Lessons of a reef

One Beaconite had the opportunity to go snorkelling with an expert this week, and found it eye-opening. The Beaconite is an amateur snorkeller, and at first, the underwater landscape looked like it could be so much brown or grey rock, with the occasional wavy sea grass breaking up the monotony. But as the Beaconite watched and photographed, the biologist lifted rocks and slowly but surely, worms, crabs and other small animals began to appear. As she got accustomed to the setting, she could see that the reef – under just a foot or two of water and with boats full of resort guests passing nearby regularly – was teeming with life. It reminded the reporter that on the reef, as with a good story, you sometimes have to look closely and do a little digging to see the full picture.

Phone trouble

A Beaconite spent Thursday morning in Magistrates’ Court waiting for an inmate

 of Her Majesty’s Prison, who is accused of drug possession, to appear before the magistrate. The man was scheduled to have the charges formally read to him, but this will have to wait until May. Why? Due to problems with the phone system at HMP, court officials weren’t able to get hold of the guards to tell them to bring the prisoner to court, a prosecutor said. The Beaconite wasn’t sure why they didn’t try to call guards’ cell phones, but then a co-worker reminded him: Due to security precautions, no cell phones are allowed at the Balsam Ghut facility.

 

Beacon fans abroad

A Beaconite travelling to St. Thomas was happy to find many readers of the paper in the United States Virgin Islands. From taxi drivers to yacht captains, many people he spoke with were familiar with the paper. Many said they wish it were more readily available outside of its home territory.

Getting fit

This weekend, a Beaconite was happy to join members of the BVI Football Association during one of their sessions at the A.O. Shirley Recreation Grounds. The Beaconite was happy to brush up on her football after not playing for years, and she felt very welcomed by the other players. The next day, even though she felt sore all over, she decided she wants to continue visiting the BVIFA often.

Newspaper collector

The Beacon soon will be part of a newspaper collection. Beaconites recently received a letter from Miro Karasek, who introduced himself as a Czech Republic journalist. “My personal hobby is a strange one: collecting printed newspapers from all over the world,” Mr. Karasek wrote. “I wish to file in my collection at least one newspaper from every member state of the United Nations organisation. In the case of the United Kingdom from the overseas territories as well.” To that end, he was requesting a copy of the Beacon to represent the Virgin Islands. Mr. Karasek also included a postcard from Kromeriz, the city from which letter was mailed, and a business card. Beaconites were proud to have their newspaper considered for a collection, and decided to send him an issue. A curious Beaconite also responded with an e-mail asking for more information and a photograph. But the collector wrote back: “As soon as I receive your weekly I’ll submit to you the requested info and photos.” Fortunately, though, he has a website, so a Beaconite found more information about the collection there: “Each continent has its own file and all these files have their places in a big filing cabinet,” the website reports. “It contains around 900 pieces from 182 countries.” Anyone who is interested in more information can check out www.karasek.miro.sweb.cz. Maybe an image of the Beacon will appear there soon.

 

Relieved to win

During the final race of the Dive BVI 5k series on Virgin Gorda, one runner showed why he is better than the rest. As the runner neared the final stretch of the course just before Spanish Town, he stopped. A Beaconite photographer wondered why the runner would come to a halt. But then he realised the leader had to use the bathroom and took cover behind a stone wall. He would periodically look behind him to see if any of his competitors were approaching. After about 30 seconds, he was back on track and ran to victory uncontested. In fact, he would win the race two minutes ahead of the next finisher.