The National Park Service (NPS) will hold a public meeting to explain to the public the research program that it will begin this year in the Bioluminescent Bay, Triton Bay, Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve. The Salt River Bay Visitor Contact Center, above Columbus Landing, will host the event from 5:30-7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 11. Dr. Jay Pinckney, University of South Carolina (USC), will outline the year-long research program to study the bay.
Pinckney will oversee researchers from USC, the University of North Carolina-Wilmington (UNC-W), the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) — St. Croix and NPS.
Throughout 2013 several scientists from the Marine Research and Education Center (MREC), partner institutions will examine why and how the phenomenon in the bay developed and persists. A series of water and sediment samples taken throughout the year will help to identify the organism responsible for the bioluminescence and describe its ecology. On Friday night, Pinckney will explain their research plan and the protocols that will be supervised by all of the participating laboratories. NPS invites all users of the park to come and learn about how it continues to explore this incredible island and its natural resources. This research program is being funded by NPS from the Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs as part of their continued support of the developing MREC on the west side of Salt River Bay.
At the same time the Artifacts of St. Croix’s Past exhibit, celebrating the Folmer Andersen archaeological collection, will be on display.
If there are questions about the research program, contact Marcia Taylor, UVI, at 692-4046; David Goldstein or Zandy Hillis-Starr, NPS, at 773-1460 ext. 235.
This initiative is part of our public information campaign to raise awareness of Salt River Bay’s important cultural and natural resources and the joint role that the government of the Virgin Islands and the NPS play in their protection. NPS thanks all community members for their continued support for Salt River Bay. www.nps.gov
