19th January, 2026
Anguilla Bank, Anguilla
After delays to equipment pre-Expedition, it’s my second full day onboard the R.S.S James Cook.
The anchors are up, my sea legs have been established (although today is pretty rocky) and the research is finally underway for the “Beyond the Reef” Expedition! Onboard with me are several Cefas Scientists, Blue Belt Programme technical leads and for the next couple days the Government of Anguilla Natural Resources and Fisheries Department.
It’s been a longer journey than expected to get to Anguilla from Owen Roberts International Airport – having flown to Miami then to St Maarten and finally taken a ferry to the island of Anguilla. Although my Anguillian Government counterparts say that Anguilla is flat there are plenty of rolling hills to be seen. The Areas of Interest for Anguilla include their offshore banks (they have a few like Cayman does) and the fish species and abundance found around the many, many fish aggregation devices or FADs (on last count there were at least 51!).
The Anguillian team have assured me that while there are plenty of FADs their pelagic fisheries are doing just fine and that the Mahi Mahi/Dolphin (Coryphaena hippurus) is plentiful. So far in the journey, the ship has been accompanied by lots and lots of brown boobies (Sula leucogaster) and flying fish (Cheilopogon melanurus). These are the species that you and I know and love, but in the first plankton tow and deep sea sampling net a plethora of lantern fish and bright red shrimp were found.
The ship’s winch has been working hard ensuring that the heavy equipment like the large CTD rosette which is used to collect seawater at different depths in the water column gets in safely. So far we’ve been filtering gallons and gallons of water to extract phytoplankton (tiny microscopic plants), microplastics, nutrients and eDNA (environmental DNA collected from things like fish poop) to determine what’s going on both to the naked eye and under the microscope.
I’ll be sure to keep writing letters, please feel free to respond with questions or comments to doe@gov.ky!
In the meantime more information can be found via the following:
- My Instagram: @kel_fo (and hashtag #BeyondTheReef26)
- The DoE Expedition webpage: https://doe.ky/bluebelt-expedition/
- Join us at the Port Call Party! (Governor’s Village, Village Café @ 5:30-8:00pm)