THE BAHAMAS Agriculture & Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) has been fortunate to partner with several international agencies and non-profit organizations that are engaging in field research throughout the islands of the Bahamas. Saving the Blue (STB) is one such entity. Its mission, to recover and restore a variety of threatened marine species, while connecting communities to ocean wildlife, aligns well with BAMSIís push to educate its marine science students, introduce them to the marine environment and increase their exposure to issues related to conservation and green sustainable living. 

This [engagement] is indeed a testament of the vast potential of our young Bahamians, Alaasis Braynen, CEO and General Manager of BAMSI, said. ìItalso demonstrates the strength of the marine program at BAMSI College whichis based on the high caliber of lecturers and the rigors of curriculumcontent. It is in fact the BAMSI College, marine degree, which has become amagnet to leading universities in the United States and we look forward tocollaborations involving both lecturers and students which will be of mutualbenefit.

For two BAMSI students, Bianca Miller and Skye Minnis, the collaboration between the College and Saving the Blue has provided an exciting opportunity for them to gain training, experience and exposure alongside seasoned marine scientists.

Nineteen-year-old Miller, a graduate of North Andros High School and a second year Marine Science student, said she first met with the STB team during a trip to Cargill Creek, Central Andros. She had been corresponding with Dr. Tristan Guttridge, Vice President and Director of STB after a classmate told her about the organisation. 

During that first trip, a shark and stingray tagging exercise, Miller recalls that the group went out on a boat ìsuper early in the morning. They started the day off by taking muscle samples from sting rays and spent the rest of the day looking for sharks. Unfortunately, they did not come across any sharks on that excursion. Miller admits to getting discouraged, but she realized she needed to be patient with the process if she was to have the encounter that she was excited to experience.

The following day the group planned to go to the Tongue of the Ocean, and Miller was cautioned not to have breakfast advice that she quickly understood once they began to experience bad weather and she got seasick. Not to be sidelined by the rough seas however, Miller said she was still able to participate in the research activities.

I still tagged two sharks, which was exciting, and I got to help pull in the buoys. I was kind of scared when tagging the shark for the first time, but eventually I realized it wasnít as bad as I thought everybody has a fear of sharks,îshe said. 

Looking back on the experience Bianca said that she learned a lot. ìI learned how to tag sharks. I was watching how they set up on the boat. I also learned how to tie a bow knot for the boat, and I asked questions about what they do with the samples. I was curious, because I didnt know of any lab being in Andros they said they sent the samples back to Florida.

Saving the Blue is a great organization for the simple fact that Ive been in Andros all my life, and I didnít know we had people who came to the island related to marine research, except for BNT and Forfar (Forfar Field Station is owned and operated by International Field Studies (IFS), a non-profit). When I found out about their shark research I was very excited, Miller said.

I wish they had more organizations working in North Andros, especially for younger people, ones in high school, to give them more of an insight into their environment. Growing up, I never met anyone who wanted to pursue a career in environmental studies.

With her graduation fast approaching (Class of 2023) Miller is focused on a career in conservation in the marine environment. I want to work in the Bahamas. Itís important because we are surrounded by water, so preserving the marine environment is important. Ultimately, Iíd like to get my PhD.

President of Saving the Blue Annie Guttridge said that she, along with her teammates are excited to be working with BAMSI and are looking forward to some exciting collaborations in 2023. Speaking of the students, Mrs. Guttridge said ìeveryone is just so wildly different from the next one. Many of them have never been out in deep water before. Tashon [Burrows, a third BAMSI student] never snorkeled before, but we were able to put him in the water swimming with sharks. Yes, he might have been afraid, but he did it.

Mrs. Guttridge said that during Biancaís first excursion, the team was focused on capturing sting rays and taking samples for their Great Hammerhead project. The project examines factors associated with the shark, including the role stingrays play in their diet. Mrs. Guttridge said they had previously engaged in similar research in Bimini, but this would be their first time doing it in Andros. 

Part of STBs mission, she said, it to really give Bahamian students the opportunity to get hands-experience with a variety of marine-related projects. ìNot many people are offering this opportunity in Andros. We want them to see it for themselves. They want to become marine biologists, but theyre not really able to try it, so we give them an opportunity to see if this is something they really want to do or maybe be more office based. We want them to see if they love the experience, love being on the waterpeople find what they love, she said.

For twenty-year-old Skye Minnis, a Marine Science major in her final year at BAMSI, her STB experience began with an Instagram post. During an internship with the International Field Studies the agency highlighted on Instagram a project Minnis was working on and Dr. Guttridge commented, saying he was glad to see her getting dives in and that she should reach out to STB.

After reaching out to him and communicating back and forth for several months, Minnis was finally able to join them on a tagging expedition in November. I went down to Cargill Creek with STB and I ended up staying for five days. During that first trip we saw six species of sharks and placed acoustic tags on the sharks.

In January, Minnis had another opportunity to be a part of STBís research team. Unlike the excursion in November, this time they focused on collecting muscle samples from Southern Stingrays to compare data analysis. I was able to take some muscle samples from two of the rays that we caught. I learned a lot about the different sharks during this trip, how they behaved, how they act in certain environments and how they respond to certain things.

For Minnis, the STB team has been a valuable resource. For her final paper for BAMSI, Dr. Guttridge is helping her carry out research which looks at the Impact of Sharks on Bahamian Fishermen. She had initially planned on focusing on Andros exclusively, but with the support of the STB team Minnis now looks to expand her thesis to cover more of the Bahamas. ìThis is the first study like this to be done in the Bahamas. A similar one was done in the Maldives, Minnis said. 

Itís an amazing organization with amazing people, really nurturing, both Annie and Tristan. Tristan, he was really nice, I asked questions and he was very keen on answering. He told me that for my age, Im getting a lot of experience. When he was my age he didnt get the experience that I am getting. He didnt get it until he was much older. He was happy that young persons were getting that experience from BAMSI.

Going forward, Minnis is expected to be a part of The Discovery Channelís Shark Week expedition. And she is currently working on her dive master and scuba instructor certification. She also plans on continuing to work at the Field Station and with STB.

Caption: Nineteen-year-old Bianca Miller, a graduate of North Andros High School and a second year Marine Science student at BAMSI has her first experience helping to tag a shark.
   
   

Caption: Twenty-year-old Skye Minnis, a Marine Science major in her final year at BAMSI (second from left), helps the Saving the Blue team weigh and measure a stingray. 

The Saving the Blue team