Honduras’ MiskitoText and photos by George Stoyle Cays 49 X-RAY MAG : 59 : 2014 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO Diver swims along the edge of a reef covered Miskito Cays travel in marine life, Miskito Cays, Honduras PREVIOUS PAGE: Rope sponges cling to a boulder Following six flights, two nights and a 30-hour boat trip, I found myself approaching a relatively uncharted group of small coral cays about 60km off the northeast coast of Honduras, not far from the Nicaraguan border. I joined a group of scien- tists from various institutions around the world, assigned to document their activities and photograph the habi- tats and associated wildlife both above and below the water. Embarking on the Caribbean Pearl II from Utila, one of the Bay Islands a few miles off the north coast of Honduras, we made our way along the coast to an area unknown to the region’s tour- ist diving operations. As we got close to the cays, our crew grew increasingly nervous, perhaps jus- tifiably so. This part of Honduras has long been a major route for cocaine trafficking into the United States from South America, and the region through which we were sailing was well-known for its use were boarded ourselves by five The archipelago islands and sand bars are dis- inhabit communities along the the blood-sucking insects) La by certain cartels who preferred soldiers armed to the teeth, car- The Miskito Cays form an archi- persed across 750 squ km of shal- coast of both countries. The Mosquitia. moving their cargo by sea. rying out a pre-arranged search) pelago spanning both Honduran low seabed. The area is named region is known as the Miskito La Mosquitia is in some ways However, the apparently efficient provided a vague form of com- and Nicaraguan waters. On after the indigenous people of Coast, or more accurately (the the wild west of Central America. military presence in the area (we fort, and so we continued. the Honduran side, 49 tiny coral the region, the Miskitos, who name has nothing to do with The region is tropical rainforest 50 X-RAY MAG : 59 : 2014 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO travel Miskito Cays September 21 & 22, 2013 (Saturday & Sunday) PhoenixDiveShow.com October 5 & 6, 2013 (Saturday & Sunday) StlouisDiveShow.com October 11 & 12, 2013 ( Friday & Saturday) CarolinaDiveShow.com January 25 & 26, 2014 LEFT TO RIGHT: Christmas tree worms; Social feather-duster worms; Midnight and rainbow parrotfish (Saturday & Sunday) BaltimoreDiveShow.com is scuba diving, 80ft in length are packed with 100 to close the waters surrounding wilderness forming the greatest but this remains men. Divers, assisted by canoeists, the Miskito Cays to industrial fish- continuous expanse of tropi- relatively primi- who follow them from the surface, ing. They are proposing an area cal forest north of the Amazon. tive and danger- make multiple dives to depths of of 1.45 million hectares to be the Sparsely populated the area has ous, relying for 120 feet or more. Incidents result- exclusive use of a locally man- an exceptionally high diversity of the most part ing from incorrect procedures or aged, small-scale artisanal fishing flora and fauna. It is only accessi- on basic, poorly malfunctioning equipment have fleet using improved fishing meth- February 22 & 23, 2014 ble by water or air and much of it maintained become common-place. ods, that don’t include scuba. (Saturday & Sunday) TexasDiveShow.com remains unexplored. equipment with Many divers have lost their lives, In order to realise this ambitious Although tourism exists, the little regard for and many more have permanent, proposal, the relevant Miskito region only attracts a few hardy the safety of debilitating injuries resulting from communities will not only require explorers each year, so there is the diver. As decompression related illness. retraining in new fishing methods no actual tourist infrastructure to the popula- More than 1,000 permanently but also a solid management speak of. The area’s inhabitants tions have been disabled men are left scattered in strategy that combines fishing reg- include four indigenous groups overfished, the remote communities of La Moskitia ulations with marine spatial plans. (the Pech, Tawaka, Garifuna and remaining lobster as a result of diving for these fish- Community leaders have speci- Miskito) with the majority com- Risky fisheries and conch have been driven into eries. fied these plans must identify and www.usdiveshows.com posed of Miskito people who live For over 40 years these fisheries deeper waters. Human casualties protect critical habitats, nursery facebook.com/usdiveshows on the coast. With few available have continued with exception- from diving associated incidents Proposed protected area grounds and other ecologically livelihoods, many of the men from ally poor management resulting in have risen as a consequence, The effect this is having on many important areas. these remote villages work in the unsustainable exploitation not only and now there are around 120 communities is now becoming As with many remote locations, industrial fisheries for lobster and of the marine resources, but also diving accidents per fishing sea- apparent, and now many of the the environmental impact of sus- conch, and more recently, sea of the fishermen themselves. son with around 20 being fatal. indigenous groups are calling tained exploitation of industrial fish- cucumbers. The primary method of fishing Industrial fishing vessels around on the Honduran government eries around the Miskito Cays have, 51 X-RAY MAG : 59 : 2014 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO Deepwater sea fans; Yellowline arrowcrab travel (below) Miskito Cays to date, largely been ignored. Due Research program to the relative isolation of the area, In collaboration with a team the past and current condition of international research- of the ecosystem and its regional ers from the Smithsonian significance is essentially unknown. Institution, Harbor Branch This lack of information is one of Oceanographic Institute, the largest hurdles preventing University of Queensland these communities from develop- in Australia, University of ing their plans further. Manchester in the United Kingdom, and a Honduran non- tion to enable the Miskito commu- for the condition of the coral how these reefs are connected governmental organisation—the nities to move forward with their reefs and associated biodiver- to other Honduran and western Centre for Marine Studies—Dr sustainable fisheries and marine sity. Ultimately, the objectives are Caribbean marine ecosystems. Steve Box, a marine biologist management proposal. to assist both local groups and The study will also be used as part from the Smithsonian Institution A central part of this program the government of Honduras of ongoing comparative research has developed a multi-discipli- is to gather essential ecological move towards the sustainable programs across the entire nary research program in order data of the Miskito Cays region use of their marine resources Caribbean. to provide the missing informa- in order to establish a baseline and improve understanding of Yellowline goby peering out from a great star coral colony 52 X-RAY MAG : 59 : 2014 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO Deepwater sea fans travel Miskito Cays Research activities Combined, this The schedule was rigorous, involv- research will greatly ing both underwater and terres- improve understand- trial surveys. A small team took ing of the physical, the tender vessel and landed on environmental and as many of the cays as possible ecological context to ground-truth various satellite of the proposed imagery and bathymetric charts. Honduran Miskito A team of divers conducted Cays marine area. surveys to assess the abundance of corals, algae and fishes using a Diving standardised reef monitoring pro- Following our tocol, while individual divers were slightly un-nerving responsible for collecting various run-in with the samples for later lab analyses. Honduran Navy, we These were used to assess the approached the severity and prevalence of coral first of the northern diseases along with the diversity group of cays. Some and abundance of sponges and were no more than algal communities. Genetic anal- slightly elevated yses was used to uncover patterns patches of sand, of dispersal for three commercial only just visible fisheries species and an endan- above the water, gered coral species among the while others were reefs of the northern and southern well-established areas. small islands with dense vegetation providing habi- area were scarce. Although not Although the Miskito Cays are tat for large numbers of breed- thought to be vastly different from known for fishing, they are far ing seabirds. Ringed by thin strips other coral reefs in the Western away from the mainland, which of white sand gently sloping into Caribbean, nobody really knew limits direct land-based human vivid turquoise lagoons, the cays what to expect. impacts. These reefs therefore were almost stereotypically beau- Many reefs throughout the have the potential to be compar- tiful—exactly what one would entire Caribbean have suffered atively healthier than their coun- expect from remote coral islands significant declines over the last terparts in other locations. in the Caribbean. 30 years. This decline, however, is Secretly hoping for crystal clear An air of excitement and mostly described on reefs close to water, whale sharks, manta rays anticipation filled the boat as we areas of human population and and pristine coral reefs like no prepared for our first dive. Due thought to be caused partly by a living soul has seen before, my to its relative inaccessibility, this combination of human-induced descent onto the first reef was region was largely unknown to pressures such as overdevelop- one of mixed emotions.