Marine enthusiast gets children and teens involved

by GRACE FRANCIS

CASSIE-ANNE LAIDLOW, the founder and owner of ‘Sightseeing With Cass’, is currently leading the ‘Sightseeing Blue Guardians’, a 10-week Youth Marine Conservation Programme that began on January 10, 2026, in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

The programme forms part of the Blue Tourism Initiative and allows youths to participate in snorkel training, beach clean-ups, sustainable tourism workshops, and an introduction to sea moss farming. In an interview with SEARCHLIGHT on Monday, February 2, 2026, Laidlow said the youth club is one that “gets the children interested in marine life, ocean conservation and ways in which they could do their parts to sustain our ocean life”.

The programme caters to youths between the ages of 8 and 18, with an initial limit of 15 participants. However, the club currently has 20 members, with the youngest being seven years old, and the oldest 17. Over the past few Saturdays, members of the club have been engaging in marine-based activities at Villa Beach.

“We do different things every Saturday… they have done crystal kayaking so that they could view the coral around Young Island, and snorkel sessions,” Laidlow said. The group travelled to Bequia on Saturday, February 7, 2026 for an immersive sea farm tour where they were able to view how the sea moss is grown. There, the youths also had the opportunity to harvest and sample sea moss products, including jams, teas, and milkshakes.

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