Underwater CSI is being used to help identify and prosecute those who continue to threaten the existence of our reefs and marine ecosystems.
 
The Cayman Islands’ first underwater crime scene investigation training is coming to Little Cayman from 20 to 27 March. The Central Caribbean Marine Institute will host this one-week training course at its Little Cayman research centre as part of its Dive with a Researcher programme. Lead diver and instructor will be marine forensic biologist Hector Cruz-Lopez. He is a professor of Forensic Science at the Palm Beach State College Criminal Justice Institute and at the Forensic Science Initiative at West Virginia University.

Not quite the TV series
CSI is an ever-growing science that has become quite well documented in both the press and the (love them or hate them) television CSI series. The use of science to prove the facts, especially in the arena of the law, or more importantly, the prosecution of the unlawful, has become quite popular.
 
Some 44 per cent of the coral cover on the world’s reefs has been lost to date, and two thirds of the Caribbean’s reefs remain at risk (World Resources Institute 2004). Unfortunately, some people are still slow to realise the potential impact their behaviour can have on our reefs, often resulting in negligent or illegal activity. As a result, underwater CSI is being used to help identify and prosecute those who continue to threaten the existence of our reefs and marine ecosystems.

Underwater CSI
Essentially, underwater CSI is a set of protocols and techniques for investigating underwater crime scene investigations; as such it can be quite useful in investigating short-term violations that have had negative impacts on our reefs. The results of these investigations can be documented, recorded and analysed in a systematic fashion. Similar techniques are now being used worldwide by marine enforcement officers, environment assessment agencies, coral reef researchers, litigators and natural resource managers.
 
“The enforcement of laws and regulations designed to protect coral reefs and other marine habitats deserve specialised means to investigate and document violations. Underwater forensics provides such a tool, as well as an opportunity to play CSI without having to deal with hardcore criminals or messy crime scenes,” adds Hector.

How to take part
If you are a diver and are interested in taking a new look at the underwater world thru the eyes of a forensic scientist, then this one-week course is for you. Not only will you play a legitimate part in conducting an actual underwater crime scene investigation, but you will also learn how to analyse the data and construct a proper defence, using forensic techniques that you will learn in the programme.    WH

To find out more about CCMI’s dive with a researcher programme, visit www.reefresearch.org. For enrolment, call
948-1094 or send your inquiry to
marketing@reefresearch.org.