aaa Southern Reefs, Netherlands Antilles islands

Southern reefs, Antilles islands

This reef encircles the whole island by a narrow band of coral reef. The island has 54km of coastline, which means there is a great deal of reef. There are thought to be around 80 good diving sites, with 6 considered amongst the best in the world.

On the southern side of the island, the sea floor falls away just 100m from the shore, which means that gentle slopes covered in coral, give way to incredible coral walls. Huge numbers of fish are all around, as well as bigger creatures off the coast.

aaa Sian ka’an biosphere reserve, Monarch butterfly migration Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Sian ka'an biosphere reserve, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Bottlenose dolphin, Sea green turtle, Caribbean manatee, Central American Tapir, Forest condor or real condor, Jaguar, Howling monkey, Ocelote in Sian Ka’an, Western manatees can all be found in this reserve.

The reserve is made up of tropical forests, mangroves, marshes and a large area of ocean. The reserve’s name can be translated as gate of heaven.

The reserve covers over 5000 Square km, Part of which is land and the rest is in the coral sea and includes a large area of coral reef.

This is an 8 minute video of someone exploring some of this reserve

September 25, 2022September 26, 2022

Hope for corals? Perhaps the end of bleaching?

Coral reefs are really important. While they only cover a small area (under 1% of the earths surface area) they support about 25% of all marine life, including more than 4000 species of fish.

Continue reading “Hope for corals? Perhaps the end of bleaching?”

January 13, 2022June 29, 2022

Australia is risking several of the most pristine marine environments

Australia has an incredible range of wildlife. Indeed, a great number of people visit Australia because of this. From their fascinating land mammals -kangaroos and koalas, as well as many more, to the great barrier reef and the wide array of other sea life.

They also have areas of Australia which are already almost unusable, because the temperature is too high. You would think therefore, that conservation would be a high priority. Unfortunately under the current government that is very much not the case.

Rowley Shoals is one of the most intact reefs in the world

From mining projects and farming, wildlife is shown to have low priority. In recent times, a firm was given permission to dump material from dredging inside a marine park (and submerging parts of a coral reef – something that will kill it.

November 14, 2021June 29, 2022

New Australian study on reef in a no fishing zone, shows what can happen when reefs are untouched by humans

The reef in question – The Rowley Shoals, are an isolated archipelago about 260km off Australia’s north west coast.

What was found was incredible. Between its protection from fishing, its location and the shape of the reef it has sustained species long lost elsewhere.

Species of giant fish like humphead Maori wrasse and humphead Parrotfish (both growing to over 1.5m were a regular sight, despite the fact that globally they are threatened with extinction. Of particular excitement, across the long study, there was no discernible change in the quantity of these fish – even as they were seen less and less regularly elsewhere.

Efforts must be made to maintain reefs like this, in their unblemished state. These reefs are far more capable of dealing with environmental changes, and hopefully one day there will be a need to reseed reefs in more accessible parts of the world.