This is the story of three seals: the Caribbean, the Hawaiian, and the Mediterranean monk seals. Once numbering in the hundreds of thousands, the Caribbean monk seal was a hugely…
One of the difficulties of studying rare and endangered species is that they are, by definition, hard to find. Scientists attempting to understand their distributions and the threats to their…
Thousands of Carnival revelers in Trinidad wouldn't think of missing the chance to go to Maracas Beach, the most famous strip of sand on the small Caribbean island off the…
On December 17th, officials first discovered a massive oil spill in the Caribbean-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. Since then, a series of oil spills have been discovered, coating beaches,…
The female Hispaniolan solenodon caught by Nicolas Corona in the Dominican Republic. She's awaiting being fitted with a radio collar. Photo by: Tiffany Roufs. So, here I am, running in…
From massive hotel development through the agriculture industry, humans are destroying the second largest barrier reef in the world: the Mesoamerican Reef. Although global climate change and its effects on…
In 2010 the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) pledged to set aside 17 percent of the world's land as protected areas in addition to protecting 60 percent of the world's…
How the biodiversity of Trinidad and Tobago have influenced everything from evolutionary science to tropical conservation. Sunset in Trindad and Tobago. Photo courtesy of Nigel Noriega. The two-island nation of…
We now live in a world dominated by humans (the Anthropocene), whose activities on Earth are resulting in new habitats and new environmental conditions including climate change. To many, the…
You can now visit up-close and personal some of the world's most imperiled ecosystems on Google Earth: coral reefs. The Google team is working with scientists to provide 360 degree…
Before the arrival of humans—with their dogs, cats, and wild pigs—the northern Bahamian rock iguana ruled its home range, being pound-for-pound among the biggest land animals on the islands. In…
Last Wednesday, bulldozers entered the Loma Charco Azul Biological Reserve (LCABR) in the Dominican Republic and began clearing vegetation for agricultural development. The move stunned local conservationists who had not…
The crystal-clear waters of Cayo Arena in the Dominican Republic. Photo by: Tiffany Roufs. Finding true ecotourism companies isn't easy. While the tourism industry worldwide has latched onto the term…
On 15 April more than 100 fishermen demonstrated in the streets of Fort de France, the main town on Martinique, in the French West Indies. In January they barricaded the…
Rainforest-covered karst mountains with pristine mangroves beneath characterizes one of the most stunning protected areas in the Caribbean: Los Haitises National Park. Photo by: Jeremy Hance. For its stunning variety…
Vieques Island. Photo by: USFWS. Life in the ocean require nutrient, but too much of a good thing can be hugely detrimental. Nutrient pollution from agricultural and industrial runoff causes…
Hurricane Sandy on October 25th in the Caribbean. Photo by: NASA. Although Haiti avoided a direct hit by Hurricane Sandy, the tropical storm caused severe flooding across the southern part…
Blue iguana in Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park. Photo by: Lhb1239. The wild blue iguana population has increased by at least 15 times in the last ten years, prompting the…
Cuban Amazon in the Grand Cayman islands, a different subspecies than the Bahamas' Cuban Amazon. Photo by: Lhb1239. I think about extinction a lot. It’s only natural for someone in…
Fan coral off the coast of Belize. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Only 8 percent of the Caribbean's reefs today retain coral, according to a new report by the International…
Migrating Whimbrels — a type of shorebird — may struggle for hours against winds when trying to cross the Caribbean during hurricane season but get a huge boost as they…
Change in vegetation cover by biome across Latin America, 2001-2010. Click image to enlarge. Latin America lost nearly 260,000 square kilometers (100,000 square miles) of forest — an area larger…
Flamingos head across the lakebed toward the corral. Photo by: Julie Larsen Maher. Click to enlarge. Scientists with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and other groups have banded nearly 200…
A ship approaches the Caribbean Island of Navassa. Photo by: Eddie Gonzalez. Don't feel bad if you‘ve never heard of Navassa Island, even though it's actually part of the U.S.…
World's rarest snake: Saint Lucia racer. Photo by: G. Guida. It's slithery, brown, and doesn't mind being picked up: meet the Saint Lucia racer (Liophis ornatus), which holds the dubious…
The three-toed pygmy sloth. Photo © Craig Turner/ZSL. The pygmy three-toed sloth (Bradypus pygmaeus) is one of the world's most endangered mammals, according to a detailed survey of the population,…
Sazima's tarantula: one of the top ten new species discovered in 2011 according to the annual list by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University. Photo by:…
Guardians of Nature students take a field trip to snorkel in coral reefs. Photo courtesy of: Miguel Hernandez. Colombia's northern departments of Cordoba and Bolivar are home to an abundance…
New species: the Anguilla Bank skink. Photo by: Karl Questal. In a single paper in Zootaxa scientists have rewritten the current understanding of lizard biodiversity in the Caribbean. By going…
New fish trap that allows unwanted fish to escape wins conservation award. Photo by: Tim McClanahan/WCS. An innovative fish trap that allows small non-target fish to escape has won a…
