Divers are installing waterproof speakers in the ocean to help pull a coral reef near Jamaica back from the brinkThe northern coast of Jamaica once served as the backdrop for scenes in the James Bond thriller No Time to Die. But today, beneath those same turquoise waves, a real-life mission is unfolding: the race to pull a dying coral reef back from the brink.However, the tools a team of divers are carrying to the seafloor are not what you would expect to find in a marine biologist’s kit. They a
Divers are installing waterproof speakers in the ocean to help pull a coral reef near Jamaica back from the brink
The northern coast of Jamaica once served as the backdrop for scenes in the James Bond thriller No Time to Die. But today, beneath those same turquoise waves, a real-life mission is unfolding: the race to pull a dying coral reef back from the brink.
However, the tools a team of divers are carrying to the seafloor are not what you would expect to find in a marine biologist’s kit. They are installing waterproof speakers at the bottom of the ocean, and the man leading the team is not a scientist.
Bills are seeking to change section that opposition says makes Godwin Friday, a dual citizen, ineligible to be PMThe St Vincent and the Grenadines government has delayed a controversial effort to amend a section of the country’s constitution that the opposition says renders the prime minister ineligible for his position in parliament.Two bills, among six listed for the parliament session on Tuesday this week, were aimed at clarifying a section of the 1979 constitution governing the citizenship e
Bills are seeking to change section that opposition says makes Godwin Friday, a dual citizen, ineligible to be PM
The St Vincent and the Grenadines government has delayed a controversial effort to amend a section of the country’s constitution that the opposition says renders the prime minister ineligible for his position in parliament.
Two bills, among six listed for the parliament session on Tuesday this week, were aimed at clarifying a section of the 1979 constitution governing the citizenship eligibility of members of parliament.
Key Points — NOAA’s April 2026 outlook gives a 61% probability of El Niño emergence in the May-July window rising to 62% for June-August, with a 1-in-3 chance the event classifies as “strong” during October-December 2026. — A moderate-to-strong event would cut Andean GDP by 0.6-1.7 percentage points, threaten 50% of LATAM’s hydro-dependent electricity supply, […]
The post Latin America’s Silent 2026 Risk: A Returning El Niño appeared first on The Rio Times.
Key Points — NOAA’s April 2026 outlook gives a 61% probability of El Niño emergence in the May-July window rising to 62% for June-August, with a 1-in-3 chance the event classifies as “strong” during October-December 2026. — A moderate-to-strong event would cut Andean GDP by 0.6-1.7 percentage points, threaten 50% of LATAM’s hydro-dependent electricity supply, […]
The school’s $100m project to examine its slave ownership in Antigua is mired with controversy as academics allege obstructionChristopher Newman remembers seeing campus police officers as he walked into a human resources office at Harvard University, but he didn’t imagine that they were there for him.It was July 2024, and Newman had just turned in the results of a two-month-long internship with the Harvard University Archives: an annotated bibliography for the landmark 2022 Harvard and the Legac
The school’s $100m project to examine its slave ownership in Antigua is mired with controversy as academics allege obstruction
Christopher Newman remembers seeing campus police officers as he walked into a human resources office at Harvard University, but he didn’t imagine that they were there for him.
It was July 2024, and Newman had just turned in the results of a two-month-long internship with the Harvard University Archives: an annotated bibliography for the landmark 2022 Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery Initiative report, which detailed the university’s ties to slavery across three centuries. He completed his project on Friday, 26 July, and on Monday, he said he received an email that HR wanted to meet with him.
Key Points — At least 108,838 people were murdered across Latin America and the Caribbean in 2025, with contract killings accounting for a growing share in countries from Colombia to Peru — In Bogotá, half of all homicides are now classified as sicariato — professional hits carried out as outsourced services between criminal networks, with […]
The post How Latin America Turned Murder Into a Flourishing Global Industry appeared first on The Rio Times.
Key Points — At least 108,838 people were murdered across Latin America and the Caribbean in 2025, with contract killings accounting for a growing share in countries from Colombia to Peru — In Bogotá, half of all homicides are now classified as sicariato — professional hits carried out as outsourced services between criminal networks, with […]
Key Points — The IMF’s April WEO cut global growth to 3.1% (down 0.2pp from January) and raised global inflation to 4.4%, citing the Iran war as the primary risk. Chief Economist Gourinchas said the world is “somewhere between the baseline and the adverse scenario.” — Latin America was raised to 2.3% growth (up 0.1pp), […]
The post Brazil Upgraded, Argentina Cut, Bolivia in Freefall: The IMF’s New Latin America Growth Map appeared first on The Rio Times.
Key Points — The IMF’s April WEO cut global growth to 3.1% (down 0.2pp from January) and raised global inflation to 4.4%, citing the Iran war as the primary risk. Chief Economist Gourinchas said the world is “somewhere between the baseline and the adverse scenario.” — Latin America was raised to 2.3% growth (up 0.1pp), […]
Brian Hooker told police that Lynette Hooker fell overboard and that strong currents carried her awayPolice in the Bahamas have released without charges a Michigan man who said his wife disappeared after falling overboard from a small boat in waters off the Caribbean island country, authorities said on Monday.Brian Hooker, of Onsted in southern Michigan, had been in police custody since 8 April – five days – after being questioned by authorities. Continue reading...
Brian Hooker told police that Lynette Hooker fell overboard and that strong currents carried her away
Police in the Bahamas have released without charges a Michigan man who said his wife disappeared after falling overboard from a small boat in waters off the Caribbean island country, authorities said on Monday.
Brian Hooker, of Onsted in southern Michigan, had been in police custody since 8 April – five days – after being questioned by authorities.
Key Points — The Dominican Republic welcomed 223,328 tourists during Holy Week — up 14.8% year-on-year — as European carriers redirected flights from Greece, Turkey, and Egypt toward Caribbean destinations after Middle East airspace closures grounded over 20,000 flights — Brazil recorded 2.6 million international arrivals in January–February 2026 (+22%), Costa Rica hit 653,959 (+10.4%), […]
The post War Reshapes Latin America’s Tourism Map appeared first on The Rio Times.
Key Points — The Dominican Republic welcomed 223,328 tourists during Holy Week — up 14.8% year-on-year — as European carriers redirected flights from Greece, Turkey, and Egypt toward Caribbean destinations after Middle East airspace closures grounded over 20,000 flights — Brazil recorded 2.6 million international arrivals in January–February 2026 (+22%), Costa Rica hit 653,959 (+10.4%), […]
Materializing out of the hazy blue, they gracefully glide on eight-foot wingspans. Whenever I’ve encountered a spotted eagle ray, this is how it starts. They seem to have an innate curiosity about snorkelers who reflect their quiet study. The spotted eagle rays will deliberately, peacefully, slowly come closer, making a wide circle around me before disappearing back into the mysterious deep blue. It all feels like slow motion. Never threatening or uncomfortable despite their size and advantage.
Materializing out of the hazy blue, they gracefully glide on eight-foot wingspans. Whenever I’ve encountered a spotted eagle ray, this is how it starts. They seem to have an innate curiosity about snorkelers who reflect their quiet study. The spotted eagle rays will deliberately, peacefully, slowly come closer, making a wide circle around me before disappearing back into the mysterious deep blue. It all feels like slow motion. Never threatening or uncomfortable despite their size and advantage. But here’s the thing – if you wait in that quiet moment after they’ve gone, they usually come back around. I love that sense of curiosity, that shared way of seeing the world.
One of my favorite things about snorkeling is being immediately accepted as a part of the underwater world. As long as I don’t stalk the sealife, I can float among them, as one of them, ebbing and flowing with the rhythm of the waves.
It’s been a process. I used to be wary in the water, afraid of things touching me that I couldn’t see (slimy aquatic plants, nibbling panfish, or any variety of things I might step on in the oceans). I always waited for someone else to jump in first so I wouldn’t be alone in the vast unknown.
Once in the water, I stuck close to my snorkel buddy. If I couldn’t see another person in the water, a flush of panic would send me swimming madly back to the perceived safety of social connection. I always swam around instead of over shallow coral heads – you never know who is lurking in those crevices, ready to strike at my soft belly!
But this trip –
I jumped in first. Alone in the water, I saw my first “real” shark (ie, not a nurse shark), a black-tipped reef shark swimming away from me. I was energized!
I followed my curiosity regardless of where others went. I found myself alone, and it was okay. A fellow snorkeler yelled over, “We’re going back to the boat, and I don’t know where any of the guides are.” I’m not going to get out until I’m cold or the guide says we’re leaving. My buddy was still in the water somewhere. I’m having the time of my life.
I sucked in my belly and floated closely over the coral, fascinated by all the tiny creatures that inhabit these living “rocks”.
In all my years of escaping the cold and snow to be healed by warm waters and humid air, I have never been blessed with so many days of sunshine for snorkeling. The rays of light make the dramatic colors of sealife illuminate with indescribable intensity. Awe at every turn. This is the reward for waiting out four days of high winds, rain, and clouds.
Reef Squid
Caribbean reef squid tend to hang out in the shallows, close to shore, amidst the seagrasses. They often congregate in flotillas of six or more, changing colors to suit their mood or to camouflage themselves from predators. They are iridescent at rest, but turn bright gold, white, or reddish at times.
The Wall
There’s an undersea wall just south of the atoll where the ocean floor drops abruptly away. It’s a popular scuba diving site. As a snorkler on the surface, it’s dramatic as everything fades into the deep blue. Your imagination can get the better of you, wondering who is lurking just outside the reach of your vision. Don’t let it deter you from this exploration of wonder. Each coral head perched along the edge of the wall was staked out by a barracuda. I quit counting after twenty! Let’s just say they were everywhere.
It’s a year-round no-take zone, with one exception: invasive lionfish. Lionfish are native to the South Pacific and Indian Oceans. Their presence in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean is detrimental to the health and biodiversity of the reef ecosystems. Adult lionfish are voracious fish-eaters, eating the prey normally consumed by snappers, groupers, and other native species, leaving native fish to go hungry. A single lionfish residing on a coral reef can reduce the numbers of native reef fish on that coral patch by 79 percent! Their neurotoxic venomous spines mean they have few predators in the Caribbean. As such, lionfish may be killed throughout these waters without limitation. Our guide speared one and fed it to a nurse shark.
Giant Eel
The green moray eel is the largest eel in the Caribbean, growing up to eight feet in length. No wonder this one had no hesitation free-swimming among a group of gawking snorkelers. He was a bit intimidating!
A Marine Escort
An immense school of tang floated with me and then escorted me back to the boat where all my fellow snorklers (and guides!) were waiting. I felt part of an underwater parade!
If you’re interested in purchasing or licensing any images you see here, please email me at SNewenham at exploringnaturephotos.com, and I’ll make it happen.
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