Neal Watson of Bimini Scuba Center is voicing his concerns about a foreign charter vessel involved in the disappearance of a German woman two weeks ago near Grand Bahama. The woman is said to have been attacked by sharks while on a diving expedition.
Watson told ZNS News he has made several complaints about the foreign vessel to officials. He said, “I don’t think they are qualified in anyway to be performing those dives.” Watson recounted, “they ran aground on the barrier reef in Andros and damaged it really poorly. We have photos from Bahamas National Trust and Bahamas Reef Foundation.”
Executive Director of Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation (BREEF) Casuarina Mckinney-Lambert confirmed Mr. Watson’s statement. She said, “we compiled a video of the damaged areas and you can see from see fans to corals that we just completely pulverized. This coral, of course, is so important to protecting the island of Andros from storm damage.”
The BREEF Executive Director further explained what happens in other jurisdictions, “in the neighbouring waters of the Florida Keys this would have resulted in fines and penalties of likely several million dollars and also a requirement or restore the reef.”
McKinney-Lambert says that she is not aware of anything being done about the incident after sending here findings to the Department of Marine Resources.
The Captain of the vessel in question declined to comment.
