Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
he
Western Caribbean Barrier Reef
is the longest in the western hemisphere, an
almost continuous chain of coral
that stretches over 350 miles from northern Quintana
Roo in Mexico to the far south of Belize. For centuries the reef has been harvested by
fishermen, in the past for manatees and turtles; these days spiny lobsters and queen
conch are the main catch, and declining numbers mean they are both now protected
during the breeding season.
East of the reef are the
atolls
, roughly oval-shaped reefs rising from the seabed
surrounding central lagoons.
Glover's Reef
atoll is considered to be one of the most
pristine and important coral reefs in the Caribbean. Whale sharks, the largest fish in
the world, are sometimes found here, gathering in large numbers to gorge on snapper
eggs at
Gladden Spit
, offshore from Placencia. Beneath the water is a world of
astounding colourful beauty, resembling a brilliant underwater forest. Each coral is in
fact composed of colonies of individual polyps feeding off plankton. There are basically
two types: hard, calcareous, reef-building corals, such as brain and elkhorn
(hydrocorals), and soft corals such as sea fans and feather plumes (ococorals). You'll also
find garish-pink chalice sponges, appropriately named fire corals, delicate feather-star
crinoids and apartment sponges, a tall thin tube with lots of small holes.
Coral habitats are very easily damaged; human interference and increasing toxic
runoff and sediment from coastal development adversely affect the already slow growth.
“Coral bleaching”, a symptom of extensive damage,
occurs when the polyp loses some
or all of the symbiotic microalgae (zooxanthellae) that live in its cells, usually in
response to stress. Bleaching is often caused by above-average sea temperature - such as
that which occurred throughout the Caribbean in 1995, during the hottest decade on
record. Temperatures continue to be above average, a sign of
global warming
. Recent
discovery of oil and its export through Belize's maze of marine protected waters only
exacerbates the dilemma.
The reef teems with bright
fish
, including
angel
and
parrot fish
, several species of
stingrays
and
sharks
(the most common the relatively harmless
nurse shark
),
conger
and
moray eels
,
spotted goatfish
and the striped
sergeant-major
. The sea and islands
are also home to
grouper
,
barracuda
,
marlin
and the magnificent
sailfish
. Dolphins are
frequently seen just offshore, mostly Atlantic
bottle-nosed
, though further out large
schools of
spotted dolphins
are sometimes found. Belize's three species of
marine
turtles
, the loggerhead, the green and the hawksbill, occur throughout the reef, nesting
on isolated beaches. These are infrequently seen, and still hunted for food during a
limited open season.
Above the water, the cayes have a wealth of birdlife, providing protection from
predators and surrounded by an inexhaustible food supply. At
Half Moon Caye
, right
out on the eastern edge of the reef, there's a reserve protecting a breeding colony of four
thousand
red-footed boobies
, and you'll also see frigate birds, ospreys and mangrove
warblers, among the 98 species there.
Current conservation issues
One of the most vociferous and contentious “conservation or development” debates
has focused on the
Chalillo Dam project
, where a hydro electric dam on the upper
Macal River has flooded a beautiful valley that's not only ideal habitat for Baird's
tapirs and a threatened subspecies of the scarlet macaw, but also contains
unexcavated and undocumented Maya sites. The flooding has damaged legally
designated protected areas and may also contravene international conservation
conventions to which Belize is a signatory. After years of determined and often
bitter opposition by environmentalists and activists, the dam proposal was given the
go-ahead in 2004, despite the developers, Fortis, having been shown in court to
have erased geological fault lines on a map submitted as part of the Environmental
Impact Assessment (EIA). In the 2000s, the dam that was built to save Belizeans
money on their energy bills has done anything but: Fortis raised rates yearly. The
