Saba Bank National Park

Saba Bank National Park
Coordinates: 17 ° 2 ′ 0 ″  N , 63 ° 25 ′ 0 ″  W.
Location:	Saba , Caribbean Netherlands
Next city:	The bottom
Surface:	approx. 268,000 ha
Founding:	2010
Map of the national park with the island of Saba in the upper right corner

The National Park Saba Bank is a maritime national park in the Caribbean . The park was established in 2010 to protect the Saba Bank, a large and biodiversity- rich underwater atoll. The area is under Dutch jurisdiction.

geography

The national park protects the entire Saba Bank, an extensive submarine elevation with a flat top that rises from a depth of 1,800 meters, but does not penetrate the sea ​​surface at any point. The sea has a depth of around 20 to 50 meters in most of the area, but in the east the water is overall shallower and only 10 meters deep in places.

The park is located a few kilometers southwest of the island of Saba and extends over a total area of ​​268,000 hectares, which is many times the size of the island. About one third of the park area is in the territorial waters of Saba and only a little more than one percent in the territorial waters of the neighboring island of Sint Eustatius . The rest is in the exclusive economic zone of the Caribbean Netherlands .

The Saba Bank is the largest actively growing underwater atoll in the Caribbean and possibly the third largest in the world.

Flora and fauna

Underwater shot of the Saba Bank

Loggerhead turtles are found in the national park

Sponges of the species Xestospongia muta

The first explorations of the underwater world of the Saba Bank did not take place until the 1970s and yielded sometimes contradicting results, especially with regard to the extent and condition of the coral reefs found here . A first study carried out incorrectly speaks of minimal reef development, while subsequent explorations discovered extensive reef structures, particularly in the southeast of the area.

Open water

In the open water area above Saba Bank, migratory fish species are regularly sighted, including tuna , golden mackerel , wahoo and swordfish . Large marine mammals such as sperm whales and various types of dolphins also live here . Humpback whales en route north to their breeding waters are occasionally seen in the deep waters between the bank and Saba Island.

Several species of sea turtles use the Saba Bank in search of food, including the Green Turtle and the True and loggerhead turtle .

Seabed

A ten-day expedition in 2006 identified between 150 and 200 different species of aquatic plants on the Saba Bank seabed , including 43 different species of red algae alone . The hard sea floor is dominated by algae , sponges and gorgonians . Investigations confirmed the occurrence of conger eels , groupers and various moray eels in the area .

Coral reefs

Extensive coral reefs of various types can be found mainly in the eastern and southeastern areas of the national park. A wide variety of fish species use the reefs as habitat, including blue surgeon fish , angelfish , trigger fish , scorpion fish and stingrays . The coral reefs are also home to countless invertebrates such as crustaceans , sea ​​anemones , starfish and jellyfish .

More recent studies from 2013 and 2015 report an increase in sponges in areas of the park that were previously covered with coral. Above all, the two species Xestospongia muta and Agelas sventres are mentioned here . It is speculated that the coral reefs of the Saba Bank could transform into so-called "sponge reefs" in the future due to changed environmental factors.

Avifauna

The area is home to some bird species that live almost exclusively over the open sea and use the island of Saba as a breeding area or as a stopover on their migrations . These include the magnificent frigate bird , red-billed tropical bird , brown pelican and shearwater .

Management and protection status

Map of the exclusive economic zone and territorial waters of Saba and St. Eustatius

The park is managed by the Saba Bank Management Unit (SBMU for short), a subdivision of the Saba Conservation Foundation that is directly responsible for the management of Saba's other two national parks ( Saba National Marine Park and Mount Scenery National Park ). The SBMU is primarily responsible for monitoring fisheries in the national park area and coordinating research work. Furthermore, patrols are carried out in the protected areas.

Since October 2nd, 2010 the area of ​​the Saba Bank is protected by a national decree of the then Netherlands Antilles . This decree prohibits tankers and other large ships from anchoring over the Saba Bank to avoid damage to the coral reefs. In October 2012, the International Maritime Organization designated the national park as a so-called Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (for example, “particularly sensitive sea area”). Since then, ships weighing more than 300 tons have not been allowed to pass through the area.

commercial use

Fish of the genus Lutjanus are hunted in the national park

Saba Bank is an important resource for Saba's economy. Fisheries in the area account for around 8% of the island's economic output and employ around 20 people full-time and another 30 part-time (for a population of only around 1,600). Most important are the lobster catch (approx. 85 tons annually valued at approx. 1.3 million US dollars ) and the catch of different types of snappers (approx. 41 tons annually valued at approx. 289,000 US dollars). The management of the national park tries to regulate the fishing in the area to ensure sustainability. Most of the fishing over the Saba Bank takes place in the northern and northwestern parts of the area. The central part, which is largely covered by sandy soils, is considered to be not very productive and is therefore avoided by fishermen. The same is true with much of the eastern areas, as the local fish are regularly contaminated with toxic pollutants in humans Ciguatera -called fish poisoning can cause.

In contrast to the neighboring Saba National Marine Park, tourism does not play a prominent role in the Saba Bank area.

Web links

Commons : Saba Bank National Park  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Collection of scientific articles about Saba Bank at plos.org (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Saba Bank National Park. In: dcnanature.org. Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance, 2014, accessed June 29, 2018 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Saba Bank gains PSSA status. In: dcnanature.org. Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance, July 9, 2013, accessed June 29, 2018 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b c} SITE DESCRIPTION - Biological Features. In: spaw-palisting.org. Retrieved July 2, 2018 . 
4. ↑ SITE DESCRIPTION - Flora: annexes SPAW species. In: spaw-palisting.org. Retrieved July 2, 2018 . 
5. ↑ Mirthe Wiltink: Changing benthic communities on Saba Bank. Is Saba Bank becoming a 'Sponge reef'? In: dcbd.nl. 2016, accessed on July 2, 2018 . 
6. ↑ Jens Odinga: Saba Bank Management Unit Activity Report 2016. In: dcbd.nl. Dutch Caribbean Biodervisty Database, October 13, 2016, accessed June 29, 2018 . 
7. ↑ Paul Hoetjes: Saba Bank Now Protected! In: dcnanature.org. October 11, 2010, accessed June 29, 2018 . 
8. ^ Saba Bank PSSA. In: http://pssa.imo.org . Retrieved June 29, 2018 . 
9. ↑ CULTURAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC CRITERIA. In: spaw-palisting.org. Retrieved July 2, 2018 . 
10. ↑ Dennis M. Weidner, Guillermo E. Laya, Julio A. Serrano: Part B. Caribbean Section 4 - Montserrat to Puerto Rico . In: US Department of Commerce (Ed.): World Swordfish Fisheries: An Analysis of Swordfish Fisheries, Market Trends and Trade Patterns . tape 4 . Silver Spring, MD 2001, pp. 1062 .
11. ^ Saba Bank National Park. In: car-spaw-rac.org. May 7, 2012, accessed July 2, 2018 .