But Vulcan isn't the only one to note the perfection of this location. It's also perfect for the variety of wildlife that calls it home. That's Manatees, hicatees, howler monkeys, jaguars, crocodiles, and a whole host of other animals that struggle to find safe havens in an ever-modernizing world.
The question now is what happens to their homes if Vulcan gets its way? We got an opinion from Aquatic ecologist Ed Boles, according to him the worst part of it is that we can't know for sure.
Dr. Ed Boles, Aquatic Ecologist
"This has so many incredible features, number one of course is the largest manatee population, it's got hawksbill sea nesting beach, crocodiles, it's got a lot of hicatee and all of those are endangered and it's got an incredible water flow system. There are geothermal springs, that's one of the reasons the Manatee likes it off the pointe there is this huge warm water upwelling its like a jacuzzi for the manatees and you even find upwellings right off the beaches here."
"This beautiful natural landscape would be converted into an industrial landscape and that means there is going to be a lot more roads, a lot more traffic, and a lot more heavy equipment in the case of mining there will be stripping away the forest vegetation, they will be blasting away the rock o that there would be continual blasting, continual vibrations. We don't have a clue how that is going to affect the wildlife or the aquatic life. So all of those. are variables and this area has tremendous potential for tourism. and for research, research also brings dollars into a community and if we allow it to go into an. the industrial path we'll lose. all of that and we'll lose all of that not just for ourselves but for our grandchildren's grandchildren and that's how far we have to think ahead because this is borrowed. This is something we are using now but it doesn't belong to us. It belongs to the future."
We note that the Area Rep, the Deputy Prime Minister, and even the CEO of the Ministry of the Blue economy have all gone on record to say that Vulcan won't get their way, but as you heard the company is pushing through with its land purchase and it's EIA.
We'll keep following this story.
