Archive for September 15th, 2008
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Brac teenager attacks woman with machete
(CNS): Police reported today that a 19-year-old man had been arrested in connection with a machete attack on a 27-year-old woman. The victim sustained a serious head injury during an incident which occurred on Friday night, 12 September, on Cayman Brac. The incident happened outside Edd’s Place at around 11:40 pm.
The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service said that officers were called to the scene and on arrival they found the victim had suffered a serious wound to her forehead. The woman was taken to hospital for treatment and has since been released from care. Following investigations, the teenager was arrested on suspicion of assault causing grievous bodily harm. He has since been released on police bail.
“These parties are known to each other, and we take incidents of domestic violence extremely seriously,” said the Area Commander, Chief Inspector Patrick Beersingh.
Anyone with information about the incident should contact Cayman Brac police on 948-0331 or Crime Stoppers on 800-8477 (TIPS). All persons calling Crime Stoppers remain anonymous, and are eligible for a reward of up to $1000, should their information lead to an arrest or recovery of property/drugs.
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Bathroom escape foiled
(CNS): A 42-year-old man who absconded from court on Friday (September 12) remains in police custody today, 15 September. The man had appeared in court on a warrant and was remanded in custody before he made his escape through the ceiling of a men’s bathroom, police say. George Town police were notified of his escape at around 12:55 pm and the ‘hot-spot’ team was deployed to locate him.
The team is made up of regular and special constables and is tasked with tackling crime in and around the George Town area. One PC on the team heard the request and came out to assist in the search, despite being off-duty.
At around 3:30 pm, the team was informed that the suspect might be in the Banana
Walk area of George Town. Officers responded, and the suspect was spotted on the roof of a building in Diaz Lane. After failing to comply with requests to come down he jumped off, injuring his arm. He was taken to hospital for treatment, after which he was released back into police custody.
Anyone with information about crime taking place in the Cayman Islands should contact their local police station or Crime Stoppers on 800-8477 (TIPS). All persons calling Crime Stoppers remain anonymous and are eligible for a reward of up to $1000, should their information lead to an arrest or recovery of property/drugs.
Caribbean reefs losing species
(CNS): While reefs all over the world are at risk, those in the Caribbean have been devastated, according to research by the European Commission Environmental Department. In particular local reefs are suffering from the decline in population of two key species — the staghorn and elkhorn corals, which were recently listed under the US Endangered Species Act.
The Caribbean, states the EC, has the largest number of corals that are listed as Critically Endangered or Endangered. According to the research, climate change and human impacts are placing one-third of reefs at serious risk of extinction. Another area at risk aside from the Caribbean is the Coral Triangle in the western Pacific. Humans can have negative impacts on coral reefs through a number of means, including increased coastal development, sedimentation due to poor land-use and watershed management, sewage discharge, pollution from agrochemicals, coral mining and over-fishing, the EC said in a release.
“Coral reefs harbour the highest concentration of marine biodiversity in the world, form the basis of ecosystems and food webs that sustain communities and provide coastal protection,” it said. “Climate change and human impacts are placing one-third of reefs at serious risk of extinction. These impacts reduce the resilience of corals to withstand global threats from a rise in sea surface temperatures and increased ocean acidification arising from climate change. Higher temperatures lead to heat stress, which causes the coral to expel the zooxanthellate algae that live in their tissues in a protective, symbiotic relationship.”
The EC said researchers say this increases the risk of mass coral bleaching and mortality from diseases, some of which can kill 500 year old colonies within months. Additionally, ocean acidification is reducing ocean carbonate ion concentrations, which in turn limits the ability of corals to build skeletons and reef structures. Categories and criteria from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List were used to identify corals that are ‘Vulnerable’, ‘Endangered’ or ‘Critically Endangered’.
“The results emphasise the widespread plight of coral reefs and the urgent need for conservation measures. The majority of the species were found to be vulnerable. Of 704 species studied that could be assigned conservation status, 32.8 per cent were in categories with an elevated risk of extinction,” said the EC.
Researchers also found the proportion of corals threatened with extinction has increased dramatically over the last 2 decades and corals are at greater risk of extinction than any group of land-based animals apart from amphibians. Forty percent of coral species only inhabit shallow-waters and are therefore more vulnerable to human impacts and 303 species are highly susceptible to bleaching.