considerable depth* The remainder of the bottom is patchy with areas 

 of softer silt on hard sand and areas of hard sand. The end of the 

 inlet farthest from the entrance is very shallow with grass growing 

 on the bottom. Port Mosquito has many areas of hard bottom which 

 could support oysters. Tbe bottom water temperature at the time of 

 observations on April 4 was 29.0°C., and the salinity was 36.11 parts 

 per thousand* 



Virgin Islands 



By use of cars and small boats furnished by the Government of 

 the Virgin Islands, the coasts of the three major islands belonging 

 to the United States, St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix, were 

 visited and the small bays and lagoons thoroughly investigated as 

 to their possibilities for oyster production. The results of the 

 obseirvatlons on water conditions are grouped in Table 2. 



The island of St. ^omas is mountainous, with a precipitous 

 and rocky coastline, and there is considerable wave action against 

 the rugged shore. All the bays are rocky, with small sandy beaches, 

 protected to some extent from the open ocean by coral reefs. None of 

 these arms of the sea is suitable for the cultivation of oysters. 



On the eastern end of the island is a well protected body of 

 water known as Mangrove Lagoon. This lagoon, leading off from Jersey 

 Bay through a channel from a small arm of Jersey Bay known as Benner 

 Bay, is an extensive, shallow body of water completely fringed with 

 mangrove trees. A moderately extensive population of oysters grows 

 on the mangrove roots in Benner Bay ajid Mangrove Lagoon. These areas 

 are the only ones of the island of St. Thomas suitable for the growth 

 of oysters. 



The bottom in Benner Bay is a firm shell-sand with a light silt 

 layer covering it to a depth of 2 to 2-l/2 inches. At the time of 

 examination on March 24 the bottom water temperature close to the 

 shore was 27.4 C., and the salinity was 36.73 parts per thousand. 

 The salinity was 37.09 parts per thousand closer to the sea. 



Small oysters are attached to the mangrove roots between tide 

 levels. These are characteristically deep cupped, with a purple- 

 colored inner margin of the shell. Also attached to the roots of 

 the mangrove* at a point closer to the low tide level are clusters 

 of the thin tree oyster, Pedalion alata Gmelin. Just below these 

 are masses of bryozoans. Same enemies of oysters are present, in- 

 cluding snail-like forms, and small mud crabs are abundant. 



