I’ve probably been to the Dominican Republic nine or ten times with the Indiana University Office of Underwater Science, but it just never seems to get old. The diversity of field projects that are currently happening in the country, and the treasure-trove of new work waiting to be done make it one of the most dynamic research sites in the Caribbean. Throughout my undergraduate career studying marine biology I not only had the opportunity to research coral recruitment, take part in surveys and assessments of threatened and endangered species and coral restoration projects. As a lecturer for the university’s scientific diving courses and a field research assistant, I also had the privilege of assisting with excavations and archaeological work on submerged cultural resources ranging from Columbus-era shipwrecks, to 17th century pirate ships, to pre-historic human and faunal remains and significant Taino Indian offering sites.
For this reason, Will Arlidge and I jumped when Charlie Beeker, director of the Office, offered to host us in the DR this November to undertake rapid assessments of several of the research sites and assist in some annual marine park maintenance and coral restoration. It was a short trip – three days of working diving – but we managed to get an incredible amount done. Our three main targets were the GUAP, Morales and Captain Kidd Living Museums in the Sea (LMS): one shipwreck and two mock-shipwrecks designed to incorporate both biological and cultural resources in one dive location easily accessible to both locals and tourists.
We carried out rapid assessments of the three sites, noting any changes from previous years’ assessments and making recommendations for future work and improvements. Making sure that the sites are accessible to the public is crucial, so we also had to fashion a few quick buoys out of materials that are available locally: mainly 6-inch PVC pipe. Within the boundaries of the Captain Kidd LMS are hundreds of endangered Acropora palmata colonies, surprisingly alive and well. Unfortunately visitation to the site sometimes results in damage to the colonies in shallower water, especially when the mooring buoys we’ve placed on the site are damaged or removed (read: stolen). One of our further tasks was righting fallen colonies or cable-tying broken palms back onto solid substrate. We first experimented with this method several years back, and now many of the colonies that were affixed to either living colonies or dead but still standing colonies have cemented themselves back together and gone as far as to envelop the cable-ties holding them in place. Because of the success of past work, we’re continuing the initiative whenever damaged colonies are observed in the area.
With a bit of spare time on the last day we had a look at Padre Nuestro cavern, one of the most significant sites in the Caribbean. In a 10m x 10m space there are about a dozen sets of remains from two species of extinct sloths, two extinct primates (at least one of which is new to science), Taino water gathering pots and sacrifices, and even prehistoric lithic tools. And then there’s the cave itself. Dry for thousands of years, the cavern developed incredible stalactites and stalagmites and several enormous columns, making the dive (even without all the anthropological significance) spectacular.
We took off to the capital, Santo Domingo, and quickly popped into the Oficina Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural Subaquatico, or ONPCS. ONPCS is essentially the government’s underwater archaeological office, which IU has worked closely with during its time in the country (well over a decade). ONPCS has artifacts from shipwrecks and submerged cultural sites all over the country, and Will and I had the opportunity to take a look at the Western Hemispheres largest collection of intact amphora, gold and silver coins from Spanish treasure galleons, and unique artifacts like Taino warclubs and perfectly preserved dueling pistols. It may have only been a four day trip, but we packed in enough excitement for a year!
