Human Environment Interaction in Paradise

A barge in the Nassau Harbor

                       H.E.I Is everywhere even in tropical paradises. Some of the most apparent signs of human-nature geography were few but puzzling and important. A big issue that should not be overlooked is the pollution in hte Nassau Harbor. Captain Jeff shared a few thought s on the topic that really changed my view on the effects of people on the enviroment. I remember the first day all of us were so excited to be near the crystal clear water so we asked if we could swim to the boat, he said no. we asked why and he simply explained that the water was so polluted that we would get sick if we did swim in it. "But the water is so clear, how coukd it be so polluted?", we asked. Well Captain Jeff explained to us that the companies and their barges put thousands of pounds of wastes into the water every year. He also told us that one way to help the pollution situation is to put all of our food left-overs into the sea. These left-overs also include our bodily wastes. You would think that this would worsen the problem but really the nutrients in the food and our wastes help feed the fish and replenish this nutrient barrren sea.

             Another quite obvious H.E.I example was located of the side of Allen's Cay. When eleanor and I explored the sharp island, we got to the edge of the island thinking that we could jump off into the water. There was somethig in our way from plunging into painless safety. The huge piles of dead eaten conch was excrutiating to look at. There had to be more than two hundred shelled conch laying motionless on the side of the island. It looked like the conch population had gone through a brutal holocaust. It made me think of greedy island hoppers killing innocent animals and unknowingly putting a dent on the pefrectly rounded population of conch. Now there is a law stating that a conch must be a certain size before you can eat them. There was also another island with a certain unique type of H.E.I.. This island had Pigs! I am sure not many people have seen an island with pigs on them. Of course this type of H.E.I is apparent, I mean how did these pigs get here. Humans had to have taken the pigs on this island. In this case the way humans transported foreign animals onto a new land is not entirely harmful. Thsi could have gotten out of hand just like many the most invasive species in the U.S.. As I have noted most of the invasive species are foreign species that don't belong in the U.S.. Thankfully people are trying to control the levels of damage that people are doing to some of the world most beautiful places, Including The Exumas!!

The Amazing Conch

               A conch looks like a typical shell available at beaches anywhere, really what is inside is bigger than any average beach-goer would expect. A conch is often confused with typical shells able to be found at beaches around the world. A true conch is in its most abundance in and around the Carribean Sea. The Queen Conch or Strombus gigas is a gastropod,and invertebrate, that has a soft body protected by a very hard shell. Conch are consumed by many animals including people. The meat is not the only part of the animal you can use. The shell is used to make jewelry and to serve as the base of conch trumpets. The conch does not grow very fast so it is fairly easy to distinguish babies and full grown adults. The shell of the conch is spiral shaped lined with a smooth, pink lip. The shell is made from calcium carbonate that is taken from the sea. The shell can grow anywhere from four inches to one foot long! The smooth, pink lip curves towards the outside and on the inside there are spines to deter predators.




                 The Queen Conch is divided into three parts, the head, the visceral mass, and the foot. Two pairs of tentacles are located on the head. There is a light sensitive eye on each of the farger tentacles. The smaller pair of tentacles are used to smell and to touch. When young conch sense danger they are able to use there tentacles and small size to bury themselves under the sand. Conch have a diet that consists of grass, algae, and organic debris that floats in the sea. People with Queen Conch in their diet can't eat the whole conch on the "foot" is edible. The foot is a flesh peice of meat the serves as a way to move. When the conch is fully inside of its shell the foot is not visible. the foot is usually balck in color with a sharp "toe nail" attached at the end. to extract the conch from the shell either the person removing it must insert their hand into the lip and try toe pull it out or stab a hole at the top and pull out the meat. then you must cut off the non-edible parts, and continue to cook and consume thsi delicious animal!

Conch with its "toe nail" out