Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park February 2012 Seminar Series

Telephone: 340-779-4940
E-mail: info@friendsvinp.org
Friends of the Park Website

FULL MOON DRUM CIRCLE • Feb. 7, Tues. • 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Meet: Natl. Park Visitor Ctr.; Bring: A drum if you have one;
Seminar Fee: $25 Mem / $35 Non Mem • Max Group: 20

TREASURES OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS I & II
Feb. 8, Wednesday • March 7, Wednesday • 1:00pm – 4:00pm
Meet: Charlotte Amalie Waterfront at R&J Latte’s;
Bring: Energy & creativity;
Seminar Fee: $55 Mem / $65 Non Mem • Max Group: 12

BOTANICAL & HISTORIC HIKE • Feb. 11, Sat. • 9:00am – 1:00pm
Meet: Annaberg parking lot;
Bring: Sunscreen, hat, lunch, water, & hiking shoes;
Seminar Fee: $45 Mem / $55 Non Mem • Max Group: 25

COASTAL ECOLOGY • Feb. 12, Sun. • 9:30am – 3:00pm
Meet: National Park Visitor Ctr.; Bring: Lunch, water, sunscreen, & snorkel gear;
Seminar Fee: $75 Mem / $85 Non Mem • Max Group: 18

BUILD GREEN • Feb. 18, Sat. • 10:00am – 12:00pm
Meet: Skinny Legs Restaurant to carpool;
Bring: Notebook, building plans, & ideas;
Seminar Fee: $35 Mem / $45 Non Mem • Max Group: 20

MARINE BIOLOGY SAIL • Feb. 19, Sun. • 9:00am – 3:00pm
Meet: Natl. Park Visitor Ctr. Dock;
Bring: Snorkel gear, lunch, water, towel, & sunscreen;
Seminar Fee: $85 Mem / $95 Non Mem • Max Group: 30

HERITAGE EXHIBIT TOUR • Feb. 22, Wed. • 10:00am – 12:00pm
Meet: Cinnamon Bay parking lot; Bring: Notebook;
Seminar Fee: $25 Mem / $35 Non Mem • Max Group: 30

KAYAK CANEEL BAY I & II
Feb. 24, Fri. • Apr. 15, Sun. • 10:00am – 1:00pm Meet: Caneel Bay parking lot;
Seminar Fee: $75 Mem / $85 Non Mem • Max Group: 15

LEAP YEAR STARS • Feb. 25, Sat.. • 7:30pm – 9:00pm
Meet: Estate Concordia Pavilion;
Bring: Blanket, flashlight, pillow, & binoculars (if you have them)
Seminar Fee: $35 Mem / $45 Non Mem • Max Group: 35

St. John Live Music Schedule for tonight, Wednesday, February 1

Aqua Bistro – Rascio on Steel Pan – 5:30 – 8:30 – 776-5336
Castaways – Kenny Floyd – 8:00 – 777-3316
Coconut Coast Studios – St. John Flutes – 5:30-7:00 – 776-6944
Driftwood Dave’s – Paradise People – 7:00 – 10:00 – 777-4015
High Tide – Chris Carsel – 6:00 – 9:00 – 714-6169
Sun Dog Cafe – Wednesday Night Jam – 7:30-10:00 – 244-9713

See the weekly schedule

Virgin Islands Tourist Arrivals Up, But Spending Down
…Tourist arrivals to the Caribbean actually increased in 2010, with 23.1 million more people choosing to stay “over-night” versus taking a cruise and spending a few hours at a port of call.

This has not, however, translated into a return to pre-2008 incremental spending by tourists.

The United States Virgin Islands (USVI) are a prime example of this.

Located close to fellow US territory, Puerto Rico, and one of the Leeward Islands, the USVI consists of three main islands. Saint Croix, St John and St Thomas, along with the much smaller Water Island and several other minor islands.

During the recent Caribbean Media Exchange (CMEx) conference in St Thomas, USVI Commissioner of Tourism Beverly Nicholson-Doty, said per visitor expenditure have decreased even as arrival numbers increased over the last year.

In addition, many of the people who do take a Caribbean vacation spend less time here than did prior to the global financial crisis. The drop in spending is likely due to the origin of USVI visitors and their new economic mind-set, with many now choosing to save rather than spend and others just not having the “extra” money to spend on souvenirs and special tours while on vacation… Read more

Extention of Maho Bay Camps Lease – Miami Herald
Maho Bay Camps on the island of St. John has received an extension of its lease through June of 2013, giving the eco-friendly resort at least two more winter seasons. Owner Stanley Selengut vows this will be the last short-term extension: “We will either get a long-term lease which will allow for some wonderful capital improvements and investment in new technologies or close at the end of the lease in June 2013,” – Read more

Rainbow seen from the Trunk Bay Overlook

Trunk Bay 8:00 AM - Nobody on the beach

It was a particularly beautiful morning at Trunk Bay. I arrived early in the morning and swam until about 8:00. No one was on the beach the whole time. I showered and walked back to my car at the parking lot and there were seven taxis there already, but not a soul on the beach and not a fare in sight.

The water was still warm, but the occasional cold currents that came in from around Trunk Cay foretold the end of our Virgin Islands summer.

I noticed a squall heading east through the channel from Tortola and waited at the Trunk Bay Overlook hoping for a rainbow and I was rewarded for my patience. I did the same at the Caneel Bay Overlook, but a rainbow didn’t form there. The sun went behind some large clouds so I called it a day, but am pleased with the photos that I did get.

Rainbow Seen from Trunk Bay Overlook	Squall Seen from Caneel Bay Overlook
Rainbow	pelican and squall

St. John News
St. John’s Roller Moving up in Laser Radial Sailing
By AARON GRAY (Daily News Staff)
Published: October 20, 2011

U.S. Virgin Islands sailor Mimi Roller (Hugo and Josephine Roller’s daughter) is starting to make a run in the Women’s Laser Radial Division, taking a third-place finish in the second of two races Wednesday at the Pan American Games sailing competition in Puerta Vallarta… Read more

Blue Flags Raised Over Four Virgin Islands Beaches
By SEAN McCOY (Daily News Staff)
Published: October 20, 2011

ST. THOMAS – A blue flag denoting green eco-symbolism soon will fly over four Virgin Islands beaches.

The Virgin Islands have been awarded four Blue Flag designations by the Blue Flag International Jury.

The Blue Flag is an internationally recognized voluntary eco-symbol that means a beach or marina meets stringent water-quality, safety, educational and management standards. The symbol has been awarded to more than 3650 beaches in 44 countries worldwide.

The first four Blue Flag beaches in the Virgin Islands are at beaches highly impacted by human use – Lindbergh Bay and Great Bay on St. Thomas; Pelican Cove on St. Croix; and Trunk Bay on St. John.

The beaches were chosen because they are popular but still remain beautiful with work and education… Read more

Key Limes

Key limes are probably best known as the main ingredient of key lime pie, originally introduced in the Florida Keys. The tree was brought to the Caribbean by Spanish colonists, and then spread to the warmer areas of North, South and Central America. It has a unique flavor and grows well on St. John.

Key limes have their own special flavor, stronger and more aromatic than the more commonly found Persian lime.

Key limes are picked when green commercially, but left to their own devices they’ll turn yellow and fall off the tree, which gives them added flavor.

The lime tree in the photos was given to me by John Gibney and produces a great deal of fruit each time it blooms. It can survive the harsh conditions on St. John, but it does particularly well when given water during prolonged dry spells.

Ripe Key Limes

Harvest

ST. JOHN FILM – PRESS RELEASE

Free Movie Night: FREE SWIM Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 7:30 PM, St. John School of the Arts, Cruz Bay.

St. John Film Society will open its fall 2011 film series with a free screening of the award winning documentary FREE SWIM, a 50 minute documentary directed by Jennifer Galvin.

The film is about the paradox of Caribbean coastal people not knowing how to swim. Taking place on the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas we follow a group of kids as they overcome their fears, and reconnect with their environment by learning to swim in open waters. With fresh memories of a friend drowning and the conflicts of growing tourism, for these kids it’s not just about floating, but gaining new skills for their future.

In the U.S. about 60% of ethnically diverse children are unable to swim and African-American children drown at three times the rate of Caucasian children. FREE SWIM uses the topic of learning to swim as a way to explore more complicated aspects of life on Eleuthera, such as influences on community function by the media, drowning, tourism, overfishing, and education. The story thread is woven with footage of children learning to swim in their backyard sea. Underwater footage shows the challenges of learning to breathe in a new environment and the powers of discovering a beautiful, new world.

The post film discussion will discuss St. John programs that teach our youth how to swim. Featured guests include Dean Doeling, “Using Sport for Social Change” and the ‘Just Swim’ event and Laurel Brannick, champion of the VI National Park ‘Learn to Swim’ program.

The challenges of learning to swim on St. John are similar to those on Eleuthera and of interest to parents, visitors and everyone who enjoys our ocean waters as a playground.

St. John Weather Update
Plenty of thunderstorms with some cloud to ground lightning throughout last night associated with a low pressure system. At 6:30 this morning it’s partly cloudy and breezy. TS Ophelia is expected to effect our weather on Sunday.

Barracuda

teeth

Every once and a while I like to check out the Trunk Bay Underwater Trail. It’s not the most colorful reef close to the St. John shoreline, but it does have the advantage of being right off of beautiful Trunk Bay. Moreover, whenever I put on my mask fins and snorkel and dive into the clear blue waters of St. John, wherever it may be, I’m almost guaranteed to see something very cool and this time was no different.

First, there was that big old barracuda hoovering seemingly suspended from the one big healthy elkhorn coral on the reef. It even opened its mouth and showed me its big old sharp teeth.

Then there was the school of squid, one of which let me in close for some cool photos.

TS Ophelia Update
The somewhat unreliable five-day forecast shows Ophelia turning northwest and passing by well to the north of St. John. Ophelia is presently packing sustained winds of 60 mph with gusts of 70 mph. She is moving west at 16 mph and is predicted to be nearest the Virgin Islands sometime Sunday afternoon. The storm is not predicted to strengthen over the next five days.

TS Maria

I left the St. John for a visit to America right after TS Irene, and she caught up with me as Hurricane Irene in NYC. Now I’m back on island and what do I see on the weather underground website, but another storm apparently headed our way. Presently, Tropical Storm Maria is forecast to be just a little to the northeast of St. John by late Saturday afternoon and then passing to our north.

Although Hurricane Irene has already passed us by, we’re still being effected by the tail end of the system. All day it’s been cloudy, windy and squally and a satellite photo of Irene shows St. John and the rest of the Virgin islands well within the cloud cover associated with the hurricane.

Irene didn’t due much damage here, but I understand that St. Croix, where the eye of Irene passed over, had some problems.

In the BVI, Sir Richard Branson’s home on Necker Island was destroyed by a lightning strike. Kate Winslow, who was a guest on the island, reacted swiftly to carry Branson’s 90-year-old mother to safety. See Sir Richard Branson’s blog.

Irene has become an extremely dangerous storm and is forecast to pass through the Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas before impacting the US mainland.

The center of Tropical Storm Irene is predicted to pass just south of St. Croix late this afternoon. Right now at 5:30 AM on St. John, the wind is still and the seas are almost dead calm. Lightning flashes could be seen in the southeastern skies throughout the night.

“A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the U.S. Virgin Islands” meaning that “tropical storm conditions could occur… in the Virgin Islands later today.

“A Tropical Storm Warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area…in this case within 24 to 36 hours.

Francis Bay Trail, St. John USVI

The Francis Bay Trail accesses two excellent viewing stations where you can relax and comfortably observe the life on and around a typical St. John salt pond.

The handicap accessible boardwalk, which leads around the western side of the pond, takes you to a short pier extending out onto the pond. The pier ends in a fenced deck from which these photos were taken.

The best time to observe the activity on the salt pond is during the early morning or late afternoon. As these are the times that often brings out the resident bug population, arriving armed with some insect repellent might make good sense, just in case.

Another excellent view of the salt pond can be found from the benches located on the upper part of the trail.

Black-Necked Stilt	Black-Necked Stilt & Duck	Fishing
Ready to Fly	White Ibis	Deer