For decades, the Caribbean islands, have been a popular mecca for its warm, glistening sun, vibrant culture, breath-taking underwater world and beautiful beaches. Whether it be swimming with the pigs in Exuma (Bahamas) , enjoying the grandeur of the resorts in Punta Cana (Dominican Republic) , strolling along the white-sand beaches of Negril/ rafting on the Rio Grande(Jamaica) or scuba diving in the pristine waters of Bonaire, the marine world has offered enjoyment to millions of visitors annually. Most importantly for us as islanders, it’s been our “bread and butter”—our main source of income (accounting for 18% of our Caribbean GDP^[1]) in many aspects: tourism, shipping and logistics, fisheries and oil and gas production. Unfortunately, our precious Blue Economy is under threat in so many ways; with warmer and rising seas, destruction of mangrove forests for coastal development, overfishing, oil spills, dynamiting coral reefs and more frequent and more intense hurricanes and storms, the vibrance of our underwater world is growing dim. Even more so, there lurks the danger of a silent killer that is severely polluting our coasts and Caribbean Sea—plastic. 

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This is not my story. This is the story of someone else I have been fortunate enough to be a witness. It is worth sharing and shows us that our desires as a driving force bring impressive results. 

I want to share this story to inspire younger people into taking chances and sticking with their decisions.

This is the story of my teammate, friend, and an overall great person, Kewin Lorenzen.

Kewin contacted me after conducting some research online about completing his cave diver and technical gas training together with a five-day shark course back in August 2017. He arrived on the island to start a month-long work on January 1st, 2018. 

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