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The Sea, The Storm and the Mangrove Tangle

“A seed from a mangrove tree floats on the sea until it comes to rest on the shore of a faraway lagoon where, over time, it becomes a mangrove island that shelters many birds and animals, even during a hurricane. And the cycle begins again. While the message is clear, it is the splendid, realistic illustrations of marine life akin to the author’s near classic The Great Kapok Tree (1990) that generate appreciation and awareness of the endangered mangroves…The author’s note explains how beneficial they are and makes a plea to save the mangroves by writing support letters.”
Kirkus review
Trouble in Paradise. These Bimini mangroves (seen from the air) should be protected as a Marine Protected Area (MPA) but they are threatened with development. Scroll down the left sidebar to see what you can do to help save them!
Bimini Destroyed: The brown area used to be all mangroves. HILTON HOTELS TORE UP MOST OF THE MANGROVES. Please help prevent this from happening on the rest of the island by writing to Hilton hotels. PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO SEE A SAMPLE LETTER TO THE C.E.O. OF HILTON HOTELS.

AN ECOLOGICAL TRAGEDY UNFOLDS ON BIMINI IN THE BAHAMAS: Hilton Hotels Destroys Irreplaceable Essential Mangrove Ecosystem

Bimini was made famous by Ernest Hemingway who set his novel Islands in the Stream there. Its proximity to the Gulf Stream and a deep ocean channel makes it a sports fisherman’s paradise.

MANGROVES provide nurseries to all the fish in the sea; Fish can lay their eggs there. Larval fish can grow up there and small fish can hide there. Mangroves also protect the young of conch, lobster, shrimp, finfish and bonefish (sports fish) Without the mangroves, the Bahamas lose their fish!

Bimini’s fishery is the keystone of its economy: the people of Bimini depend on the fishery for their food, and the natural beauty and bounty of the island attract tourists, an economic mainstay.

The North Sound of Bimini, which consists entirely of mangroves, was supposed to have been preserved as a Marine Protected Area (MPA) where the eggs of fish, conch, shrimp, lobsters and many other living things could grow up into adulthood without being disturbed.

This developer wants to destroy all the mangroves and build a casino, hotel, golf course, marina and more condominiums.