back to Environment - Bimini, Bahamas

----- Original Message -----

From: Chris Sarro

To: sgruber@rsmas.miami.edu

Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2004 10:57 PM

Subject: Bimini Bay

Doc,

Since I've been here Grant and the others have told me about the Bimini Bay
project.  The last day off I took a walk up there and when I was there, I
realized just how much of a diaster this project is going to be if it goes
through.  Anyway I wrote this attatched document in the hopes that maybe I
can get it published in the NY Times or Boston Globe as a letter to the
editor or something and try to get the word out about what is going on doen
here.  Please read it and give me your opinion on it, also if you know of
any way to get this it the public please let me know.  Thank you very much.

Chris Sarro      

Slowly, the landscape begins to change. Trees are gone, land is flattened and the coastline is changed forever. The contoured landscape, including lush, green mangrove trees is displaced, replaced by sand and rock. Men, equipment and supplies move in, like an aggressive army ready to do battle with the enemy. This, however, is not a battlefield; it is a construction site on the small Bahamian island of North Bimini.

            The islands of Bimini are located about fifty miles east of Miami. A tropical paradise—blue skies, white sandy beaches and water colored a hundred shades of blue and green—surround these two small islands. The ocean supports an abundance of sharks, fish, rays, sea turtles, coral, lobster and other invertebrate life. In the air and on the land, a wide variety of birds flourish. 

            But, despite this beauty, disaster is close at hand. A construction project is in the works, one that will bring to North Bimini exclusive and expensive oceanfront homes and a vast golf course. A project that will give rich, (most likely) white and (most likely) Americans the opportunity to own a home with a tropical waterfront view … a little bit like “getting back to nature.” Most of these people think “getting back to nature” is watching the ocean while sitting in a pool drinking tropical drinks with a little umbrella in it, an apartment that overlooks Central Park or, maybe, even the suburbs. 

            Money has “colored” the island green for a select group of people. What they do not see behind the dollar signs—and the green—is an island full of beauty and a culture all its own … a way of life, in many ways, still uncorrupted by greed. But, not only is a way of life at stake. Just as importantly is the euphoric natural wonders—the water and the life it holds.

            This natural wonder, however, does not appear to satisfy people who want to see a golf course where there was once a shallow sound. If they have their way, people in golf carts, carrying hand-crafted designer clubs to “improve their game,” will replace what is now a pristine seascape. Essential habitat for the island’s abundant wildlife will be erased by a combination of bulldozers and landfill, landscapers and grass seed, groundskeepers and fairways. This fragile environment is on the verge of being sodomized with a jackhammer and a backhoe.

            Some may say this project will be good for the island and its people. How? Odds are it will end up being a small extension of “Yuppyville, USA.” Yes, the project will create jobs for the native Bahamians. But, what kind of jobs? Groundskeepers, maintenance workers, maids, waitresses and bartenders.  People in these positions will be serving rich, white people—the “elite” of society—and probably for low wages. Ah, yes, the islander’s dream—working for cheap money so rich, yuppie couples can enjoy an authentic Bahama Mama between the front and back nine.

            Not only will the new jobs be one of servitude, many of the jobs the natives currently hold will be lost. SCUBA diving is a major attraction on these islands. While the project will not directly destroy the dive sites, they will destroy a major nursery ground for many of the fish that people come to see. The complex ecological implications of filling in an entire sound are beyond comprehension. Bimini also is well known for its bone fishing. Filling in the sound will take away prime bonefish habitat, thus costing more people their livelihoods. 

            So, what is the fate of this beautiful island? For now, it appears all may be lost.  Money, mostly likely in synthetic shades of pastel pink or red buildings and green fairways, will replace the natural and brilliant blues and greens of the water, the soft white sand and the lush green mangroves.

            Today, young lemon sharks, nurse sharks, countless species of fish, rays, sponges, lobsters, and an assortment of birds live in the sound, each filling their own unique niche in this ecosystem. Soon, a sprawling golf course and housing development will cover what was once a virgin seascape, destroying what a young lemon shark had used as prime hunting ground.

            An ecological disaster is close at hand. As I watch the sun set over this beautiful island paradise, I hope this catastrophe will be averted. But, soon it will be too late. Soon, the trucks will role in and destroy this pristine land. As the sound is filled in and covered up, so will the life and secrets it holds be gone forever. Mankind and money will score, but it will do so at an unimaginable cost, dealing yet another devastating blow to nature.