|
Story and photo by Suzanne Nielsen and reprinted with permission of the
Daily Herald.
September 22, 2003
The first annual “Sea & Learn” tourist event
featuring international environmental experts will be
sponsored in the month of October by a consortium of
tourists businesses on the island.
The idea spawned from the growing popularity of a
Monday night slide show presented by local dive shop
Sea Saba, which introduced visitors to the island, its
history, and its unique marine environment. A similar
event featuring Saba's rainforest takes place weekly
at the Ecolodge Rendez-vous.
Joining forces with Juliana's Hotel and El Momo
Cottages, the four businesses are promoting a month
packed with a growing list of experts who will give
evening lectures, guided field studies, and generally
make themselves available to interested visitors as
value-added to their pre-packaged tour.
The purpose is to prepare an irresistible palette of
vacation-plus-learning that will tempt tourists to the
island. The unusual format will allow vacationers full
access to the experts in a once-in-a lifetime
experience. The subject matters are very wide-ranging,
but will be presented in a fashion to interest any
level of scientific exposure. “This is a celebration
of nature,” said the consortium spokesperson.
The new marketing approach should give a running start
to the coming season, as it offers an out-of ordinary
opportunity for naturalists. Several of the
internationally recognized experts already live on
Saba: Marine biologist Tom van t'Hof, tropicbird
expert Mandy McGehee, and entomologist Mary Roduner.
They will be joined by research biologist Mark Marks
from California, Professor Pedro Rivera from the
University of Puerto Rico on tropical forest ecology,
sea horse expert Allison Perry from England, tropic
fish ecologist Steve Simpson, orchid specialist
Stewart Chipka, education director for the Shark
Research Institute Dean Fessler --the list continues to
grow.
Updates to the full program may be reviewed on the
Sea Saba website, specifically this link:
www.seasaba.com/TargetPages/Sea&Learn.htm
Back to community news page.
Story and photograph © Suzanne Nielsen, 2005.
|
