26th January, 2026
South-west Approaches, Anguilla
Happy National Heroes Day, Cayman!
It’s been just over a week onboard and time has simultaneously flown by and stretched out. It’s difficult to know what day it is onboard – at the moment, time feels very much like a concept.
I’ve gotten used to the rolling of the ship now and thankfully avoided any bouts of seasickness, especially on the nights where I’m rolling from side to side in bed hoping that the cupboard and all it’s contents don’t empty themselves out on top of me. Despite the weird working hours, I’ve managed to find time to speak to my Government of Anguilla colleagues about fisheries management and licensing, Marine Protected Area expansion and the best and most cost effective designs for fish aggregation devices (FADs).
This last week as been one of wonder – filled with creatures directly from the deep (the deepest we’ve ventured so far has been just over 5,100m/16,32ft!). The towed camera has journeyed down the steep sides of seamounts (offshore banks) and uncovered a sandy-floored environment where anemones, soft corals and glass sponges thrive. On the sides of other Banks we’ve been delighted by the brightly coloured coralline algae, tube sponges and gorgonians (like sea fans and soft corals) where sleepy parrotfish dozed in the safety of spongey beds.
While all creatures aren’t created equally, so far on the #BeyondTheReef26 Expedition we’ve had the pleasure of seeing everything from the slimy luminescent lanternfish and this threadfin dragonfish, to the wenchman snapper, saddled moray eels and pelagic species like wahoo.
The vulnerable environments (like mesophotic reefs) that support them and are home to beautiful, fragile and slow growing organisms like tube and glass sponges and lophelia coral.
While the Anguilla leg of the Expedition is coming to an end and we’ll be saying farewell to the Anguilla crew tomorrow, I’d like to reflect on some highlights:
- Significant seafloor mapping has created a more complete picture of Anguilla’s waters and important environments
- There’s been successful confirmation of the presence of economically important species like wahoo (Acanthocybium solandri) and wenchman snapper (Pristipomoides aquilonaris)
- Water sample collections from all key areas have been taken to determine levels of productivity
- Positive relationship building and sowing seeds for collaboration with the Government of Anguilla Fisheries Department
Local news – on my behalf, colleagues from the Department of Environment (John and Judy) will be at the National Education Conference (Friday 30th January) at John Gray High School to soft launch the first ever Deep Sea Discovery Pack! The Pack is an interactive, localised learning guide for deep sea environments and animals and links to ongoing conservation work of the Department, marine protected areas and ocean stewardship. If you’re interested it please do go say hello on Friday or email me.
Excitingly, the next postcard will be arriving to your inboxes from the Turks and Caicos Islands!
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) – see attached!
