








“When the brown, free-floating algae reaches the shore and begins to decompose, it releases hydrogen sulfide, which produces a strong ‘rotten egg’ odor and causes eye, nose, throat, and respiratory irritation, particularly for individuals with asthma,” Oriol said. “Avoiding beaches with large amounts of decaying sargassum is the best method of prevention.”
Beachfront businesses facing large amounts of nuisance sargassum are also invited to request authorization for mechanical removal from the Divisions of Fish & Wildlife and Coastal Zone Management. Deployment of containment booms requires a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers.
DFW also provides required training to ensure removal efforts follow ecological best practices and comply with Virgin Islands Code.
“The trend in the last few months has continued, resulting in increased Sargassum amounts in every region shown on the map. Nearly every region also continued to see record-high Sargassum amount for the month of April,” according to a lab report released on April 30 by the University of South Florida College of Marine Science’s Optical Oceanography Lab.
The lab has collaborated with DPNRDFW, the University of South Florida, and regional partners through support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Monitoring and Event Response for Harmful Algal Blooms Research Program at https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/project/developing-an-operationalsargassum-hab-monitoring-and-forecasting-system-for-the-southeastern-u-s-and-u-s-caribbean/.
Daily reports can be viewed through NOAA’s Sargassum Inundation Risk tool has been updated to provide daily reports, thanks to this partnership as part of CoastWatch at https://cwcgom.aoml.noaa.gov/SIR/.
DPNR will continue issuing these monthly updates via press release.
For more information, visit dpnr.vi.gov or contact: Division of Fish and Wildlife:
• St. Croix: (340) 773-1082
• St. Thomas: (340) 774-3320
• Email: DFWElectronic@usvi.onmicrosoft.com
As hurricane season approaches, most Virgin Islanders know the routine without needing much reminder. We check the cistern. We buy extra water. We look for the flashlights, batteries, canned goods, medication refills, insurance papers, and all the things we hope we will not need. We look at the shutters, we listen for whether the generator sounds right, and start thinking about who in the family may need help if a storm actually comes.

For many of us, hurricane preparation is not just a checklist, but an emotional process. It brings back memories of long lines, hot nights without power, cold showers, damaged roofs, blocked roads, lost workdays, and the deep uncertainty that comes after a major storm. So yes, preparedness begins at home; but, in the Virgin Islands, it cannot and should not end there.
We also have to think about what protects us outside of our homes. Our reefs, mangroves, hillsides, guts, trees, beaches, and coastlines are not simply the beautiful backdrop of our island lives. They are part of the system that helps us survive. They help slow water, hold land in place, reduce flooding, protect shorelines, support fishing and tourism, and make recovery possible after the storm has passed. This means that environmental protection is not an abstract issue for scientists, policymakers, or activists alone; but, it is a daily Virgin Islands issue. It is connected to whether a road floods, whether a home is damaged, whether a beach disappears, even whether a small business can reopen, and whether families can get back to some sense of normalcy.
My most recent research looked at how Caribbean residents think about environmental risk. As a licensed psychologist and faculty member in the Department of Psychology at the University of the Virgin Islands, I wanted to better understand what shapes people’s concern for the environment and how that knowledge can support better public education and stronger local policy. One of the clearest findings was that people who understand humans and nature as being connected are more likely to take environmental risks seriously. That may sound simple, but is actually quite profound. When we see the land and sea as separate from us, environmental protection can feel like someone else’s issue. But when we understand that our health, safety, homes, culture, economy, and future are tied to the health of this place, the conversation changes.
The research also showed that political beliefs can shape how people view environmental risk. This is relevant because environmental messages in the territory cannot sound distant, partisan, or disconnected from real life. They have to speak to what people already care about, which is family, faith, work, home, culture, safety, and the ability to recover after hardship.
A hurricane reminds us very quickly that we are not in control of everything. We cannot decide where a storm will go. But we can make choices about what we protect, what we neglect, where we build, how we prepare, and what we leave vulnerable. So as we prepare our homes this hurricane season, we might also ask a wider question: what parts of our environment are helping to protect us, and how are we protecting them in return? In the Virgin Islands, caring for the environment is not separate from caring for people. It is part of caring for our home.
— Dr. Sheena Myong Walker is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of the Virgin Islands and a licensed psychologist with Mind/Body Health & Psychology, LLC. Her scholarship and clinical work center on global mental health, cultural identity, environmental risk perception, and the development of psychological services in underserved communities. Living and working in the Caribbean has shaped her commitment to research that is not only academic, but also useful to the people and places it seeks to understand. The study referenced in this op-ed is available here: ScienceDirect article. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291126004122)
Editor’s Note: Opinion articles do not represent the views of the Virgin Islands Source newsroom and are the sole expressed opinion of the writer. Submissions can be made to visource@gmail.com.
Thank you for recently reporting on the annual Bahá’í Convention of the Virgin Islands, at which delegates elected the nine-member body that guides the affairs of the Bahá’í community throughout the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. Having participated in these elections for 50 years, I continue to be amazed at how this process unfolds.
There are no campaigns, no nominations, no political parties, and no efforts to persuade others to cast his or her ballot for a particular individual or slate. Delegates gather in a spirit of prayer, reflection, and consultation, mindful of the responsibilities entrusted to those elected. Delegates consider without the least trace of passion and prejudice, and irrespective of any material consideration, the names of only those who can best combine the necessary qualities of unquestioned loyalty, of selfless devotion, of a well-trained mind, of recognized ability and mature experience.
Once elected, the members of the body consult together collectively. No single individual holds authority over the others. The members make decisions through a process of consultation that encourages frank discussion, detachment from personal agendas, and a sincere search for truth and unity.
After five decades of participating in this process, what continues to impress me most is not perfection — human beings remain human — but the atmosphere they create. The absence of campaigning and partisanship changes the spirit of the election itself. The process encourages participants to think less about personalities, ambition, or victory, and more about service, trust, and the well-being of the community.
At a time when so many people feel exhausted by increasingly fractured public life, I sometimes wonder whether broader society might benefit from reflecting more deeply on the role that consultation, humility, and nonpartisanship could play in strengthening civic culture.
Politics is inherent in organized society. Differences of opinion are natural and necessary. But there are ways of engaging in collective decision-making that generate greater trust and unity rather than deepening division.
Here in the Virgin Islands, we know from experience that communities are strongest when people work together across differences, especially during times of challenge. That spirit of cooperation has long been one of our greatest strengths.
As our territory moves toward another election season, I find myself reflecting once again on lessons drawn from a different kind of electoral process. A process that continues to demonstrate that leaders can be elected through a process designed to foster unity rather than ensure victory over opponents.
— Alan D. Smith, St. JohnEditor’s Note: Opinion articles do not represent the views of the Virgin Islands Source newsroom and are the sole expressed opinion of the writer. Submissions can be made to visource@gmail.com.




Lucinda Rosemary Pemberton, aka “Lucy”, of Chevy Chase, MD, passed away on April 30. She was 70 years old.

She was preceded by her mother, Dorene Charles Pemberton, and father, Hilton T. Pemberton.
She is survived by her daughter, Mela Christian; sons, Craig Daly, Jerome Christian; sisters, Myrna Koyi, Arleen Rice, Patricia Andrews- Pierre, Annette Gonzalez; brother, Carl Andrews, Jr., Clifford Andrews, Ray Pemberton, Craig Pemberton; niece, Emesha James, Adrienne Rice, Christina Rice, Esq., Oyinade Koyi, Carli Andrews, Alicia Andrews, Nadege Pierre, Germaine Pierre; nephew, Rafael Gonzalez, Jr., Ronaldo Gonzalez, Rolando Gonzalez, Carisle Rice, Jr., Olajide Koyi, Clifford Andrews, Jr., Jornas Pierre, Jr.; great nieces, N’Kaiya Rawlings, Aarianna Rivers- Gonzalez, Khloe Koyi, Brooklyn Lloyd-Gonzalez, Gisela Gonzalez, Sade’ Koyi- Holton, Sora Rice- Hinton; great nephews, Jayden Gonzalez, Kennedy Koyi, Dominic Woodson-Gonzalez, Dyson Woodson-Gonzalez, Thelonious Haws- Rice; Shawne Koyi; aunt, Mercedes Samuel, Winifred Encarnacion, Josephine Springer, Vivian Charles; uncle, Raymond Petersen, Claudius Petersen, Sylvan Charles; brothers-in-law, Carlisle Rice, Jornas Pierre, Rafael Gonzalez; sister-in-law, Charlene Andrews; special friends, Janice Chiverton, Michelle Andrews, Hilma Oversen-Booth, cousins and other relatives, Eleanor Mason, Delores Rambahjan, Iris Sebastian, Beatrice Pemberton, Roy A. Pemberton, Sr. Norma Llanos, Marie Darrett Miller, Elizabeth Thurland, Raymond Petersen, Jr., Anna M. Encarnacion, Melissa Lake, Kimberly Samuel, Marvin Samuel, Gregory Samuel, Nicole Samuel, Merissa Encarnacion, Melanesia Encarnacion, Michaelangelo Encarnacion, J’Nelle Easley, Yolanda Fitzpatrick, Troy Springer, Lawrence Petersen, Jr., Reginald Petersen, Allan Petersen, Christian Frorup, Jr., Gloria Gerard, Kathleen Gerard, Adelle Allen, LaVerne Gerard-Mike, Cirgie Bell; precious friends and other relatives too numerous to mention.
Funeral service will be held on June 4 at St. Anne’s Catholic Church. Viewing begins at 9 am, with service at 10 am. Interment will be held at Kingshill Cemetery.
Funeral arrangements are entrusted to James Memorial Funeral Home, Inc.
