Island pond surveys.
The Lucayan Archipelago consists of hundreds of low-lying, carbonate islands that constitute the Bahamian Platform including both The Bahamas and the Turks & Caicos Islands. As glaciers and ice sheets of the world recede, the platform is slowly submerging, returning to the shallow, turquoise undersea plateau it was during the peak of the last interglacial age. As sea levels rise, ocean water invades the landscape through the eroded Karst geology, filling low-lying, inter-dune swales, and sometimes connecting more directly via submarine caves and conduits. Each “Anchialine” (by the sea) Pond is a unique, natural experiment in colonization and stabilization of peculiar marine communities. With often extreme conditions, each pond is also a crucible for rapid evolutionary change. This project aims to document the marine life and natural history of this “Anchialine Archipelago”, a system of islands within islands.
The “Anchialine Archipelago” is a research website (under construction) devoted to documenting and sharing the physical characteristics and natural history of many of the most exciting saltwater ponds in this remarkable island complex.