© copyright 2003 by K. Morin and N. Hutt,
Marine Documentation & Analysis Group (MDAG)

Preamble: This is another installment in our series documenting the marine environment in tropical environments.  Depending on the size and proximity of human populations, the quality of a local marine environment can range from pristine to heavily degraded.  We document marine nearshore environments close to human populations, particularly those considered "paradise" by tourists flocking to them, to evaluate their current condition and to assess trends after additional future visits.  This highlights the unseen, and rarely discussed, effect that tourism can have on marine environments.

Sosua Bay

We returned to the Dominican Republic to carry out some on-land environmental work, which gave us an opportunity to assess the marine environment on the north coast of the country.  We chose to examine Sosua Bay (Photos 1 and 2), which is surrounded by a town a short distance east of the airport at Puerto Plata.

Photo 1. Sosua Bay, Dominican Republic (click to enlarge).
Photo 2. Sosua Bay, Dominican Republic (click to enlarge).

Even a short distance from shore, during shore dives, we found a modest number of fish, eels, rays, octopi, and squid (see photos below).  Hard coral was generally scarce and generally lacked vibrant colours with a few exceptions, although we have also noticed this at several other sites in the Caribbean.  We were impressed by the occasional soft purple fan corals up to about 0.5 m in diameter, and noted several large tube sponges.

Sharks and whale sharks were reportedly seen occasionally around Sosua Bay in past years, but they have apparently vanished in recent years.  This disappearance may be related to the human attention generated whenever a shark appeared and/or the reported hunting of sharks.

The health and abundance of coral and fish reportedly increase along the north coast of the Dominican Republic away from towns, which indicated some of the local people believe they have adversely affected the nearshore environment.  Nevertheless, we were surprised to find such a variety of aquatic life in such a populated bay.

Photo 3. Underwater View at Sosua Bay (click to enlarge).
Photo 4. Underwater View at Sosua Bay (click to enlarge).
Photo 5. Underwater View at Sosua Bay (click to enlarge).
Photo 6. A Curious Fish Wanted Its Picture Taken (click to enlarge).
Photo 7. An Eel Among the Coral (click to enlarge).
Photo 8. A Flounder Resting on the Sand (click to enlarge).
Photo 9. An Anti-social Flounder Leaving (click to enlarge).
Photo 10. A Spotted Ray Approaching (click to enlarge).
Photo 11. A Spotted Ray Passing Closeby (click to enlarge).
Photo 12. A Scorpionfish Resting and Naturally Hiding (click to enlarge).
Photo 13. Another View of the Scorpionfish (click to enlarge).
Photo 14. Squids Hanging Out Around the Mooring Line (click to enlarge).
Photo 15. A Squid Flashing Colours (click to enlarge).