Lighthouse Reef

Lighthouse Reef
Satellite image of the Lighthouse Reef
Waters	Caribbean Sea
archipelago	Belize Barrier Reef
Geographical location	17 ° 18 ′  N , 87 ° 33 ′  W Coordinates: 17 ° 18 ′  N , 87 ° 33 ′  W
Number of islands	6th
Main island	Northern Caye
length	41.1 km
width	9.4 km
Land area	8.1 km²
Lagoon area	120 km²
total area	203 km²
Residents	25 (2000)
Map of the Lighthouse Reef

The Lighthouse Reef (German: lighthouse reef ) is an atoll off the coast of Belize .

geography

The Lighthouse Reef is located in the Belize Barrier Reef , which includes numerous small islands as well as three larger atolls, of which the Lighthouse Reef is the easternmost. It is located about 80 km southeast of the capital Belize City and administratively belongs to the Belize District . The north-south extension is 41.1 km, the west-east extension up to 9.4 km. The lagoon inside the atoll has an area of ​​120 km² and an average water depth of three meters.

The total area of ​​the atoll including the reef platform is 203 km².

 Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap

island	Area (ha)	Residents	Coordinates
Sandbore Caye	4th	...	17 ° 27 ′ 50 "  N , 87 ° 29 ′ 17"  W.
Northern Caye	526	...	17 ° 26 ′ 42 "  N , 87 ° 30 ′ 10"  W.
Long Caye	263	...	17 ° 12 ′ 39 "  N , 87 ° 35 ′ 33"  W.
Saddle Caye	0.007	-	17 ° 14 ′ 41 ″  N , 87 ° 32 ′ 33 ″  W.
Half Moon Caye	18th	-	17 ° 12 ′ 18 ″  N , 87 ° 32 ′ 10 ″  W.
Has Caye	0.2	-	17 ° 10 ′ 30 "  N , 87 ° 37 ′ 11"  W.

Sandbore Caye and Northern Caye are grouped by locals under the name Northern Two Cayes , the rest as Southern Four Cayes . Sandbore Caye is the northernmost and easternmost island of the atoll, as well as the easternmost landmass of the state of Belize. Saddle Caye is still recorded on official maps from 2009, but has probably been eroded by the sea since then. About in the middle of the atoll is the Great Blue Hole ( Lage ), a 125 m deep sinkhole .

history

In 1820 and 1886 the first lighthouses were installed on Half Moon Caye and Sandbore Caye. In 1924, Half Moon Caye was declared a nature reserve under British colonial rule. In 1961 and 1978 the Lighthouse Reef was hit by devastating cyclones . The atoll first received media attention in 1972 through a documentary film by marine researcher Jacques Cousteau , who visited the Lighthouse Reef as part of an expedition. In 1982 Half Moon Caye was designated a national park, making it Belize's first marine reserve. In 1996, the Great Blue Hole and Half Moon Caye Island were designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites as part of the Belize Barrier Reef administered by the Belize Audubon Society .

Flora and fauna

The Lighthouse Reef has a high level of biodiversity . Because of this property, the atoll is regularly the target of research activities, particularly on the sustainability of protective measures and climate change; There is a small research station on Long Caye for this purpose. In times of general coral bleaching , the Lighthouse Reef is considered to be the healthiest coral reef in the world.

The dominant plant species on the islands of the archipelago is the coconut palm . Mangrove forests occur on the larger islands . There is a ziricote forest on Half Moon Caye .

The endangered species found in the Lighthouse Reef include the American crocodile , the saltwater crocodile (Northern Caye only) and some species of turtle ( Hawksbill sea turtle , loggerhead turtle and green turtle ) that lay their eggs here. On Half Moon Caye nesting red-footed boobies and frigate , on Northern Caye Snowy Egret . Smaller reptile species live on all islands, on Half Moon Caye also green iguana and black iguana as well as the endemic Phyllodactylus insularis (Island Leaf-toed Gecko or Belize Atoll Gecko) in Belize. In the few inland waters of the islands Kryptolebias marmoratus happens a Zahnkärpfling , breathing through its skin and can be as up to two months on land to survive. The underwater world is very diverse and is congruent with that of the Belize Barrier Reef. American stingrays , manta rays and groupers , for example, are found in the Great Blue Hole in particular; there are also around 500 species of reef fish and over 80 species of coral. The rare Caribbean manatee is native to the Lighthouse Reef.

Economy / use

The Lighthouse Reef is the center of diving in Belize. From tourist destinations such as Ambergris Caye or Caye Caulker , the atoll is approached by boats; There are tourist accommodations on Half Moon Caye and Northern Caye. In addition to diving areas along the reef edges, the Great Blue Hole, which is one of the most popular diving areas in the world, is particularly popular. Northern Caye has a small airstrip for airplanes. Sandbore Caye is the only island in the atoll with a lighthouse; the southern lighthouse on Half Moon Caye collapsed in 2010 due to the effects of Hurricane Matthew and was never rebuilt. Sandbore Caye and Northern Caye are jointly owned by two investment firms that, together with an Italian investment firm, have been litigating each other over the ownership and development of the island since 2013. For the few non-tourism residents of the islands, fishing is the main livelihood.

gallery

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  Half Moon Caye

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  Northern Caye

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  Great Blue Hole

Web links

Commons : Lighthouse Reef  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} USAID.gov: Lighthouse Reef Atoll Conservation and Protection Project. Retrieved October 25, 2016 . 
2. ↑ [1] ( 78.5 square miles )
3. ↑ The population figures are not recorded statistically at the island level. Source: 2010 Population and Housing Census. Retrieved February 14, 2017 . 
4. ↑ Lighthouse keeper with family of unknown size
5. ↑ BelizeProperty.com: Belize Private Island in the Lighthouse Reef Atoll of the Caribbean Sea. Retrieved October 4, 2016 . 
6. ↑ AmbergrisCaye.com: Diving Lighthouse Reef, Belize. Retrieved October 4, 2016 . 
7. ↑ UNC.edu: Lighthouses of Belize. Retrieved October 25, 2016 . 
8. ↑ Islands.UNEP.ch: Islands of Belize. Retrieved October 24, 2016 . 
9. ↑ IslandExpeditions.com: Jacques Cousteau and the Great Blue Hole at Lighthouse Reef Atoll, Belize. Retrieved October 24, 2016 . 
10. ↑ UNESCO.org: Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System. Retrieved October 1, 2016 . 
11. ↑ CEES.WFU.edu: Lighthouse Reef Atoll, Belize. Retrieved October 4, 2016 . 
12. ↑ CEES.WFU.edu: CEES in Belize. Retrieved October 4, 2016 . 
13. ↑ NationalGeographic.com: Your plastic is getting to the Caribbean more often than you are, and it's spoiling your next visit. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 25, 2016 ; Retrieved October 25, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
14. ↑ ^{a b} News.WFU.edu: Diving into biodiversity. Retrieved October 24, 2016 . 
15. ↑ BelizeIt.com: Lighthouse Reef Atoll. Retrieved October 24, 2016 . 
16. ↑ DiveIn.com: Top 10 Best Dive Sites in the World. Retrieved September 29, 2016 . 
17. ↑ Mary L. Peachin: Caribbean Scuba Diving . Peachin Adventures, 2014, ISBN 978-0-9911981-1-5 .
18. ↑ 7NewsBelize.com: Puerto Azul: Who Owns The Cayes? Retrieved October 25, 2016 .