What was once an industrial wasteland of an island has been turned into a tropical paradise with diligent work by the MSC Foundation, the philanthropic nonprofit arm of MSC Cruises.
Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve is a 95-acre private island in the Bahamas for cruise guests that features glistening white sand beaches and shimmering turquoise blue waters. But it’s also a hard-won environmental victory for MSC, which transformed the space into a welcoming, pristine ecosystem to be enjoyed by humans, marine life and avian species.
“Essentially, Ocean Cay is a man-made island. Since the 1970s, it has been exploited aggressively for its sand,” said Dr. Owen O’Shea, the marine research manager at Ocean Cay. “The first thing MSC had to do when they took over the lease at this island was to remove all of the derelict mining equipment that had been left by the previous company.”
What was recovered amounted to more than 1,500 tons of scrap metal, most of it from the ocean within the 64-square-mile lease area about 20 miles south of Bimini. Then began the process of restoring natural beauty and Bahamian ecosystems that had been tarnished.
“Normally we would find an area of outstanding natural beauty or ecological value and say, ‘This is worthy of our protection,’” O’Shea said. “With Ocean Key, MSC took this industrial wasteland and thought, ‘Let’s restore it. Let’s provide the balance of nature back to this island.’”
‘Do something good with it’
While other cruise lines have their own private islands that give the feeling of a theme park or beachside resort, the idea behind Ocean Cay represents a broader vision with environmental goals at the forefront.
“This was an opportunity that MSC saw to take an island that had been abused historically but do something good with it,” said O’Shea, who lives and works on the island. “It’s almost like flipping the paradigm of conservation on its head.”
On land, a crew of hundreds worked to install 160,000 tons of rock shoreline, 75,000 individual plants and 500 trees. That’s all easy to see when wandering the island with perhaps a piña colada in hand.
Take a look under the water with a snorkel mask and a whole new world comes alive. Coral reefs are teeming with life in the form of fish, lobsters, sharks, sea turtles, rays, conch and other crustaceans.
But the land and surrounding ocean were in distress when MSC first took over the lease for the island in 2015. One of the primary concerns in Ocean Cay’s surrounding ecosystem is the decline in elkhorn and staghorn coral, both of which are endemic to the Caribbean.
“We’ve seen 80 percent declines of both species over the last 30 years,” O’Shea said. “They’re very sensitive to disease, climate change and other pressures.”
Less than a decade into this project, the fruits of MSC’s labor are beginning to pay off, though additional data is being constantly collected and analyzed.
During 88 hours of surveys, researchers tallied more than 3,500 individual fish represented by 90 species. As time goes on, O’Shea and his colleagues are working to understand more about this marine ecosystem and ways that coral is adapting to ongoing threats from climate change, pollution, ocean acidification and habitat loss.
“Coral reefs underpin ocean diversity,” O’Shea said. “One of the overarching reasons why Ocean Cay is considered so valuable is because we want to use it as a platform for taking coral reef restoration to the next level. It represents an amazing opportunity.”
A win-win
For the casual, unsuspecting cruise guest, it might be easy to miss the monumental effort that went into restoring this island and the biodiversity that underpins this slice of paradise.
There are myriad bars, beaches, shops, cabanas, food and excursions to explore. Visitors can rent personal watercraft, kayaks and paddleboards, embark on a snorkeling excursion or relax with a spa treatment. There’s a 115-foot-tall lighthouse that puts on a show for cruisers after the sun goes down.
While the guest experience is important, the minds behind Ocean Cay are working to promote the MSC Foundation and the conservation success story of this island.
Bahamian dignitaries and MSC representatives broke ground on the MSC Foundation Marine Conservation Center in November 2021, hoping to further promote the goals of both marine research and public education. Construction is slated to begin on Ocean Cay’s newest facility next year.
“The center is going to be a tool, a vehicle to increasing the MSC Foundation’s visibility,” O’Shea said. “My presence on the key as a scientist is proactively increasing our visibility in that space as well.”
The new facility can host researchers and interns but also provide a way for cruise guests to engage with environmental efforts through interactive exhibits and a lecture theater. Meanwhile, the island itself focuses on sustainable practices through solar energy, freshwater production in a reverse osmosis plant and wastewater recycling.
While visitors might glimpse dolphins or have a chance to witness marine life while snorkeling in the sea, there are more subtle signs of natural revival on Ocean Cay. Owls and pelicans have been sighted on the island along with a hawk and a woodpecker. Sea turtles have come up to nest on the island’s beaches.
“There’s been a lot of dolphins around here recently, we have turtles that are nesting, we’ve got very healthy bird and seagrass ecosystems,” O’Shea said. “I think you can measure the ecological value of an environment by its biodiversity. Every day, I’m seeing something I haven’t seen before.”
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