Page 8 - AHATA

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local Friday 8 November 2024
How Aruban beaches came to be!

(Oranjestad)—We’ve talked of Aruban beaches. coral reefs) have started to
about the best beaches to wear and tear the reefs over
visit on the island before, but How did Aruba get its white, time, resulting in its gradual
have you ever wondered sandy beaches? breakdown. Fish that feed off
how Aruba got its white, san- Aruba’s beaches have de- corals also contribute to this,
dy beaches, and why there’s veloped over the span of one small bite at a time. Over
a clear difference between thousands of years. Waves the course of thousands of
the northern and southern crashing on the rocky for- years, as waves continue to
shores? Here are some fun mations along our coast crash and fish continue to
facts about the development line (which consists mainly of eat off the corals, sand starts
to accumulate around the
The Lionfish area. However, whether the continent is simply referred
sand stays there is another
And its threat to our marine wild life question to be answered, Why north deep, but south to as land that runs under
and this is where we high- shallow? the ocean. This is why it gets
(Oranjestad)—Despite its However, as the lionfish light the biggest difference Ah! Good question…and gradually deeper in the
colorful and striking ap- feeds off of these tiny fish, between the northern and interesting phrasing. south, whereas the ocean
pearance, the lionfish has it becomes harder for the southern coast of the island. floor in the north runs steeply
become a Caribbean- coral reef to maintain its Aruba is a continental island. to the bottom. q
wide problem for Atlantic health. The sand that accumulates The island actually forms
sea life. The Aruban marine Patrick also shares the around a torn coral reef is part of South America, and Source: archival document
swept away along with the
wild life is also affected by origins of lionfish in the the space between Aruba provided by the National Ar-
chive of Aruba (ANA).
this beautiful dilemma, as it Caribbean Sea. It is theo- debris by the ocean stream. and the South American
However, in areas where it’s
is foreign to our waters and rized that the introduction
has become a danger to of these fish in the Atlan- shallow and the stream is
weaker, the sand tends to
our local fish and reefs. tic happened in Florida,
where people would sick to the bottom faster.
Originating from the Indo- buy lionfish from across This is why the beaches in
Pacific Ocean, the lionfish the world to keep in their the south—the areas with
weaker stream and shallow-
is a relatively small fish. It aquariums. However, li-
has no teeth, but it does onfish grow, and as these er ocean floors—has sand
that stretches for miles. In
protect itself against pred- buyers realized that the fish
ators using its sharp, color- were too much upkeep, contrast, the northern area,
where the stream is much
ful spikes. It is said that the they were let out into the
sting of a lionfish can be up ocean to roam free. From stronger and the ocean floor
is much deeper, there is no
to 100 times more painful continental USA, the lion-
than that of a bee’s sting. fish travelled to and invad- sand present—they were
swept away with the current!
ed the entire Caribbean
Its natural predators in the area, from Aruba, Bonaire
Indo-Pacific are sharks and and Curacao up to New
barracudas, but in the Ca- York. In Aruba, lionfish were
ribbean Sea, local fish do discovered in 2009.
not recognize the lionfish
as part of their diet. In other Controlling the lionfish
words, the lionfish has no population is challenge, as
predators in the Caribbean each female fish can lay
Sea. And this becomes a up to 40,000 eggs a day.
major problem for our lo- Luckily, we have people
cal marine life; if there are like van Brakel who dedi-
no predators to stimulate cate their lives hunting and
population control of lion- capturing these invasive
fish, these fish can continue species, using them for
to reproduce and expand consumption and jewelry
to other parts of the Atlan- making.
tic, become more invasive
and dangerous for other They are caught with a
types of fish. hand spear, an object re-
sembling a garbage picker
For Aruba, the lionfish is a with 4 sharp prongs. These
problem especially for our spears are used like a sling
local coral reefs. Accord- shot to catch lionfish from
ing to Patrick van Brakel, a distance. These fish are
lionfish expert and hunter then put into a collecting
from the Hunting Lionfish tube and taken out of the
Aruba foundation, every water. Van Brakel not only
reef has a “cleaning sta- catches them himself, but
tion”—tiny fish that eat also cooks them for locals
algae and other types of and tourists at The LionFish
waste on a reef, thus main- Snack Aruba in Paradera.
taining the reef’s health This way, he does his part
and providing food to the in protecting the local wild
fish population in the area. life.