{"id":6035,"date":"2026-02-14T11:51:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T11:51:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/versicolor.ca\/barbados\/?page_id=6035"},"modified":"2026-03-24T13:07:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T13:07:07","slug":"bath-2024-2025","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/barbados\/obs-iii-bath\/historical-imagery\/bath-2024-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Bath 2024 & 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
NAVIGATION
\nThis page is a sub-page Historical Imagery<\/strong><\/a>, that in turn<\/small>
\n a subpage of ObsBath<\/strong><\/a>, a top-level page on
\nthe website Barbados Fringing Reefs and Seagrass Beds\u00a0<\/a>(www.versicolor.ca\/barbados).
\nGo to ObsBath<\/a> for a list of other subpages in this section
\nof the website.<\/small><\/p>\n

Subpages\u00a0 of Historical Imagery<\/strong>
\n– Bath 1968-70<\/strong><\/a>
\n–\u00a0Bath 1994<\/strong><\/a>
\n– Bath 2005<\/strong><\/a>
\n– Bath 2011-i<\/a>
\n– <\/strong>Bath 2011-ii<\/strong><\/a>
\n– Bath 2015-i<\/strong><\/a>
\n– Bath 2015-ii<\/strong><\/a>
\n– Bath 2015-iii<\/strong><\/a>
\n– Bath 2017<\/strong><\/a>
\n– Bath 2024\/5<\/a><\/strong> (This Page)<\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

DRAFTING….<\/em><\/p>\n

THE INITIAL SHOCK: MASSIVE DISRUPTION OF THE SEAGRASS BEDS<\/em><\/p>\n

My one day visit to Bath in 2024 and another in 2025 were a shock. Over the entire area and even north past Bath Beach Park, I encountered no more than a dozen small patches of\u00a0 Turtle Grass (Thalassia testudinum plants,<\/em> those barely hanging on. There were massive loose beds of Porites<\/em> rubble supporting next to nothing.<\/p>\n

The thick assemblages of Avrainvillea rawsonii<\/em>* on Cobble Framework and Cobble-Sand substrates** , still present in 2015<\/a>, had largely disappeared, leaving loose rubble between A. nigricans<\/em>* plants, those looking raggedy and many with heavy epiphyte cover.\u00a0 \u00a0A. rawsonii<\/em>\u00a0cover of rock faces remained high but appeared heavily epiphytized.Specimens of the various Caulerpa<\/em> spp were much fewer than in the past, and also appeared “raggedy”
\n* Field identified “A. rawsonii<\/em> could include A. rawsonii<\/em> and\/or A. digitata<\/em> (both finger to club shaped blades interwoven\/in mats). Field identified A. nigricans<\/em> could include A. nigricans<\/em> and\/or A. longicaulis<\/em> and possibly any one or more of 6 other species of Avrainvillea in the West Indies with stipes and paddle- or fan-shaped blades and occurring in the Lesser Antilles – see Species Groups<\/a> (page on this website).\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 ** see Substrate Types<\/a> (page on this website) for classification of seagrass Substrate Types.<\/small><\/p>\n

There were still vibrant appearing Porites furcata<\/em>\u00a0corals on solid rock bottom, but not on rubble bottom.<\/p>\n

Over much of the area where seagrass & Avrainvillea<\/em> spp once stabilized an accumulation of sediment, but\u00a0 that is now eroded, the green alga Boergesenia forbesii <\/em>is abundant – I\u00a0 first noted the species at Bath in 2017, one specimen, now it is very common. It’s an exotic species, apparently a recent immigrant to Barbados – see Boergesenia forbesii, a recent immigrant to Barbados?<\/a> (Post on this website Mar 26, 2025).<\/p>\n

It appears that seagrass beds<\/em> have been eliminated from the Bath area, and even simple occurrences of the species T. testudinum<\/em>, S. filiforme<\/em> and H. wrightii<\/em> at Bath are likely in their last days. (H. wrightii<\/em> was “never” – back to 1969 – common).<\/p>\n

In 2015 when I formally surveyed the Bath seagrass beds, the beds themselves were largely intact but the\u00a0T. testudinum and the fewer S. filiforme\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>plants were much sparser and smaller than in earlier years and there was a lot of exposure of rhizomes; Avrainvillea nigricans<\/em> and A rawsonii <\/em>were more abundant, a long term trend seen first 1969 to 1994, (1969 and 1994 were 2 of the 3 formal survey years, the 3rd was 2015).<\/p>\n

My hypothesis\/explanation* of that trend was that it is driven by positive feedback between sediment-stabilizing flora and sediment stability:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hypothesized successional process at Bath driven by\u00a0positive feedback between sediment-stabilizing flora and sediment stability<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Loose Sediment<\/strong>—>
\n2. Sediment-Stabilizing Algae<\/strong> (e.g., Caulerpa<\/em> spp)—>
\n3.\u00a0Syringodium filiforme<\/strong><\/em> (early successional seagrass)—><\/strong>
\n4. Mixed S. filiforme<\/em> & Thalassia testudinum<\/em>—><\/strong>
\n5.\u00a0T. testudinum<\/em><\/strong> (climax seagrass .)—>
\n6.\u00a0Avrainvillea<\/em> spp.\/Seagrasses—><\/strong>
\n7. Avrainvillea<\/em> spp <\/strong>(no seagrass)—.?><\/strong>
\n8.\u00a0 Coral Rubble flats.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Each stage has more physical stability\/resistance to wave action and the beds build upwards to or towards new, shallower equilibrium levels.<\/p>\n

Strong localized wave disturbance can cause formation of “Blowouts<\/a>” in stages 3 to 7 at intervals of 5-15 years, and disturbances initiated by overgrazing by sea urchins at intervals > 15 years setting the sequence back to stage 1 resulting in a mosaic of stands at different stages of succession. View Successional Processes in Seagrass Beds<\/a> for more details.<\/p>\n

Rock-like Coral Rubble Flats (stage 8) are exposed on the lowest (spring) tides. The transition from stage 7 to 8\u00a0 is suggested by some degree of cementation\u00a0 of some Avrainvillea<\/em> dominated stands at\u00a0 circa 1-20 cm below the lowest (spring tide) low water level. However formal measurements of substrate stability\/binding\/cementation were not conducted; profiles though Coral Rubble Flats would also be required to provide evidence of the suggested\u00a0 successional sequence.
\n*I developed this hypothesis as I conducted seagrass bed surveys at Bath in 1968\/1969; a Bray-Curtis ordination of the station data at the time pointed to the seagrass–>Avrainvillea<\/em> sequence above (and it was obvious visually at Bath), the sediment stability-succession hypothesis followed based on informal observations on the degree of binding\/cementation of the sediments. Some components are in my 1971 thesis<\/a>, Appendix B, some in the my 1975 paper on Blowouts<\/a>. Independently conducted observations at Bath by F.Guichard & Co<\/a>. are largely consistent with the successional sequence above and some components of my suggested sediment stability\/successional stage feedback.<\/small><\/p>\n

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So in 2015, I anticipated that the seagrasses would continue to decline, to be squeezed out by the Avarainvillea<\/em> spp, but the raised beds themselves would remain even with increased levels of wave disturbance.<\/p>\n

Hence the shock in 2024\/2025. Most of the raised beds had been completely overturned.\u00a0A rawsonii<\/em> was much less abundant, and only a few small remnants of seagrasses remained. Clearly the overall level of wave action and periodic storm disturbances had increased; I attribute that to the well documented trends of increase in storm activity in the Caribbean, and locally to erosion and toppling of some of the emergent rocks in The Platform area, and to hard-scaping of much of the shoreline at Bath.<\/p>\n

However, I hypothesize that the critical factor in the decline of the raised\u00a0 seagrass\/Avrainvillea<\/em> beds 2015 to 2024\/2025 was\u00a0 the seasonal influxes of masses of Sargassum weed<\/a> (they began circa 2011),\u00a0 that\u00a0the masses of Sargassum weed blocked the light sufficiently to set back A. rawsonii<\/em> in particular. Release of toxins by decomposing Sargassum weed and\u00a0some eutrophication caused by release of nutrients could also be involved, causing planktonic algal blooms and reduced transparency and contributing to over-growths by fine-sediment-trapping turf\u00a0 and epiphytic algae.<\/p>\n

Regardless of the hypotheses, possible reasons, one thing is clear from just the informal observations<\/strong> (re: photos 1968-70 to 2025)<\/strong>: the once thriving seagrass beds at Bath are no more.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2024 pics<\/strong>
\nPhotos were taken on Mar 28, 2024. Special Thanks to Elon Cadogan\/CORALL for facilitating the visit.<\/p>\n

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Google Earth Map of Bath area, showing approx. route of photo-survey in 2024<\/strong>. 3-digit nos are the last 3 digits of the photo file names. BBF: Bath Beach Facility; M: Landward end of Main Transect in 1968\/9; B: Basecamp in 1968\/9. Dotted area at top\u00a0 is within the lagoon of The Platform – see\u00a0Bath Corals 28Mar2024 and 1Mar2015<\/a> for photos within in the lagoon. (The main objective of this survey was to examine corals within the lagoon for presence of SCTLD, rampant on the west coast of Barbados; none was observed at Bath.)<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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2024 – #184. A few blades of Thalassia\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2024 – #213 Rhodolith close-up<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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2024 – #497 Loose rubble on hard bottom, area where once there were raised Avrainvillea-Thalassia<\/em> beds<\/p><\/div>\n

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2024 – #552 Landward face of “big rocks”. Halimeda<\/em> sp., P. furcata; <\/em>note heavy growth of turf algae.<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2024 – #560. View towards shore.<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2024 – #572.Boergesenia forbesii<\/em><\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2024 – #611 Close to shore circa 75 m NNW of M (see map). Caulerpa scapelliformis.<\/em><\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

2025 pics\u00a0<\/strong>
\nPhotos were taken on Mar 2, 2025. Special Thanks to Elon Cadogan\/CORALL for facilitating the visit.<\/p>\n

LABELLING IN PROGRESS<\/em><\/p>\n

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Google Earth Map of Bath area, showing approx. route of photo-survey in 2025<\/strong>. 3-digit nos are photo numbers. BPF: Bath Beach Facility; M: landward end of Main Transect in 1968\/9; B: basecamp in 1968\/9. 01, o2 etc are Positions where GPS coordinates were obtained; they can be viewed in the metadata for the photos (given below, identify them by the 3-digit nos; direction of view also given in metadata for photos at these Positions.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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2025 #015.\u00a0Close to shore near Bath Beach Park. T. testudinum<\/em> present.The “aggregation”\/clump is likely a piece of the old coarse sod that was once in raised beds and was colonized by T. testudinum.<\/em><\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2025 – #065 Fine Porites furcata<\/em> specimens on the apparently stable Rubble Framework substrate.<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2025 =#106 View towards edge of the reef flat-like area\/extension of it into slightly deeper water.\u00a0 This is firmly bound, likely partially to well lithified substrate.<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2025 – #113 Pos’n 1<\/strong> on Map; View 142deg (SE); on shallow, cemented (litified) calciferous, reef flat-like area.<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2025 #114 Looking down at the\u00a0calciferous, reef flat-like area (too shallow to photograph underwater; time close to Low Water. Abundant Avrainvillea rawsonii.<\/em><\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2025 #119 v. close to Pos’n 2, view -74 deg (NW)<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2025 #121 v. close to Pos’n2, view -177 deg (SW)<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2025 – #127<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2025- #140<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2025- #149<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2025 – #161\u00a0Pos’n 3<\/strong> on Map; View -137 deg SW)<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2025 -#167<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2025 – #187<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2025 – #206<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2025 – #245, Pos’n 5<\/strong>.View 68 deg (NE). At the landward edge of “The Platform”, lagoon in view and emergent rocks at seaward edge of The Platform.<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2025 – #281<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2025 – #321, first photo off\u00a0 of The Platform,less than 60 sec from #320. Sargassum (local attached sp.)<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2025 – #360<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2025 – #366<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2025 – #373<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2025 – #387<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2025 – #397<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2025 – #406<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Contrast these 2024\/2025 pics with photos and videos going back to 1968-70,
\nView\u00a0Historical Imagery<\/a> <\/strong>and its Subpages:
\n– Bath 1968-70<\/strong><\/a>
\n–\u00a0Bath 1994<\/strong><\/a>
\n– Bath 2005<\/strong><\/a>
\n– Bath 2011-i<\/a>
\n– <\/strong>Bath 2011-ii<\/strong><\/a>
\n– Bath 2015-i<\/strong><\/a>
\n– Bath 2015-ii<\/strong><\/a>
\n– Bath 2015-iii<\/strong><\/a>
\n– Bath 2024\/5<\/a><\/strong> (This Page)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An example: Video clips of lagoon and platform area at Bath on Mar 21, 2005<\/strong><\/p>\n