5th February, 2026
East Caicos Bank, Turks and Caicos Islands
Just like that we’re into February and everyday we inch closer to the Cayman part of the Expedition.
The sunrises in Turks and Caicos have been noteworthy and so have the humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). These whales frequent the waters between the months of December and early-April, having migrated from up North to the safe and balmy waters of the Caribbean to birth and nurse their calves. Having spent time during a previous role onboard a different vessel looking out for whales and dolphins, humpbacks were definitely on my “must see” list!
Travelling between the islands we continued to map the seafloor and were able to uncover the finer details of the impressive ridge on the Gentry Bank that extends over 4,350miles/7,000km! It’s incredible what the mutli-beam is able to pick up – leading to the discovery of a “blue hole” of sorts that extended hundreds of metres down and about 100m across. In an effort to learn more, the deep-sea camera was sent down…shedding light onto the sandy floor, home to lightly-coloured sponges the size of basketballs, and long silvery fish – this environment was definitely unique.
We’ve been allocated a couple of hours of shore leave on Grand Turk for Saturday 7th February – this will be the first time I’ve been on land since boarding three weeks ago and I’m very excited to feel the sand between my toes again!
Local News:
Preparation for the Cayman part of the Expedition is well underway, and I’ll be working on a map with dates and times to share where you might be able to see the RRS James Cook from the islands. For now I can guarantee that she’ll be in George Town Harbour on Friday 13th February for 8:00am to pick up the rest of the DoE crew.
We excitedly soft launched our Deep Sea Discovery Pack last week at the National Education Conference. It is free to download and is the first-ever Cayman-specific local resource that introduces deep sea habitats and the animals that live there. Happy Reading!
If you’d like to track the location of RRS James Cook in real time, marine tracker is a great tool: JAMES COOK (IMO 9338242), Research/Survey Vessel | Position & specs
In the meantime more information on the Expedition can be found via the following:
- My Instagram: @kel_fo (and hashtag #BeyondTheReef26)
- The DoE Expedition webpage: https://doe.ky/bluebelt-expedition/
- Invitation: Port Call Party! (Governor’s Village, Village Café @ 5:30-8:00pm)
All going well, the next postcard will be arriving to you the day before we arrive in Cayman!
