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!!