The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE West End community is mourning the death of Keith Cooper, a pioneering eco-tourism operator and community advocate credited with introducing generations of residents and visitors to the marine life of West Grand Bahama.

Cooper, founder of West End Ecology Tours, collapsed and died on Sunday, August 2. He was 69.

The West End native established the tour company in 2010 and became widely known for taking visitors to Sandy Cay, where they could interact safely with stingrays and learn about the area’s sharks, fish and broader marine ecosystem.

West Grand Bahama MP Kingsley Smith said Mr Cooper’s death was a tremendous loss for the settlement, where he had promoted tourism, created programmes for young people and used his international contacts to assist residents after hurricanes.

“Whenever we lose one of our own, the community feels that loss,” Mr Smith said.

Although Mr Cooper spent years away from West End, Mr Smith said he made an immediate impact after returning more than two decades ago, combining his love of the marine environment with a commitment to the community’s children.

He established programmes that taught young people how to fish and swim before later introducing sailing.

“What I admired was what he did with the young people in West End,” Mr Smith said. “He started a camp teaching children how to fish and swim and eventually introduced sailing. It was something new for the community, and many young people benefited from his programme.”

Mr Cooper’s ecological tours became a major attraction, drawing visitors beyond West End’s nightlife and into the village to experience its natural environment.

“He was focused on how we get tourists into the village and show them what West End is all about, especially its incredible marine life,” Mr Smith said.

Mr Cooper recently expanded into the restaurant business after acquiring the former Coffee on the Bay property and transforming it into Conchshells, which was intended to offer residents and visitors another authentic West End experience.

Save The Bays chairman Joseph Darville said Mr Cooper had been excited about the restaurant’s renovations when they spent time together at Sandy Cay about two weeks before his death.

“I was in West End with Keith about two weeks ago,” Mr Darville said. “We were observing the mating of nurse sharks, and it was a phenomenal experience. He was also bringing me up to date on the renovations to his new restaurant, which he was excited to open.”

Mr Darville said he spent hundreds of hours exploring the waters off West End with Mr Cooper, whom he described as having an extraordinary understanding of the ocean and marine life.

“Keith Cooper had an intimate, almost divine knowledge of the ocean, the fish and everything connected to marine life,” he said. “I learned a great deal from him. I always looked forward to spending time with him, and I spent hundreds of hours with Keith exploring the waters off West End.”

Mr Darville said environmental students were frequently taken to Sandy Cay so Mr Cooper could teach them about sharks, stingrays and the surrounding ecosystem.

“We took our environmental students there frequently so they could experience and appreciate the marine environment firsthand,” he said. “Keith spent countless hours teaching people how to interact safely with stingrays and how to feed them.”

Mr Smith also praised Mr Cooper’s work after hurricanes, saying he drew on relationships developed overseas to secure donations and assistance for West End.

“Any time there was a disaster, Keith used the many international contacts he had built over the years to help West End,” he said. “People donated, and he always used his reach for the benefit of the community.”

Tributes also poured in on social media from residents, visitors and friends, with one person saying Mr Cooper had left a lasting mark through his contribution to Grand Bahama’s marine experience.

Another described his death as “such a huge loss”, while others said the island would never be the same.

Mr Smith extended condolences to Mr Cooper’s family and loved ones.

“He will be greatly missed,” Mr Darville said.