Rare Staghorn Coral Colonies Discovered Off Battowia

A tip from Bequia fisherman Ormar McInnis, leads We Are Mayreau Inc. and Dive Bequia to a coral survey of the remote island where young Staghorn ferns thought to be functionally extinct are thriving in local waters.

A reconnaissance dive team from “We Are Mayreau Inc”(WAM), has confirmed that numerous young Staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) ferns are growing off the coast of Battowia, an uninhabited island in the Northern Grenadines, in what marine conservationists are calling one of the most encouraging reef findings in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), since Hurricane Beryl and the 2023–2024 global coral bleaching event devastated the species locally.

Staghorn coral and its close relative Elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata), play an outsized role in protecting Grenadines coastlines and supporting reef fish populations, a release from “We are Mayreau Inc, states.

Both species were declared functionally extinct in local waters following the aforementioned back-to-back climate shocks.

Last year, WAM and the Centre for Livelihoods, Ecosystems, Energy, Adaptation and Resilience in the Caribbean, Ltd. (CLEAR Caribbean Ltd.) launched a citizen-science campaign inviting dive operators, fisherfolk, visitors, and conservation workers across St Vincent and the Grenadines to report sightings of Elkhorn and Staghorn coral. That campaign paid off last week, when Ormar McKinnis, a Bequia fisherman from Paget Farm with many years of experience navigating and working these waters, called WAM to report Staghorn coral sightings off the coast of Battowia.

WAM’s Bequia-based team, Jessica Jaja and Holly Bynoe, partnered with Cathy Howard-Sachs and Scott Hutton of Dive Bequia to run a reconnaissance trip to the site, the first visit any of them had made to Battowia.

The 45-minute crossing was choppy, but McInnis’s information held. The team anchored beneath Battowia’s rugged, sun-dried hills, ringed by seabird colonies, and Howard-Sachs entered the water first to scout for Staghorn before the rest followed, diving and fanning out in pairs across the reef.

The team logged data on roughly 15 Staghorn ferns, some still in their earliest stages of growth, thriving along the Battowia coastline, a result that exceeded expectations for a first visit. Follow-up surveys are already being planned to monitor the ferns over time, since the team saw more ferns and young Staghorn growing than they could measure. The coral will undergo genetic testing to determine whether they are distinct individuals or fragments of the same parent colony.

Coastal scientist and Executive Director of CLEAR Caribbean, Dr. Owen Day, said the find could meaningfully strengthen the region’s coral stock.

“It is really excellent news and will help increase the genetic diversity in our nurseries throughout SVG. It could be a lifeline for this once dominant species. The site could be a refugium, where strong currents have kept the temperatures down a little and reduced bleaching mortality,he said.

“This first trip is enormously encouraging. It gives us a real window into what’s returning post-bleaching and post-Beryl, and a starting point for understanding the growth patterns and sizes we’ll need to age these colonies properly. More than anything, this mission reminds us how vital it is for fishermen and everyone else out on the water to keep sharing what they see.

“This discovery simply wouldn’t have happened without Ormar sharing his knowledge, and it’s exactly the kind of citizen-led intelligence our campaign was designed to unlock,” said Executive Director, WAM Inc. Marion Isaacs.

WAM has extended gratitude to Ormar McKinnis and his deckhand KJ for guiding the team to Battowia; Cathy Howard-Sachs and Scott Hutton of Dive Bequia for diving and capturing data; and CLEAR Caribbean Ltd and every sponsor who has backed WAM’s Coral Reef Restoration Program, Reef Life, actively since 2022.