**4. Methods for Simulating the reefal bay system**

Oceanographic and meteorological data were collected for the Hellshire coast and served as inputs into the hydrodynamic model. Field data were also used for model verification after executing model simulations under various meteorological conditions. This was followed by

Fig. 2. Map showing the study site of three bays located on the Hellshire South East Coast of Jamaica. Wreck Bay and Sand Hills Bay are the two reefal bays under investigation, along

Environmental stress studies conducted inshore and offshore these bays used plankton population size and species composition as indicators. Lowest values in biomass, primary production and density were recorded in the southernmost bays. These bays were therefore considered generally removed from the effects of the highly productive Kingston Harbour and Great Salt Pond waters to the north, with the exception of during flood occasions when elevated levels were recorded in the southernmost bay, Wreck Bay. The authors suggested the possibility of long retention times due to localized circulation (White, 1982; Webber, 1990). These results were of great interest given the implications presented for the protective role played by reefal bays as nurseries for the early aquatic stages of marine and terrestrial species; for the significance of its distance down-shore from the main harbor not inhibiting its eutrophication; and for sediment transport and exchange along the shoreline. In fact, physicochemical variables were also robust in characterizing the persistence of bay waters beyond the reef (Maxam & Webber, 2009). This indicated the need for appropriate numerical simulations to adequately describe the circulatory patterns in these bays - the

Oceanographic and meteorological data were collected for the Hellshire coast and served as inputs into the hydrodynamic model. Field data were also used for model verification after executing model simulations under various meteorological conditions. This was followed by

with the open bay Engine Head Bay located between the other two.

findings of which are presented in this chapter.

**4. Methods for Simulating the reefal bay system** 

an analysis of bay contraction and expansion due to circulation induced by the presence of the subtending reef, and ultimately the development of particular circulatory signatures defining the reefal bay.
