The night divers seeking sea cucumbers and profits off West Africa’s coast | Environment

Banana Islands, Sierra Leone – As the sun dips below the horizon, Emmanuel Pratt tugs a worn cord and the outboard engine sputters to life. His wooden canoe, painted in white and faded blue, cuts through the darkening waters. Fruit bats screech overhead.

Pratt, 35, is a seasoned sea cucumber diver from the Banana Islands – an archipelago home to about 500 people in Sierra Leone. For 15 years, he has made a living scouring the ocean floor for these creatures that resemble warty, oversized…