In her eight years as a veterinarian technician at Coral World Marine Park, Erica Palmer has treated almost every kind of animal that swims or flies by the island of St. Thomas, as well as a bevy of land-based inhabitants. This spring she finally had the opportunity to help out a couple of frigates, one…
Mira, a juvenile frigate seabird, was found March 7th on a St Thomas beach. Unable to fly, her right wing had been damaged and was dropping badly. The Coral World rescue team got the call and went out to assess the bird’s needs. They took her for X-rays that revealed no fracture, but a significant…
“Its physical therapy time in the rehab department! Mira is an adult female frigate bird that is recovering from a wing injury. Her wing was not broken, but the muscles and tendons take time to heal. After being bandaged for several weeks, Mira is now being encouraged to stretch her wings, and use them for…
Coral World serves as a rehabilitation center for injured or sick turtles and even struggling hatchlings that have not found their way out to sea and the safety of mats of Sargassum seaweed. Each year, Coral World helps dozens of hatchlings reach a safer environment. When tiny hatchling turtles are washed ashore, people often contact…
This week, scientists from The Nature Conservancy will be transplanting nursery-grown staghorn corals to the reef around the Underwater Observation Tower at Coral World. The Nature Conservancy maintains six coral nurseries in the USVI containing both staghorn and elkhorn corals. Each year, corals from these nurseries are transplanted to local reefs around St. Thomas and St. Croix. …
I have been working to restore coral reefs in the US Virgin Islands, and the wider Caribbean for more than four years now and what I observe during these adventures never ceases to amuse and entertain me. The Nature Conservancy’s process for coral restoration is straightforward: We rescue pieces of threatened elkhorn and staghorn corals…