seen at the Lynden Pindling International Airport, where the main parking lots are overflowing and additional parking places have been made available by the Airport Authority. This measure would encourage drivers to be more considerate and not to block other vehicles, and will also ensure that when they return, the vehicles are where they were parked and have not been towed.
Junkanoo enthusiasts will invade Freeport for Sunday night's second 'Feel the Rush' Junkanoo parade, which is expected to be even better than last year's initial parade.
Land use manual urged
An environmentalist is calling on the government to introduce a land-use manual to protect the country's fragile environment, especially wetlands in Andros.Margo Blackwell, a guest on Sunday Conversations, an Island FM radio talk show, said that despite Andros being the largest island in The Bahamas its land must still be carefully used, and protected as necessary.
Mrs Blackwell heads the Bahamas Environmental Research Centre in Andros.
She said that, "Andros is huge and big and we all brag about it being the fourth largest island in the Caribbean...The bottom line is at least two thirds of Andros is wetlands connected from the east to the west, and so you don't have useable land. That's one of the issues that we have to be very careful about.
ERNESTO FORECAST A GUESSING GAME
Forecasters placed the Keys under a hurricane watch Sunday, they prepared a similar alert for other parts of South Florida and Gov. Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency as Ernesto threatened the entire peninsula.After eight hurricanes in the past two years, with thousands of people still living under blue tarps, the state's recurring nightmare is recurring today.
Though Ernesto was temporarily downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm Sunday night, forecasters issued a hurricane watch for all of the Keys and for Andros Island in the Bahamas, meaning that hurricane conditions were possible within 36 hours. All tourists were ordered to leave the Keys.
The storm was expected to re-intensify and forecasters said the hurricane watch could be extended by dawn today through Miami-Dade and Broward and to other parts of the state.