NASSAU, The Bahamas -- The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, deactivated its operations as all watches and warnings regarding Hurricane Earl and Tropical Storm Fiona, have been discontinued for The Bahamas.

Meanwhile, Captain Stephen Russell, director of NEMA says, ”we will continue to monitor the activities of these systems until they fizzle out and no longer pose a threat to our coastlines.”

As a result of the 25ft sea wells caused by Hurricane Earl as it passed off Eleuthera on Wednesday, the water main to the Glass Window Bridge was damaged.  

Residents there also experienced power outages; but the electricity has since been restored. The water main was also repaired.

As of 12 noon Thursday, Hurricane Earl, which at one point was a category 4 storm, was moving toward the north at 18 miles per hour; a turn towards the north-northeast with an increase in forward speed is expected Friday, September 3.  Forecasters put the centre of the storm passing near the North Carolina outer banks Thursday night and approach southeastern New England Friday night.

The National Emergency Management Agency partially activated its National Emergency Operations Centre on Tuesday, August 31, 2010, in preparation for any possible impact of Hurricane Earl in the Southeast Bahamas.

NORMAN'S CAY, Exuma -- An investigation is under way to determine how four pilot whales became washed up on a beach in Norman's Cay, Exuma.

The male and female adults, around 12 to 14ft long, and two juveniles, each around 8ft long, were found by Nigel Bower and Mona Wiethuchter as they were passing by in a boat, taking two guests from Ship Channel Cay to MacDuff's at Norman's Cay Beach Club for dinner at around 4.30pm on Wednesday, August 11th.

Ms Wiethuchter said the four whales were lying face up near the high water mark on a small beach on the east side of Norman's Cay, 12 miles south of the beach club, and the adult male was bleeding.

"It was really sad, we couldn't believe it at first," she said.  "Whales are usually on the opposite side of the island, in the deep ocean, so something must have distracted or disorientated them to bring them into the shallows."

Captain Bower took photographs of the whales and sent them directly to the Bahamas National Trust (BNT) who posted Exuma Land and Sea Park wardens at the beach to collect tissue samples Thursday. And a veterinarian was expected to visit the site Friday.

BNT park warden for Abaco David Knowles explained how the BNT is part of the Bahamas Marine Mammal Stranding Network and therefore staff at national parks across the country are trained in collecting tissue samples from beached whales wherever they are found.

"No one knows at this point what is happening and we don't want to speculate," he said.  "But the samples will more or less be able to tell us something."

However, Department of Marine Resources director Michael Braynen said the samples do not always explain why whales are beached.  "Samples are collected to build up the knowledge base and they can provide useful information," he said.

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NASSAU, The Bahamas -- Governor General Sir Arthur Foulkes kept his promise and bought several cases of crabs from 30 Mangrove Cay, Andros students who were selling the crabs to raise money to purchase lap top computers.

The students travelled from Mangrove Cay with their parents and Family Island Administrator Gilbert Kemp to sell the crabs on R. M. Bailey Park, Friday, July 30. Cabinet Ministers were among those who showed up to support the students at the event where $4,500 was raised.

Sir Arthur is pictured holding a crab while Member of Parliament for Fox Hill the Hon. Fred Mitchell and students look on. (BIS photo/Derek Smith)

General manager Benjamin Rahming, assistant general managers Judith Thompson (land) and Arnold Dorsett (agriculture) accompanied him. The Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture representative in the Bahamas, Dr. Marikis Alvarez, also joined the trip. 

“This is a step in the right direction,” said Mr. Key. “Through these greenhouse projects we should be able to boost the agricultural sector and help bring the country nearer to some semblance of food security and self sufficiency.”  All equipment for the full operation of the 30-by-90-foot greenhouses — one of steel and the other wooden — are in place, said Mr. Key. 

One greenhouse was purchased through Jamaica Drip. Personnel from the company are in Andros supervising its erection. The wooden structure is being built through local contractor Caleb Evans. They are expected to be completed within two weeks.  The intention is that through the greenhouses we will be able to introduce our farmers to hydroponics and the propagation of fruit trees and plants for distribution nationwide. 

“It is just a matter of training,” he said. “We have to put the program in place to teach our people what is needed to move the agricultural sector to the next level.” 

MANGROVE CAY, Andros -- The students of the Mangrove Cay, Andros, community are pleased to announce the start of “The Crabs for Computers Summer Initiative."  This program, the brainchild of Island Administrator Gilbert Kemp, was designed to help the students of the Mangrove Cay community purchase laptops for themselves. 

Mr. Kemp, in speaking about the program, explained the multiple objectives which are expected to assist the local students and community in a very positive way.  “We are getting the students of Mangrove Cay involved in positive initiatives this summer.  The “Crabs for Computers” program invites every student in the community to participate by going out and catching crabs which will in turn be sold to buy laptops for participating students.

“We expect that this program will be beneficial as it teaches our children that there is reward in hard work, while at the same time gives them an opportunity to secure one of the most valuable commodities of our time, a personal computer. 

“We are looking to train and prepare our students for the global and technological environment.  We don’t want and won’t allow the kids of the Mangrove Cay community to be left behind.  It is so refreshing when early in the morning some of the students would come shouting out excitedly “Commish, Commish! I have two dozen crabs!”

"We recognize that there are challenges with respect to each household having its own internet supply, so we have arranged to have WiFi hotspots placed around the island so that everyone can connect to the internet with their new laptops at no additional costs to their already financially pressed families.

What lies below the Bahamas in the Caribbean? A veiled world of fossils, blind creatures and scientific riddles.

In next month's issue of National Geographic magazine, an international team of cave divers led by anthropologist Kenny Broad of the University of Miami reveals the mysteries hidden from vacationers' view.

The two-month expedition, paid for by the National Geographic Society, was merely a small slice of time in a years-long effort to uncover the secrets of this realm, which has been plumbed by researchers for at least three decades.

Only a few miles inland from the Bahamas' sparkling coral reefs, the islands' limestone boasts dozens of submerged caves, "blue holes," some of them hidden in what look like island swimming holes linked to the ocean.

But swimming holes they are not. The inland caves on five islands sport freshwater caps covering heavier saltwater layers, sometimes filled with clouds of poisonous hydrogen sulfide released by salt-eating microbes, acting to preserve whatever falls within. Others contain whirlpools powered by the tides.

"Cave diving is really about knowing your limits," Broad says. "But it provides one of the most amazing experiences in life, and the scientific opportunities are tremendous."

Photo: From a cove on Long Island, the cave known as Dean's Blue Hole plunges more than 600 feet into darkness. (Photo by Wes C. Skiles, National Geographic)

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