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Today I was once again reminded that planet Earth is not a fixed construct and constantly changing.
Weather plays a major role in influencing nature due to oceans getting hotter or a hurricane reducing one island and creating another one in a different area.
Although many species are able to adapt to changing conditions, most can't keep up with the speed of human accelerated climate change. But once again there are always exceptions just as the corals adapting to warmer water.
Being responsible citizens we should respect nature and therefore remember that we are only guests wherever we go and should act accordingly. In this way we can set an example to our students and help them grow up to be international citizens.

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I can only agree with the others: Today's insights into the coral reef and the mangrove ecosystem have left a clear impression on me. It is important to allow such insights and to let people experience these treasures of nature. Nevertheless, too many visitors can have the opposite effect and damage the fragile system.
What was new for me was that mangroves are absolutely underestimated oxygen liferants; even before the rainforest!
And it was especially nice to see how nature - little by little and slowly - recovers and reclaims its place - but it does! :)

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What a wonderful day we had today!
How can anyone visiting the island not want to do what we did today?
Is it sustainable for the ecosystem for people to visit these places?
It is clear that the ecosystems we visit are very fragile and that more and more of us are interested in visiting them.  A difficult but necessary relationship! Hopefully the authorities will be diligent in establishing rules and limits that will help to preserve these wonders for a long time and the inclement weather will not cause too much damage. My impression of what I have seen today is that there was not too much tourism and everything is quite well preserved.
Good luck for the environment!

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Today has been an incredible day. We have been able to get close to a wonderful place where different ecosystems are preserved. Seeing starfish outside an aquarium, discovering a small sandbank where thousands of hermits peacefully survive, a mangrove area where different species of birds cohabit or a coral reef full of life... it brought tears to my eyes. I consider myself lucky to be able to see places like this with my own eyes. Sometimes pessimism creeps in when we talk about ecology. But when I see these ecosystems up close, I think we cannot give up and we must fight to preserve them. Act locally, think globally 😜.

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Today I was thinking about how good or bad it is to let tourists like us into such a fragile ecosystem. Although we are told not to touch anything, we still pick things up, sunscreen floats on the water, we unintentionally touch corals with our fins and possibly break them off, and of course we also disturb the animals with our presence.
Basically, it's the same discussion as the one about flying.
When we are allowed to see and marvel at this nature and its fragility with our own eyes, it moves something in us and we may change something in our habits. We tell others and - as we said before - we plant the seed.

It is probably sensible to open one island to tourism in order to protect the others. But it still makes me think that jet skis and people with no experience are allowed to drive themselves through this lagoon.

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Guadeloupe! Today I learned mostly about this gorgeous island and the lives of its people. In Ilet Caret we saw the coral reefs and the shifting sands; how the landscape and ecosystems are changed by people and nature itself. It gave me comfort to see the corals growing on the shopwreck. They adapt to the changes in the environment, but slowly. Like us humans; we change, but slowly.

As I talked to Rita about life in Guadeloupe (housing, work, healthcare) I could hear the echoes of colonialism. Here it its, the green diamond of the Caribbean, part of France, yet still on the sidelines. A great holiday location for the continental French, but not worthy enough to have an efficient health care system? I know too little to make a judgement, but I have nagging feeling that something is off. Then again, I cannot help comparing Cuba and Guadeloupe, and to see that things could be much worse, too.

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Today I learned about turism. After the Covid tourism has gone back to the old habits and people are more than eager to travel. In Guadeloupe tourism is a big source of incomes and there are around two million tourist coming to the island every year (I think). But on the other hand all the extra persons for example in Ilet Caret can´t be good. Some are not interested in being responsible globan citizen or even noticing the things around (or that is at least how it seems to be). Scaring the birds, stepping a foot into corals or putting on loud music on the beach is disturbing the nature and today I learned that there are as many travellers as there are people on the planet.