In light of the proposed use of the Tobago Cays for part of the filming of the Disney movie "Pirates of the Caribbean' monitoring sites were located on three of the islands of the cays in order to establish the existing conditions so that comparisons can be made at the end of the shoot to give a proper human impact assessment.

Sites were set up on three of the islands viz Petit Tobac, Petit Bateau and Petiti Rameau. Data was collected in the following areas: beach gradients to study erosion and accretion; longshore currents to assess the rate at which particles and other matter travel along the beaches; sand particle assessment to determine the make up, sizes of the granules and the basic particle arrangements; and a debris analysis.

Three sites were set up on the main beach of the Petit Tobac Cay, referred to as Petit Tobac East (located at the main landing area), Petit Tobac Central (a central point of the beach), and Petit Tobac West (at the end of the beach where the three line ends). Another site is located on the opposite side of the western end, where a small lagoon is formed. This site is referred to as Petit Tobac South Western beach. At the southwestern and western ends, we have found turtle nesting sites.

On Petit Tobac, a site was located at the most popular landing area, directly opposite the main anchorage between Petiti Rameau and Petit Bateau. On the same cay, another site was located on the beach on the south side.

On Petit Rameau, one site was located on the small beach at the south western tip of the cay.

The computer generated graphs of the beaches in particular, will prove to be an interesting tool in making snap analysis of the beaches before and after, as overlays are possible.

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