About
Film
The Magic of Puerto Mosquito Bay: How Healing an Ecosystem Helped Heal a Community
9 mins
published
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It’s often said when times are hardest, humanity will prevail in the most unexpected and beautiful ways, and this proved true for the local community in Vieques, Puerto Rico.
Blink, and you might miss it, but research it, and you’ll be glad you did; such is the astonishing beauty of the tiny island sandwiched between the main island of Puerto Rico and the U.S and British Virgin Islands. With a population of approximately 8,000 people, Vieques is also home to rich ecological spaces such as the world-famous Puerto Mosquito Bay, the brightest bioluminescent bay on Earth. But this Bay is more than just a visual masterpiece; it is also crucial for ecological balance and tourism on the island.
In 2017, disaster struck when Hurricane Maria wreaked havoc and caused widespread devastation in the Caribbean. It left Puerto Rico and its surrounding islands without power and mourning a tragic loss of life. Ever since, the Vieques Conservation and Historical Trust (VCHT), founded in 1985, has been devoted to building community resilience while restoring Puerto Mosquito Bay to its former glowing glory.
Their inspiring work is featured in the new film Operation Restoration: GLOW (at the top of this page). The film is part of a five-part documentary series highlighting the extraordinary work of 11th Hour Racing’s ecosystem restoration grantees around the world and the hope they’re injecting into their communities by finding local solutions to global problems.
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The Puerto Mosquito Bay is crucial for ecological balance and tourism on the island of Vieques. ©Christian Nieves / 11th Hour Racing
GONE, GLOW, GONE
The Vieques Conservation and Historical Trust has been working to protect and conserve the island's environmental resources for close to four decades. During that time, they’ve faced many challenging moments, but nothing compares to the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
“It was mayhem,” explains Mark Martin-Bras, the Director of Community Relations and Field Research at VCHT. “Everyone was in shock at what had happened; you could see it in the eyes of the residents as they wandered around trying to salvage their lives from the damage and help each other. No one could quite believe the impact of Maria.”
With the main island of Puerto Rico also overwhelmed with tragedy, help was slow to arrive, so the residents had to rally together like never before to start rebuilding the community. When they began investigating the damage to the island’s habitat, what they found was alarming.
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“In Puerto Mosquito Bay, the glow of the bay (originating from bioluminescent dinoflagellates) was completely gone, the mangroves had been decapitated, and there was debris everywhere,” Mark remembers.
“One large catamaran had blown one mile across the bay, and finally, the entrance to the bay, which provides invaluable protection to wildlife and slows down heavy swells to protect the bay, was misshapen.”
Mark Martin-Bras
"It was mayhem. No one could quite believe the impact of Maria.”
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Vieques is home to rich ecological spaces including the world-famous Puerto Mosquito Bay. ©Christian Nieves / 11th Hour Racing
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“ACTION KEPT US SANE”
As aid and funding slowly started to arrive in Vieques, the team at VCHT began their restoration efforts by assessing the damage and devising a plan of action. By engaging volunteers and the community through citizen science, youth education, and practical workshops—such as growing and replanting mangroves to protect the bays and their biodiversity—they’ve been able to turn the tide.
“It was a very moving time,” says Mark. “We had experts, or legends as I call them, in our field, who came to Vieques when we had nothing. Everything was gone, and they gave their time and expertise to our cause. They showed they cared, and for that, we are grateful.
“In times like those, it’s action that keeps you sane. In fact, for all environmentalists, taking action is what keeps you sane by knowing you’re making a difference somehow, no matter how small.”
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The Vieques Conservation and Historical Trust (VCHT) was founded on the island in 1985. ©Christian Nieves / 11th Hour Racing
The Vieques Conservation and Historical Trust (VCHT) was founded on the island in 1985. ©Christian Nieves / 11th Hour Racing
PIONEERING AN INNOVATIVE METHOD
After partnering with local businesses, supporting foundations, and government agencies, VCHT was able to raise funds and realize its vision of transforming an abandoned school into a mangrove nursery.
Combining everyone’s expertise, the team was able to adopt traditional mangrove planting techniques and pioneer an innovative method for cultivating mangroves in a nursery—an approach never attempted before—that successfully prepared them for reintroduction into their natural habitat.
The unique growing method involves splitting red mangroves into groups of three and planting the roots in traditional plant pots. They are then placed in a series of water tanks to adapt to the water's salinity. The mangroves receive direct sunlight to help them grow and are only planted in ocean salt water when they are ready to survive and thrive. The whole process can take more than a year of careful management.
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Mark said, “With the help of volunteers and the staff at VCHT, as well as the advice from experts such as Dr. Elvira Cuevas and Dr. Ernesto Medina from the Center for Applied Tropical Ecology of the University of Puerto Rico, we saw success from our trial-and-error approach.
“What we have done here, with this adaptive mangrove nursery, has never been done before. I’ve even had some well-known and much better scientists than me express awe at what we have achieved here together.
“There were people who said it couldn’t be done, but we had hope.”
Mark Martin-Bras
"Taking action is what keeps you sane by knowing you’re making a difference somehow, no matter how small.”
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©Christian Nieves / 11th Hour Racing
A SYMBOL OF HOPE
Fuelled by this unwavering hope and belief that the ecosystem could be restored, VCHT has worked passionately to create something beautiful from the chaos. Thanks to their efforts, the bay has started to glow once more.
The mangroves are more than just a tropical plant; they have become family members (Mark jokes they are like his kids and grandkids) that represent something much bigger than restoration.
“The mangroves have become a symbol of hope,” continues Mark. “In a way, we restored the ecosystem, but in doing so, by involving the local community, we restored the people too.
“People had hope, they saw the damage could be undone, they saw an abandoned school come back to life, and I think just the fact we were able to pull it off––from the funding to the implementation––has spread hope.”
Mark Martin-Bras
“In a way, we restored the ecosystem, but in doing so, by involving the local community, we restored the people too."
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A GLOBAL SUCCESS STORY
VCHT’s innovative approach to protecting its environment isn’t just spreading hope in Vieques or mainland Puerto Rico; Mark reveals it’s now being used to demonstrate to countries around the world that ecosystem restoration is possible after the tragedy of increasingly intense storms strikes.
For Mark, one key lesson from Maria's aftermath is that the best solutions can often be found close to home, and it is vitally important to give local communities the tools to implement them.
“It’s thanks to 11th Hour Racing and organizations like them that see the value in empowering communities like ours to be innovative and protect our environment,” Mark says.
“Now, if anything like Maria happens again, we won’t start from scratch; we won’t [even] start from zero, and that is something we can all be proud of.”
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Operation Restoration is a five-part film series highlighting five of 11th Hour Racing’s remarkable ecosystem restoration grantees. Through the eyes of those on the front lines, we share their passion, determination, and the impact of their work in restoring the planet’s balance.
Watch “Operation Restoration: GLOW,” as well as the entire series, on YouTube today.
Hero image credit: ©Christian Nieves / 11th Hour Racing
THERE IS MORE TO COME
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