Stories from the Field

Co-Founder of the leading Haitian conservation organization Action pour la Sauvegarde de l’Ecologie en Haiti (ACSEH) and Environmental Protection in the Caribbean’s (EPIC) Haiti Project Manager for the Black-capped Petrel Conservation Program, Anderson Jean, has been chosen as the 2022 Bright Award Winner. The Bright Award is given annually to an “individual who has made significant contributions in the environmental preservation and sustainability area.”

Caribbean seabird field work is rarely without its challenges: rough seas, foul weather, impenetrable thickets of thorny bushes, and brutal heat. Now we can add festivals to our list! We do this vital work because we care about seabirds and want to ensure they are here for generations to come.

At sunset, off the island of Hispaniola, an adult Black-capped Petrel circles over the Caribbean Sea, waiting for darkness. It’s under the cover of darkness that this species flies inland and heads to its nesting grounds on the high forested peaks of the island. Some nights the petrels will accidently strike hazards, falling to the ground stunned, often never being able to continue their journey to the nesting grounds.