‘Broken English’, ‘dialect’ or ‘Bahamianese’?

The study investigates language attitudes in The Bahamas, addressing the current status of the local creole in society as well as attitudinal indicators of endonormative reorientation and stabilization. At the heart of the study is a verbal guise test which investigates covert language attitudes among educated Bahamians, mostly current and former university students; this was supplemented by a selection of acceptance rating scales and other direct question formats. The research instrument was specifically designed to look into the complex relationships between Bahamian Creole and local as well as non-local accents of standard English and to test associated solidarity and status effects in informal settings. The results show that the situation in The Bahamas mirrors what is found for other creole-speaking Caribbean countries in that the local vernacular continues to be ‘the language of solidarity, national identity, emotion and humour, and Standard the language of education, religion, and officialdom’ (Youssef 2004: 44). Notably, the study also finds that standard Bahamian English outranks the other metropolitan standards with regard to status traits, suggesting an increase in endonormativity.

Unique Habitat for Benthic Foraminifera in Subtidal Blue Holes on Carbonate Platforms

Dissolution of carbonate platforms, like The Bahamas, throughout Quaternary sea-level oscillations have created mature karst landscapes that can include sinkholes and off-shore blue holes. These karst features are flooded by saline oceanic waters and meteoric-influenced groundwaters, which creates unique groundwater environments and ecosystems. Little is known about the modern benthic meiofauna, like foraminifera, in these environments or how internal hydrographic characteristics of salinity, dissolved oxygen, or pH may influence benthic habitat viability. Here we compare the total benthic foraminiferal distributions in sediment-water interface samples collected from <2 m water depth on the carbonate tidal flats, and the two subtidal blue holes Freshwater River Blue Hole and Meredith’s Blue Hole, on the leeward margin of Great Abaco Island, The Bahamas. All samples are dominated by miliolid foraminifera (i.e., Quinqueloculina and Triloculina), yet notable differences emerge in the secondary taxa between these two environments that allows identification of two assemblages: a Carbonate Tidal Flats Assemblage (CTFA) vs. a Blue Hole Assemblage (BHA). The CTFA includes abundant common shallow-water lagoon foraminifera (e.g., Peneroplis, Rosalina, Rotorbis), while the BHA has higher proportions of foraminifera that are known to tolerate stressful environmental conditions of brackish and dysoxic waters elsewhere (e.g., Pseudoeponides, Cribroelphidium, Ammonia). We also observe how the hydrographic differences between subtidal blue holes can promote different benthic habitats for foraminifera, and this is observed through differences in both agglutinated and hyaline fauna. The unique hydrographic conditions in subtidal blue holes make them great laboratories for assessing the response of benthic foraminiferal communities to extreme environmental conditions (e.g., low pH, dysoxia).

Direct Economic Inputs from Internationally Funded Science Projects to the Abaco Islands, The Bahamas

International expenditures for scientific research are important for small island developing nations, especially for those local communities that directly support research activities. We used the Abaco Islands, The Bahamas, as a case study to quantify the direct monetary inputs to a local economy via internationally-funded scientific research. We found that over two years the external monetary influx was $995,310, via 24 research teams, that was spent across diverse business sectors on Abaco. A direct survey approach ensured this was a conservative estimate, leaving out numerous indirect economic impacts, thereby suggesting the actual monetary infusion was significantly higher. The highest expenditures were for services (e.g., local salaries and boat guides), lodging, food/drink, and major equipment (e.g., vehicles). In addition to the research-based contributions that give rise to conservation and management decision-making, scientific activity brings benefits through the injection of money into local island economies. This relationship warrants study at larger regional scales, including across The Bahamas archipelago.

Dactyloidites ottoi (Geinitz, 1849) in Bahamian Pleistocene Carbonates: A Shallowest-marine Indicator

The rosetted trace fossil Dactyloidites ottoi (Geinitz, 1849) is reported and described for the first time from late Pleistocene (MIS 5e) carbonates of the Bahama Archipelago in shallowing-upward, shelly calcarenites from Great Inagua and Great and Little Exuma islands. The distinctive, fan-shaped D. ottoi specimens from the Bahamas, while not preserved in fine detail and not revealing a shaft, compare favourably in shape and size with specimens from other localities around the world, including the oldest well-documented specimens from the Jurassic of Argentina. D. ottoi is interpreted as a fodinichnion formed by the activity of a deposit-feeding worm, probably a polychaete, consuming marine-plant remains within host sediment. The late Pleistocene palaeodepositional environment of these carbonate sediments is interpreted as within the lower foreshore-upper shoreface zone in full marine, tropical waters. This discovery of D. ottoi marks an addition to the Bahamian shallow-marine ichnocoenose within the Skolithos ichnofacies.