Queen conch larvae spend their first weeks drifting in the ocean before settling onto seagrass blades, where their first food grows. Once settled, they bury themselves in the sand and remain there for most of their first year, making the seagrass meadow essential to their early survival.
In the Exumas region of the Bahamas, just south of East Sampson Cay, that nursery habitat is now caught up in a legal fight between rival resort developers. According to Inside Climate News, the dispute is playing out in a Bahamas court, with the threatened conch's habitat stuck in the middle.
The outcome of the case could affect whether the seagrass meadow is preserved or damaged by development. Conservation concerns, however, appear secondary to the competing commercial interests at stake.