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NEPA needs to act now to save Discovery Bay

Published:Wednesday | November 13, 2019 | 12:35 AM

I am from Discovery Bay. For fear of being sued, I am withholding my name. I am on the beach every day and I cannot sit by and watch Lee Arbouin, president of the Community Development Committee, being made out to be a liar when I myself have witnessed the things she describes in her letter to the editor published on October 26, ‘What is NEPA doing about Discovery Bay?’

Six days after the dolphins were penned in the bay, I saw two huge sea mammals visit the pens. The pens are in relatively shallow water between six and eight feet deep. So to have two huge sea creatures appearing was very frightening. People who were in the sea were scared and ran out of the water. Since then, the pens have been visited regularly by dolphins.

Before this, I have never seen a dolphin in the bay. I have now got used to seeing the wild dolphins visiting the pens.

The staff at The University of the West Indies Marine Lab has spoken with the community and told us that we have nothing to fear.

A shark was even captured in the bay in July. That was also disturbing.

One of the other changes I have noticed since the captive dolphins came is that the stingrays have disappeared. One would always see stingrays flying across the water or swimming just below the surface, or even coming up on to the sand. No more! They have all gone.

Another issue is the bad smell near the pens. Raw and fishy! That is to be expected because all the leftover fish bits and bloody water are thrown over the sides of the pens after feeding several times per day.

GOVERNMENT DOING NOTHING

I have also noticed a discoloration of the sand where, I believe, the dolphin waste settles. Sometimes a thin brown line forms at the edge of the water overnight and a slimy, frothy substance is seen floating on top of the water at times.

This is all very sad. We are about to lose one of the best beaches on the island and the Government is doing nothing about it.

I know that Peter Knight of the National Environment and Planning Agency has published an article stating that water testing done by the agency shows no significant change. Does that mean then that the bay has to show signs of deterioration before they act?

NEPA needs to act now to save Discovery Bay.

Concerned citizen of Discovery Bay. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com