While being leadered at boatside, a beautiful blue marlin cooperates for a photo before being released
Curiously enough, the middle of summer, when there are plenty of fish around, was proving to be the most difficult time of the year to continue my quest to catch a blue marlin each month of 2008 from my home waters around Grand Cayman Island. My fishing time in July was so restricted by my busy work schedule that I felt very fortunate to catch my one and only blue marlin on a weekend excursion squeezed into the middle of the month. I feared that my prospects for success in August, given an already full schedule of commitments, would be no better, if not worse. That’s why I wasted little time getting out on the water as the new month arrived, and on August 3, I was able to catch-and-release a blue marlin. As was the case in July, this turned out to be my only fish of the month, but it extended my streak, and it allowed me the peace-of-mind to concentrate on my many other tasks at hand during the remainder of August.
As much as catching a blue marlin was my focus on that August day, I was abruptly reminded of all I love about the sea and her many creatures when I came upon a number of sea turtles on my return trip to the harbor. I slowed the boat to admire these magnificent creatures as they effortlessly glided just below the water’s surface, and caught myself mesmerized in the moment in much the same way as the old fisherman Santiago was when he encountered feeding turtles in Hemingway’s classic “The Old Man And The Sea.” As the sea turtles moved on toward the island’s coral reefs, I couldn’t help but ponder if what I had just witnessed was much the same as Christopher Columbus would have seen as the first to discover the Cayman Islands in 1503 on his fourth and final voyage to the New World. After all, Columbus named the territory “Las Tortugas” because of the abundance of sea turtles he found on and around the island archipelago.
The Caymans consist of three islands — Grand Cayman (by far the largest), Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman — and are located in the western Caribbean about 150 miles south of Cuba and 167 miles northwest of Jamaica. The islands are limestone outcroppings at the top of a submarine mountain range today known as the Cayman Ridge. Much of the islands are only a few feet above sea level, and surrounded by coral reefs and crystal clear waters, they have long served as ideal habitat for sea turtles, which in turn served as a primary food source for the first explorers and early settlers. Long after their discovery by Columbus, the islands came under British control when Oliver Cromwell captured Jamaica from the Spanish in 1655. The islands officially became a part of the British Empire under the Treaty of Madrid in 1670, and for the next 300 years, were administered as a dependency of Jamaica.
Guy Harvey's "Pirate Shark" is one of his most popular AFTCO Bluewater T-Shirt designs, and representative of a portion of the colorful history of the Cayman Islands
In 1668, an attempt was made to inhabit Little Cayman and Cayman Brac by early settlers, but they were forced to return to Jamaica because they could not be protected from ruthless Spanish pirates. In those early days, the Cayman Islands played a significant role in the piracy that gripped the Caribbean. The islands were remote, offered plenty of turtle meat, fresh water, and a safe haven for unscrupulous legendary characters like Henry Morgan and Edward “Blackbeard” Teach.
It wasn’t until the 1730′s that the first permanent settlements were established. Up to that point and for centuries thereafter, the islands continued to be known to mariners as “Las Tortugas,” and is where they came to harvest live turtles and their eggs as a source of protein for their long voyages. Couple that with a relentless commercial harvest, and the Cayman turtle population suffered greatly. It wasn’t until 1968 that the problem was addressed with the development of a turtle farm to replenish natural stocks and supply local demand for turtle products. By 1978, the farm had achieved its objective of having enough broodstock to be self-sufficient and economically viable. The Cayman Island government has owned and operated the Cayman Turtle Farm since 1983. Besides being a major tourist attraction, the farm is a well-respected research facility with a highly effective breeding program that has released tens of thousands of sea turtles into the sea, each tagged for research purposes.
It’s a happy ending for the sea turtles — and for my limited attempts at blue marlin fishing in August. I did release the one fish to perpetuate my quest of catching a blue marlin during each month of the year, and though the last part of August was unfishable due to powerful Hurricane “Gustav” passing by, I was hopeful that I would find more fishing time during September.
— Guy Harvey
Check this blog next month for my adventures in September, 2008, as I continue my quest to catch a blue marlin every month of the year.
For a complete list of our other featured blog posts and to see the full line of Guy Harvey Sportswear, please visit: www.guyharveysportswear.com
Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation Expedition: Bermuda – Part II
The 2010 expedition to Challenger Bank began on July 24, just a couple of weeks earlier in the year than last year’s trip. Much of the crew from the 2009 expedition were on hand again: Neil and Choy – the “local boys” from Bermuda; Mahmood and Brad, our resident scientists; my children, Jessica and Alex; and Capt. James Robinson, whose boat Wound Up once again served the dual role of catch boat and support vessel.
Neil shows the attachment of a 3-year SPOT to the dorsal fin of a 12 foot tiger
For this year’s trip, the GHRI provided thirteen SPOT (Smart Position or Temperature Transmitting) tags and Neil purchased four three-year SPOTs with assistance from Bermudian sponsors, some of whom rode along with Capt. James on the Wound Up. Neil and Choy were doing a great job in Bermuda in getting local businesses involved in the tagging project and the production of a documentary that was created to educate the public about the success of their work.
The expedition’s plan called for Neil and Choy to take us to Challenger Bank to tag as many tiger sharks as possible over the course of six days. The week started fairly slow, with just one shark caught on each of the first three days. However, things heated up in the second half of the week as we caught and tagged 9 more sharks over the three remaining days.
Chumming was the key to catching the sharks. Luckily, we had ample supplies of fish heads, and we added to the chum mix by catching bonitos, ocean robins (local name for an abundant mackerel scad), blackfins, wahoos and barracudas while we were on the Bank. While the sharks were definitely attracted to all of the fish we served up, they seemed to have a preference for one in particular – fresh barracuda, which proved to be irresistible to the tigers.
We fished for the tigers primarily from the Wound Up. When a shark was hooked, Capt. James would transfer it to the Bones and then return to the mooring to continue fishing. Meanwhile, Neil and crew would safely secure the caught shark, apply a tag to the its dorsal fin, and then release the shark unharmed. Our crew was very experienced at tagging sharks and had gained a lot of knowledge during last year’s expedition, so the entire process – from the initial hook up to the final step of releasing the shark – was well planned and executed, which resulted in all of the sharks being released without harm.
While James was fishing with 130s we put out a quarter inch rope line cable leader and 20/0 circle hook, which was baited with barracuda and suspended from a large buoy. We caught four sharks using this method. One of these was pulled in by Alex, and at 8 feet long, it was the smallest shark we had caught so far.
Brad and Neil decided this shark was small enough to pull into the boat for tagging, so the crew hauled the shark on board, then covered its eyes with a wet towel and ran two deck hoses through its gills for ventilation. With the smaller shark secured in the boat, Neil was able to deploy a 3-year SPOT tag on this young male in just a few minutes.
Alex Harvey works hard on a tiger on the rope line
Interestingly, while on board, this small tiger shark regurgitated several squid beaks, and the horn of the foot from a benthic gastropod (like a conch). This indicates opportunistic bottom feeding and mid-water feeding on pelagic squid (one of the big 12 footers regurgitated the remains of a seabird and lots of feathers).
Unfortunately, we didn’t catch any of the sharks that we tagged last year, nor did we catch any tigers that had been tagged previously by Mahmood and Brad in the U.S.Virgin Islands over the past two years. A somewhat disappointing result, but it suggests that the tiger shark population around Bermuda is comparatively healthy. Of course, we do not know what the population numbers were before the commercial fishing industry exploited this and other species over the last three decades, so it’s difficult to determine just how stable the population has been over time.
Impact of the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation Expedition: Bermuda
Earlier in July, Brad presented our most up-to-date results at the annual conference of the American Elasmobranch Society, and the results of our comprehensive study amazed the scientific community. The tags applied in 2009 have lasted and stayed attached much longer than expected, and the regular reporting by the sharks (over a year now) is shedding new light on their behavior and migration in the Atlantic. Perhaps the biggest finding so far is that tigers are not the coastal dwellers that they were believed to be. Instead, they appear to make extensive oceanic journeys, and have an oceanic existence for much of the year.
It appears that the majestic tiger shark, which can grow to eighteen feet long, seems just as content in six feet of water chasing stingrays on the Bahamian sand flats as it is lurking near an oceanic bank 2000 miles offshore, hoping to detect and zero in on a dead floating sea bird or loggerhead turtle. This knowledge has serious management implications: since the sharks have been shown to make extensive migrations – passing through the 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zones of several countries in a given year – no country can consider these animals “their resource”.
The GHRI left several SPOT tags in Bermuda with Neil and Choy in the hope that some female tiger sharks would show up later in the year. Oddly, of all the animals tagged so far, only one has been female. This leads us to another question: “Why are there so many males at Challenger Bank at this time of year?” A question perhaps best answered by making another expedition.
Acknowledgements:
I wish to thank Rehanna Palumbo and the staff at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess Hotel in Hamilton, Bermuda for her assistance with accommodation. This is a beautifully appointed 5-star hotel in a wonderful setting on the Hamilton waterfront close to great shopping and restaurants. Well worth the visit.
Thanks to Neil and Choy for getting us together in the collaborative research effort, and for the chance to swim with these magnificent animals. Thanks to James Robinson and his family for his commitment to the project.
It is our collective responsibility to conserve the marine environment and maintain the biodiversity of the planet. Fish responsibly, dive safely.
Cheers….Guy Harvey PhD.
For a complete list of our other featured blog posts and to see the full line of Guy Harvey Sportswear, please visit: www.guyharveysportswear.com
With the dramatic declines in shark populations caused by shark-finning and other forms of commercial fishing, the need for protection of shark species worldwide has reached a critical point. To this point, the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation is aggressively supporting several fisheries management studies that are gathering crucial data that can be used to design and implement protective measures.
One of these studies is an ongoing project to track tiger shark migratory patterns in the western Atlantic. For the past two summers, representatives from the GHOF and the Guy Harvey Research Institute have helped tag and track almost twenty tiger sharks off the coast of Bermuda. The expeditions have produced previously unknown data about the tiger sharks in that region, information which may very well lead to new fisheries management practices in the western Atlantic and Caribbean.
Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation Expedition: Bermuda -Part I
Mahmood Shivji and Brand Wetherbee measuring a tiger shark on Challenger Bank, Bermuda
In August of 2009, the staff of the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation and the Guy Harvey Research Institute collaborated with the Bermuda Shark Project on an expedition to tag and track adult tiger sharks a few miles southwest of Bermuda. We concentrated our efforts in a location known as Challenger Bank, which is a known as a hot spot for tiger shark activity. The area certainly lived up to its reputation – by the end of the week, we had caught, tagged and safely released seven adult tiger sharks with PSAT and SPOT electronic tags.
The tagging project was being led by two Bermudians, Dr. Neil Burnie and Choy Aming, with the representatives of the GHOF and GHRI providing assistance in the form of tag provision and deployment, as well as follow-up analysis of the sharks’ migration patterns through the western region of the north Atlantic. Dr. Mahmood Shivji, Director of the GHRI, and Dr. Brad Wetherbee of the University of Rhode Island – both of whom have extensive experience working with tiger sharks in the Bahamas and the USVI – were on hand to calibrate the tags and assist with deployment. And, my children Jessica and Alex – both of whom are world-class fishermen with several IGFA records between them – rounded out the team as our expert tiger shark wranglers.
We used Neil’s 34’ Prowler, Bones, as the expedition’s work boat while Captain James Robinson’s Wound Up served as the catch boat. The sharks were caught on 20/0 circle hooks with no barb and130# gear, then tail roped and restrained by a harness that kept them snug to the boat while Neil drilled small holes in the shark’s dorsal fin to attach the SPOT tags. On average, the process was usually completed in about 15 minutes, during which time the shark’s head remained submerged in the water so it could ventilate normally.
Once the tag had been securely fastened, the tail rope and harness were released and the sharks would swim away at a rapid clip. I was in the water to film the hook removal and rope/harness release, while my professional camera team of Rick Westphal and Dee Gele filmed all the action for a tiger shark documentary I am producing.
The results of last year’s expedition were successful beyond our expectations. Using the tags, we were able to track the sharks’ migration as they moved away from Bermuda when seawater temperatures dropped in October, during which time they migrated south towards the Bahamas, Turk and Caicos Islands, and the Virgin Islands. The tracks showed the sharks were not wandering aimlessly but were actually headed in a more-or-less straight line, as if they knew where they were going. Based on their amazingly direct movements, it’s highly likely the individual animals have taken this migratory path before.
Guy Harvey catching a tiger shark to tag
For the rest of the winter months, the tiger sharks behaved like reef sharks, tracking the edges of deep island drop-offs. Presumably, they were feeding opportunistically along the way. As they searched for food at or near the surface, their dorsal fins would be exposed above the water line, which would allow the Argos satellites to pick up the signal from the tags and pinpoint the shark’s location (NOTE: The SPOT tag technology is more suited for attachment on air-breathing mammals and reptiles that constantly interact with the surface. Only a few ocean-going sharks exhibit the necessary type of behavior needed to use the SPOT tag for tracking. For example, my friend Dr. Michael Domeier uses the same equipment in his ongoing research of white shark populations in the Pacific).
As the seawater temperatures started to rise in April and May, the tiger sharks began a northward migration, with some aiming directly for Bermuda. As they approached the island, they began to veer off on an easterly track that led them well north of Bermuda and into the north Atlantic, where some have stayed for most of the summer (Katrin, the only female tagged last year, is currently on a latitude adjacent to New York!).
This pattern of migration away from the island and in to open water raises some big questions: “What are they doing out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean?”, “Are they feeding, and if so, on what – turtles, dead sea birds, squid?”, “Or, are they perhaps breeding?” These are serious questions that need to be answered in order for our research to have any practical or meaningful conclusions. So, we decided to once again mount an expedition to Bermuda to see exactly what is going on with these perplexing tiger sharks.
See our next week’s blog for Part II
For a complete list of our other featured blog posts and to see the full line of Guy Harvey Sportswear, please visit: www.guyharveysportswear.com
July marked the beginning of the second half of my quest to catch a blue marlin from Cayman Island waters during each month of the year. A single failure during the first half of the year would have put a halt to my pursuit, but I had been “lucky” enough to catch a blue marlin each calendar month from January through June. Any doubts that I had about being successful had less to do with a confidence in my ability to consistently catch fish, and more to do with my busy work schedule, limiting me, for the most part, to fishing on weekends, and only those where I wasn’t traveling and fishing conditions looked favorable. As mid-summer arrived, those concerns were fully realized. Travel and family commitments severely restricted my fishing time, but I was able to “release” that all-important single blue marlin on July 13 to keep my streak alive.
A spirited blue marlin churns the surface of Grand Cayman's western Caribbean waters before being brought boatside and released
I’m reminded that my goal is not to just prove I can catch a blue marlin from the waters around the Cayman Islands each month of the year, but that such an accomplishment helps demonstrate that a Grand Cayman marlin fishery is stronger than previously thought. Diving is the featured watersport attraction around the Cayman Islands, while sport fishing has yet to reach it’s full potential. That being said, the means to accommodate an influx of bluewater fishermen on a year-round basis are in place.
First of all, getting to Grand Cayman is very easy. Cayman Airways, the national flag carrier of the Cayman Islands, schedules daily flights from Miami, just 65 minutes away, as well as regularly scheduled direct flights from Tampa and New York. American Airlines, Continental Airlines, US Airways and Delta Air also schedule direct flights from major airports throughout the eastern half of the U.S. Once you’ve arrived, you’ll find an abundance of first-class resorts and hotels in the Cayman Islands, with the Ritz-Carlton and the Westin Casuarina heading an ever-expanding list. For family travelers, there are also many condos available for weekly stays. Visit: www.caymanislands.ky for complete information about accommodations — and fishing opportunities. Though the best time for blue marlin fishing around Grand Cayman is generally from March through June, I’m on my way to proving that you can catch them year-round. Tournament dates and fishing news are available from the Cayman Islands Angling Association’s website at www.fishcayman.com. A number of other Cayman websites offer information about fishing charters, including www.divecayman.ky . If you’re bringing your own boat from the States, the old Cayman Yacht Club, Morgan’s Harbour, and a newer marina at The Barcadere, in North Sound, have berths available, as does Harbour House Marina, which also offers a haul-out service.
The Guy Harvey Gallery & Shoppe in the heart of George Town, fully stocked with Guy Harvey artwork, sportswear and gifts, is a must-see destination for anglers visiting Grand Cayman Island
A great family vacation destination, Grand Cayman offers something for everyone, with amazing waterfront shopping and sightseeing in a safe, clean, English-speaking environment. And of course, if you and your family enjoy both diving and fishing, you’ve come to the right place.
As a reminder, when you schedule your next trip, plan on visiting my 4,000 square-foot retail Guy Harvey Gallery & Shoppe in the heart of George Town, stocked with original works of art, limited edition prints, a complete selection of Guy Harvey Sportswear, plus many other gifts and souvenirs. Also worth a stop in George Town is Guy Harvey’s Island Grill, a combination restaurant and gift shop, featuring a specialty menu, a casual decor and a selection of Guy Harvey Sportswear and gift items. For more information, visit www.harveysgrill.com/
My July ended with having spent little time on the water and catching that single — but important — blue marlin. Unfortunately, in looking forward, I could see that my prospects for getting out to fish would not be much better during August. In addition, mid to late summer often marks the beginning of hurricane season, which can unpredictably further complicate things. Though there should be plenty of blue marlin around, getting to them could prove problematic.
— Guy Harvey
For a complete list of our other featured blog posts and to see the full line of Guy Harvey Sportswear, please visit: www.guyharveysportswear.com
Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands (CNN) — Whether he’s out on the ocean monitoring stingrays in the Caribbean, or back on land painting in his studio, Guy Harvey spends all his time surrounded by fish.
Raised in Jamaica and educated in Scotland, Harvey is one of the world’s leading conservationists with a first class degree in marine biology and a PhD in fisheries management.
His love of the sea and ecology inspired Harvey to found the Guy Harvey Research Institute in 1999 which provides scientific information about fish protection and biodiversity.
But this is only half of Harvey’s remarkable story. He is a highly successful businessman with a chain of seafood restaurants and a self-taught artist whose depictions of game fish have become world famous.
“I didn’t go to art class or art school, never took a lesson in my life. I learned everything from trial and error and it’s this persistence, I suppose, with the illustrative content which got me to where I am,” Harvey told CNN.
Ernest Hemmingway’s novella, “The Old Man and the Sea” inspired Harvey’s obsession with game fish and moved him to depict the famous fishing story in a series of pen and ink drawings a quarter of a century ago.
He paints every day and 10 percent of the proceeds of all the paintings he sells goes straight back into his eco-organizations.
Harvey also created a TV series, “Portraits of the Deep,” to showcase game fish and their importance to the environment.
“To see them underwater in their glowing, feeding and moving colors, their aggression colors are probably one of the most exciting things you can do as a diver,” Harvey said.
These videos play constantly in his stores and his restaurants where Harvey’s art is also on the walls, and only sustainable fish species are on the menu.
Harvey’s marine expertise has also helped to pioneer techniques of recording billfish underwater and a tagging system to monitor them over long distances.
More recently, he’s taken on the plight of sharks. Hunted for their fins, the loss of these predators could affect the oceans’ fragile balance.
Harvey’s recent Ultimate Shark Challenge was a catch-and-release fishing tournament held off the Southwest Florida coast. Endangered sharks were tagged for study and not a single one was strung up in the dock.
Sharks are also in danger in the Gulf of Mexico because of the BP oil leak. Harvey fears other fish are at risk too. He’s planning a new line of t-shirts to raise funds for research.
“We have no idea when this is going to stop or how far it’s going to reach and what the life span of this disaster is going to be,” Harvey said.
From the study of stingrays, to the most pressing conservation issues in global fisheries, the diver, artist, scientist, and businessman is always promoting the preservation of marine ecology.
“Fish are just stinking fish to most people. They have their filet that comes on the plate or you buy it in the fish mongers and it comes in a cellophane bag and it’s dead and cold and smelly. These are beautiful graceful ocean predators that need our respect.
“I want to leave people feeling that, you know, we really need to think more about how we use the ocean and everything that’s in it and if I’ve achieved that, then that will do it for me.”
It has taken a while to execute this latest project, but I have released three new designs to raise funds for research work on marine life affected by the Gulf oil spill. Two of these custom images are appearing on t-shirts under the appropriate title of “GULF LIFE ” and one as a unique poster. Delivery of the shirts will begin next week with $10.00 of the $20.00 retail price going toward the GHOF (Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation) Gulf Fund. Fifty percent of the poster price will go to the same fund. In initiating this project I am enabling people who want to participate in the clean up and research effort to do so by purchasing a unique design and supporting my cause. These items will be available through all the usual retail channels and outlets, such as Bealls Dept Stores in Florida, Bass Pro Shops, Academy Sports, Hibbett Sports as well as many independent stores around the south-eastern U.S. Additionally, south Florida’s biggest newspaper “The Sun Sentinel” is featuring my art and these designs in a special editorial on Sunday to increase awareness and encourage people to participate in this project. The funds will be collected and administered by the GHOF and then distributed to organizations currently conducting marine research work in the affected area, such as the University of Florida, Mote Marine Lab, University of Alabama and the CCA, just to name a few.
While the “bottom kill” procedure is scheduled to end the leak of oil by July 30 there is still a huge volume of oil floating around the gulf, some of which will make its way into the Atlantic Ocean. We need to find out which marine creatures have been worst affected, which have survived by tolerance or evasion and to gather information on mortality, particularly of larval and juvenile stages of so many marine species that spend long periods near the surface. This knowledge will assist in predicting recruitment of species important in recreational and commercial fisheries for several years to come. These studies will greatly assist us in preparing mitigating measures against any future spills. There are many other worthwhile projects happening. Just yesterday the government of the Cayman Islands, where I live, announced its intention to assist with hosting turtle eggs and hatchlings that are being relocated from affected beaches on the gulf coast. The CI turtle farm is the only commercial turtle farm in the world and has the capacity and ability to assist in this effort. This initiative is being sponsored by the Tortuga Rum Company and by Cayman Airways. Agencies responsible for such action would do well in accepting such a generous offer. I look forward to your comments and your assistance in raising $ for this worthwhile initiative. Take action now and get involved.
Meanwhile, fish responsibly and dive safely.
— Guy Harvey
For a complete list of our other featured blog posts and to see the full line of Guy Harvey Sportswear, please visist: www.guyharveysportswear.com
Guy Harvey and wife Gillian were rewarded on Father's Day with a double hookup. With lure in tow, this blue marlin takes into the air
Besides being perhaps the best month of the year for blue marlin fishing around Grand Cayman, June holds some special memories for me of times past. With all of the years I spent fishing around my home island of Jamaica, both as a youth and during adulthood, it was ironic that, while participating in a Cayman Islands Angling Club event in June of 1984, I recorded my first ever blue marlin release. Back in 1983, the newly-formed Cayman club, under the leadership of the late James Bodden, began to promote a month-long fishing extravaganza, offering $1 million in prize money to the angler breaking the Cayman blue marlin record of 584 pounds. Club organizer Bill Rewalt ran the event through all of June each year and attracted participation from anglers worldwide, putting the Cayman Islands on the Caribbean sportfishing map. In the years to come, only two blues over 500 pounds were taken during the June contests, but none matched the record, so no one ever collected the $1 million prize. The event was replaced in 1998 by the Cayman Islands International Tournament, a five-day catch-and release competition that’s held annually in late April. (See my April blog about the first blue marlin caught from a sailboat during a Cayman Islands tournament.)
The highlight for me in June of 2008 was being joined on the boat by my wife Gillian on Father’s Day. Supporting me before and during our 21 years of marriage, Gillian has provided much encouragement, guidance and assistance with all of my endeavors. She enables me to spend long hours in my art studio, helping with all of the administration, has put up with weeks of separation while I am on expeditions or attending art exhibitions, boat shows, and making public appearances — and she has been the wonderful mother of our two children. She’s also my dearest of part-time fishing partners. For the two of us, this was to be a memorable Father’s Day that began with a planned hour of trolling for marlin before joining a group of friends for a beach party at Rum Point.
Guy Harvey completes a painting of a blue marlin in his studio, just one of many such dynamic illustrations featured on Guy Harvey T-shirts and sportswear
With perfect June weather, I worked close to the drop-off near Rum Point, and after 45 minutes of trolling, the right short lure blew up with a big strike. Immediately, the blue marlin started smoothly peeling line as I slowed the boat and helped Gillian bring in the other lines. Just then, the short left rigger was slammed by another marlin, this fish using a different tact by jumping toward the horizon. Gillian grabbed that rod and kept the second fish tight while I stayed busy working on the first one. From that point on, it got a little crazy with a lot of running around the boat and switching rods each time either of the fish would change directions. At last, we brought both marlin to the boat, where Gillian photographed the blues as I prepared to unbutton them. Five minutes later, we were tying up to the other boats at Rum Point with two marlin release flags flying. Moral of the story — take the wife fishing more often! On the following day, fishing with friend and angler John Dinan, I released another blue marlin following a hookup off Northwest Point.
With the end of June, I had successfully completed “half” of my mission of catching a blue marlin from Grand Cayman waters during each month of the year. Throughout the first six months, the challenges had been many, and though overcoming them gave me a great deal of satisfaction, I was mindful that completing my goal during the second half of the year could prove to be an even more daunting task. Summer on into fall can offer some of the year’s best fishing conditions in the Caribbean, but this is also a time of severe summer storms, even hurricanes. Then, of course, comes early winter with windy and rough water periods. Factor in my busy work and travel schedule, and the last six months of the year could prove to be very interesting.
— Guy Harvey
For a complete list of our other featured blog posts and to see the full line of Guy Harvey Sportswear, please visit; www.guyharveysportswear.com
The effects of the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico will be with us for some time. Much of the damage to marine life is not yet even known. While the highly migratory fish species will be able to avoid the oil, the juvenile stages cannot. Neither can air-breathing turtles, seabirds, and mammals that must interact with the surface.
Money is needed to help research how marine life will be impacted and to understand how those impacts can best be dealt with to support Gulf marine life. To help provide those funds, Guy has created two Gulf of Mexico T-shirt designs. The first delivery of the shirts will be July 14. Ten dollars of the $20.00 retail price will be donated to a special account within the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation (GHOF) who will then direct the money to research projects and support efforts that Guy and the GHOF believe will provide the greatest benefit to marine life in the Gulf.
"Gulf Life" t-shirt
Unlike many other efforts to tie products into a cause that are more marketing focused than cause supported, this effort is both unusual and sincere. It reflects the serious marine resource interests of Guy Harvey and his clothing partner AFTCO Bluewater, who both have a long history of supporting a better understanding of the marine world.
This donation effort includes all who are involved with the Guy Harvey T-shirt business. Six dollars of the donation will come from Guy, AFTCO Bluewater and its suppliers, and from our retail partners. The other $4.00 will come from general GHOF funds, part of which, are generated from the proceeds of all other Guy Harvey sportswear sales. While many people don’t know it, Guy Harvey Sportswear sales have for years generated money to help the marine resource. In 2009 AFTCO Bluewater contributed over $200,000.00 from Guy Harvey Sportswear sales to the GHOF for their use to help protect, conserve, enhance and better understand the marine resource.
Thank you for your support of Guy Harvey sportswear products. Whether you purchase a Guy Harvey T-shirt or other Guy Harvey item directly from this site, or from any of our many retail partners, you can do so knowing that part of your purchase will go towards valuable work on behalf of the marine resource.
For a complete list of our other featured blog posts and to see the full line of Guy Harvey Sportswear, please visit: www.guyharveysportswear.com
I just completed a weekend visit to Alabama and Mississippi for appearances at Academy Sports + Outdoor and Hibbett Sports. While I was there, I had a chance to talk with many people about the impact of the Gulf oil spill. When you visit the affected area it means much more than seeing the tragedy on TV from fifteen hundred miles away, so I considered it time to comment on the incident.
There has been such a widespread condemnation of the responsible party BP that I am not going to add to that, only to say the whole episode exposes man’s unpreparedness for such events. We are so quick to exploit both living and mineral resources without putting in place the necessary conservation or mitigating processes. There has been widespread commercial overexploitation of fish and shellfish in the gulf (bluefin tuna, redfish, red snapper, sharks, shrimp with consequent by-catch mortality) and extensive deep water oil drilling apparently without adequate procedures in place on site or along the coast to prevent accidents of this caliber and keep the oil from coming ashore.
Guy proudly assisting daughter Jessica
Already 2010 has seen devastating earthquakes, massive flooding, destructive typhoons, huge tornadoes, and now we are adding to this destructive scenario. In addition, we are at the beginning of what may be an active Atlantic hurricane season.
Sure, oil has been extracted from the gulf for over fifty years. Most of it safely, except for some small incidents here and there which seem acceptable to the industry. I am reminded that there are oil spills all around the world where drilling takes place but not on this level. The last major catastrophe was in 1979 in the Bay of Campeche (southern Gulf of Mexico) when the oil flowed for nearly three hundred days following an oil rig explosion. People have forgotten about that one. It was not well publicized and certainly did not have live underwater video of the tens of barrels of oil per second spewing from the broken well on our TV 24/7.
Experts say it could take a couple more months before the problem is solved. In that time the public will become accustomed to the bad news, and watch something else. Certainly Haiti does not come up on the news any more. But for the wildlife affected and for the people whose livelihood is severely interrupted, this event is as bad as a Cat 5 hurricane, an 8.0 earthquake or a terrible tornado.
The longer the oil flows, the more wildlife will be affected. Given the slow circulation of the gulf, the oil and dispersants is already killing off untold numbers of planktonic animals, fish eggs, larvae and juvenile fish which affect recruitment of these species for the next couple of years. The bluefin tuna particularly comes to mind as their spawning ground is affected by the spill. This species is already severely overexploited, and this will definitely affect the survivability of the species in the western Atlantic. While the adults of all pelagic species can avoid the oil, the juvenile stages cannot. Neither can air-breathing turtles, sea birds and mammals that have to interact with the surface.
Guy coaching son Alex. Guy and other recreational fishermen desire to leave our children and grandchildren a healthy resource legacy
Movement of surface oil and suspended oil droplets is likely to happen with slow passage out of the gulf then accelerating with the gulfstream proceeding to Cuba, Florida and the US east coast further north. The effects will be widespread as has been projected. In the mean time, over several years the remaining mass of oil will be slowly eroded through evaporation and breakdown by bacteria.
Our dependence on oil has to end at some point, the sooner the better. This accident is a very appropriate reminder that we need to turn to alternative, renewable energy sources as soon as possible. Sun, wind, hydrogen are all available and the technology exists to make meaningful changes over the next ten to twenty years.
Of course the oil companies don’t want to see this happen. This business is SO profitable that they are going to protect it indefinitely. However, while they are still in business, this event may encourage them to spend more money providing grants to gulf coast universities to assist in upgrading the scientific research work and improving our knowledge of the coastal wildlife ecosystems, nearshore marine and oceanic marine systems. In the middle of this disaster, let’s also not lose focus of the real habitat value that the offshore oil rigs have provided fish and other marine life for many years, both as working rigs and after decommissioning when the rigs are often sunk and turned into an environmentally positive Rigs-To-Reefs Program.
So how can we the public, living outside of the affected area, help? We can contribute time and dollars to the clean up process. This ecological disaster cannot be cleaned up by BP, even though they say they are going to pay for it. The effects of the spill are going to be with us for a long time. I am contributing time to do new designs printed by AFTCO to be sold through our dealers with proceeds benefiting suitable organizations on the ground who need assistance in getting the clean-up accomplished. In the same way following 9/11 I generated new designs the proceeds of which benefitted firemen and sniffer dogs in the New York area.
In the mean time dive safely and fish responsibly.
It is our collective responsibility to conserve the marine environment and maintain the biodiversity of the planet.
— Guy Harvey
For a complete list of our other featured blog posts and to see the full line of Guy Harvey Sportswear, please visit: www.guyharveysportswear.com
Guests relaxing in the pool after a day on the water
The Big Game Is On! Memorial Day, 2010 marked the reopening of the legendary Bimini Big Game Club as a Guy Harvey Outpost Resort. Fifty one rooms and cottages, seventy five slips, Historic Alice Town and Bimini outside the front gate. Fifty miles east of Miami, perched at the edge of the mighty Gulfstream. Under brilliant blue skies, with the dazzling “Bimini blue” water as a backdrop, the opening was a picture perfect start to the launch of the new Guy Harvey Outpost system.
It wasn’t much later than 7:30 a.m. on opening morning, when the club received word that one of its guests had caught a 350 pound Blue Marlin just offshore. Certainly a good omen for the future of the Bimini Big Game Club! Before the weekend was over, there was a lot of fish dancing going on up and down the docks.
The Guy Harvey Outpost system has been created for adventure travelers and water sport enthusiasts who share Guy’s vision of respecting the oceans, land and cultures that together create the fabric of our blue planet. Unfortunately, we’re all too aware that the popularity of water-sports activities has increasingly pressured all theaters of marine biodiversity. Fortunately, the sportsman’s passion for his pursuits has brought, in fact, deepening appreciation for the stewardship each of us has in protecting the marine environment for current and future generations. That is the core mission of Guy Harvey Outpost–to create a memorable vacation experience for the entire family, and ensure each guest goes home with a greater appreciation of marine education and conservation.
From the Oceans Comes Life. The motto behind the Guy Harvey Outpost system tells the story, simply. While Ernest Hemingway may have beaten a path to Bimini before us, it inspired him to write, the now famous magazine stories and the award wining, “Islands in the Stream”. The Guy Harvey Outpost Bimini stands poised to write some new dispatches from the epicenter of sportfishing, from the very site where the first conversations about forming the IGFA were had between Hemingway and legendary angler, Michael Lerner.
Friends sharing stories and a cool one on the deck
This summer the Bimini Big Game Club, a Guy Harvey Outpost Resort & Marina takes center stage in the South Florida boating/fishing community, as it reopens after having been closed for two years. With the support of a private Los Angeles based investor, the property has been reconstructed and improved with new guestrooms, marina slips, the all new Bimini Big Game Bar & Grill (we call it the BGBG) and the stunning new Outfitter Shop, featuring Guy Harvey sportswear and a full complement of boating supplies and gear.
Always at the top of every diver’s Top-10 list, Bimini sits perched on a 2,000 ft. underwater cliff, just two miles from the docks. The Club’s full service dive shop will open in July, and the Club is excited to announce that scuba-dive legend Neal Watson has joined the Outpost team to ensure the best-in-class recreational diving service and programs.
This fall brings even more improvements, including a new spa/fitness center, new lobby and arrival experience, a lounge devoted to Hemingway and the history of Alice Town, and a Guy Harvey Theater, for enjoying the viewing of your HD videos and photographs, while also serving as a venue for guest appearances and seminars.
If you’re in or headed to South Florida or the Bahamas anytime soon, be sure to visit us. Mark the weekend of July 24th for our grand reopening party. Regardless, make a point to check in at the Bimini Big Game Club, and check us out. Help us write a new chapter in the history of Bimini that would make Hemingway proud. Become a character in our 2010 chapter and while your there, write some new history with old friends. The Big Game is On!
For reservations contact:
Bimini Big Game Club, Alice Town, North Bimini
Toll Free: (800) 867-4764
US Office: (954) 763-6025
On Island (242) 347-3391
For a complete list of our other featured blog posts and to see the full line of Guy Harvey Sportswear, please visit: www.guyharveysportswear.com
I would like to welcome you to the Guy Harvey Sportswear web site. Here we will feature my blog where I will report on expeditions, adventures, and various marine conservation efforts. We will also include various guest bloggers, videos and photos that I believe you will find interesting, whether you are a serious fishing or diving enthusiast, or simply someone who cares about the marine resource, loves living the coastal lifestyle, or just wants to learn more about Guy Harvey sportswear.
I would like to welcome you to the Guy Harvey Sportswear web site. Here we will feature my blog where I will report on expeditions, adventures, and various marine conservation efforts. We will also include various guest bloggers, videos and photos that I believe you will find interesting, whether you are a serious fishing or diving enthusiast, or simply someone who cares about the marine resource, loves living the coastal lifestyle, or just wants to learn more about Guy Harvey sportswear.
