By Courtney Mattison
Mission Blue is proud to partner with Friends of Mandahl as they work tirelessly to protect Mandahl Bay from a proposed development project that could severely damage vital coastal habitat on the U.S. Virgin Island of St. Thomas.
“We are all very excited about this news,” stated Friends of Mandahl Steering Committee member Karl Callwood. “This partnership signifies that scientists, environmentalists and 30 million everyday people from around the world are recognizing the critical significance of the Mandahl Bay ecosystem.”[i]
Mandahl Bay is home to a lush mangrove wetland that provides nursery habitat, food and shelter to many commercially important fish species as well as sea turtles, seabirds and crustaceans. The mangrove forest also collects sediment that would otherwise smother sensitive near-shore coral species, including the critically threatened elkhorn coral Acropora palmata.…