Bertarelli Summer2024 FINAL - Flipbook - Page 56
SMALL BUT MIGHTY
Tiny cryptobenthic fish, like this
cardinalfish, play an outsized role in
reef health, despite their tiny size and
short lifespans. A better understanding of this group of fish could aid in
coral reef conservation.
And, Jim Ritterhoff, can you explain what Force Blue
is, and introduce yourself?
Jim Ritterhoff: I’m the executive director and one of
the cofounders of Force Blue. It is the only nonprofit
organization, that we know of anyway, that retrains
and redeploys former Special Operations veterans, all
of whom are military trained combat divers, to work
alongside scientists and environmentalists on marine
conservation missions.
What got you interested in conservation?
Ritterhoff: Perhaps, like me, you grew up watching the
show, The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. For me,
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ecosystem reserve declared as a protected area spanning about 74,000 acres.
Since then, we’ve been able to track hawksbill turtles
that have come to Great Bird Island to nest and then see
that they spend their time foraging around Redonda.
What species were causing problems?
Challenger: This time, it wasn’t just rats, it was also a
herd of goats. We believe that these goats were introduced to Redonda during the seabird guano mining
era, because there was once a mine there that took the
guano, which is high in nitrogen, and sold it for use in
different industries, such as for making fertilizer. Once
the rats and goats were established, they completely
took over and decimated the vegetation, the seabirds,
and more.
So we thought to ourselves: Can we rewild this
island? We sent a team of staff and volunteers to stay
for two months on this island and put down rat bait.
Within a year, we saw an increase in the vegetation
biomass and the diversity of plant species that were
there. We also saw an impact on the wildlife, including
an increase in the seabirds nesting there; the lizards
liked it, too. We also looked at the marinescape around
Redonda. And in September 2023 we got the Redonda
