Clean with care!

Our islands’ beaches and all those who call it home are important to us all. Most people do not understand the importance of our beaches and reefs and the need to monitor them. Thanks to the people at Coastal Resource Management, Division of Environmental Quality, and Division of Fish and Wildlife, our beaches and the marine life that inhabit them are well monitored. Even then, it is up to us, the community, to take action. We can do our part by cleaning up after ourselves.

I am a recent graduate of Kagman High and I am lucky to have an internship opportunity with the CRM Marine Monitoring Team under the supervision of David Benavente and Rodney Camacho. As my mentors, both David and Rodney have provided me with great knowledge and understanding of our oceans and its inhabitants. They have shown just how important it is to understand our oceans plant life and animal life.

A very interesting and fun project we conduct every two weeks is reef-flat/lagoon surveys. The purposes of these surveys are to monitor and record any changes that may occur in the benthic and invertebrate community. This is done with four 25-meter transects. Both sides of the transect are recorded. Other tools we use are masks, fins, booties, and clipboards. After gathering the information the data is then logged into a database where it can be compared with previous years. A few of the beaches we surveyed were Bird Island, Pak Pak Beach, and Susupe Beach. Being that some of the survey areas can be extremely shallow, they are conducted when the tides are high so as to not damage the fragile corals.

Another project done often is a fore-reef survey that includes the whole MMT from both CRM and DEQ. The same methods apply, but other data are collected with longer transects and is conducted at least 25 feet underwater. You must be a certified open water scuba diver to take part in this survey. We take a speed boat to various sites and survey the ocean floor by scuba diving. Though I did not get to scuba dive I learned more about the different types of algae, fish, and invertebrates that inhabit our oceans. Sites like Mañagaha, Garapan, and Tinian reef were a few we surveyed.

A smaller survey we do is timed swims recording for any presence of Napoleon Wrasse and/or Bump head parrot fish. We call these fish “species of concern.” We explored the reef of Obyan with a couple of volunteers hoping to find these species of fish. Typical equipment like mask, fins, and booties were needed for this activity.

I still have a lot to experience and learn in the next month of my internship, and I know it will be a fun-filled and an unforgettable experience. During my time spent as a MMT intern at CRM I have learned to be more watchful of our islands’ marine life. I start college at Northern Marianas College in a month pursuing a career in business. Knowing what I know now and what I will gain as this internship continues, I will hope to minor in Natural Resources.

We can all contribute to the maintenance of our islands’ beaches and reefs. It just takes a person to realize just how important it is to keep our beaches clean. Remember: Clean with care, don’t leave it there.