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Is it carnival time? Yes, it’s time for the Vincy Mas Carnival!

After waiting out Hurricane Beryl in St. Lucia, where it impacted us only as a tropical storm, we continued our journey south to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, heading into the very heart of the hurricane’s path. The news showed how devastating the hurricane was for many of the Grenadine islands, where more than 98% of houses were destroyed. Having seen the aftermath of the tropical storm in Soufriere, St. Lucia, we were bracing ourselves for scenes of destruction—broken trees, torn-off roofs, beached boats. What we didn’t expect was to stumble into CARNIVAL!

Yes, today we arrived in Kingstown, the capital of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and found ourselves at the Vincy Mas Carnival. We landed just in time for the Parade of Bands, the grand finale of the two-week celebration, which this year coincided with the hurricane and its aftermath.

Hurricane Beryl set records for its early timing and unusually southern track for this time of year. But why is the Vincy Mas Carnival held in the middle of summer instead of before Lent? Until 1977, it was, but now it’s likely timed for early July as a last hurrah before the hurricane season begins—a way to ward off dark forces with fun, song, and dance.

These dark forces, we know, are exacerbated by humanity’s reckless consumption of natural resources and following climate change. The Caribbean Islands bear the brunt of these mistakes of humanity, yet they face it all with optimism and resilience. Filming the colorful carnival parade, I was moved by this invincible spirit. Even though some participants might have been worried about their homes, the sheer joy and determination of everyone—from the young to the elderly, enduring the 30-degree heat—was inspiring. In the photographs you can see the parade participants holding azure cups – the slogan was: no plastic water bottles! Perfectly organized “watering holes” on mobile platforms made it possible to constantly refill these cups. You can also see small fans in your hands to cool your face. But I still admire their endurance!

I believe they will rebuild their homes, restore their embankments, build new boats, plant new trees, and start anew. Let this post-hurricane carnival be a catalyst for future changes—how wonderful that it was so carnival-like!

Love to the Caribbean!

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Hurricane Beryl’s impact on stratification of Ocean Biogeochemical parameters near Petit Piton, Saint Lucia

Meeting Hurricane Beryl, which evolved from a tropical depression to a Category 5 hurricane in just 42 hours, was one of the most intense experiences of our nearly year-long sailing trip. We decided to moor under the protection of Petit Piton (743m) – one of the famous volcanic peaks of Saint Lucia, which we had the good fortune of climbing earlier.

The mooring buoy was installed at a depth of 50 meters, which was crucial for our successful survival of the tropical storm. The destructive impact came not only from the wind but also from the high waves generated by the passing hurricane Beryl. These waves, coming from the opposite direction of the wind, created a particularly damaging effect on the coast. Our sailboat’s position at a depth of 50 meters allowed us to perform CTD casts directly from the mooring. It was fascinating to observe the changes in ocean biogeochemical parameters before and after the hurricane’s passage.

Fortunately, the eye of the hurricane passed just south of us, but our location was still significantly affected by the tropical storm, with winds reaching up to 45 knots and swells of 3-4 meters. We completed the CTD casts, processed the data, and it is now ready to be presented and analyzed.

CTD cast before Hurricane Beryl passed Winward islands
During the tropical storm
Debrize in the Caribbean Sea after tropical storm passed
CTD cast under a rainbow after the Hurrican Beryl passed Winward Islands
A stable temperature stratification, with a gradient of 1 degree from the surface to the bottom (29.3 to 28.3 deg C) before the passage of the hurricane, was completely mixed over the entire depth of 50 meters, resulting in an average temperature of 28.8 deg C.
A stable salinity stratification with a gradient of 1.2 from the surface to the bottom (34.7 to 35.9 ) before the passage of the hurricane turned out to be not very mixed throughout the entire depth of 50 m with a change in salinity from 34.7 to 35.2. One of the factors that did not allow salinity to be uniform as temperature was a significant rain influx of fresh water, which was included in the overall salinity balance and created a constant salinity gradient.
A stable dissolved oxygen stratification, with a gradient of 10 uMol/L from the surface to the bottom (188 to 178uMol/L) before the passage of the hurricane, was well mixed over the entire depth of 50 meters, resulting in an average dissolved oxygen concentration 182 uMol/L.
A stable Chlorophyll-a stratification, with a gradient of 1.5 ug/L from the surface to the bottom (1 to 2.5ug/L) before the passage of the hurricane, was well mixed over the entire depth of 50 meters, resulting in an average Chlorophyll-a concentration 1.2 ug/L.
A very low and uniform backscatter attenuation coefficient value 0.0002 1/m from the surface to the bottom, which indicates very good transparency of water before the passage of the hurricane, was significantly deteriorating, resulting in an increasing attenuation coefficient about 10 times, to 0.0045 to 0.002 1/m for entire depth of 50 meters.
A very low and uniform FDOM concentration value 1.05 ppb from the surface to the bottom, which indicates a lack of presence of organic matter and nutrients in water before the passage of the hurricane, increased to 1.5 to 1.2 ppb for the entire depth of 50 meters. This is the result of significant runoff of terrestrial waters after the heavy rain and significant wave and storm surge interaction in the shoreline, which brought more nutrients to the water.