The Barrier Reef lies about half a mile off the winward side of the
island. It is the longest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere and the second
longest in the world.
Flying south into Belize, you can see the reef as an unbroken chain of
white surf running along the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan
Peninsula and continuing south almost the whole length of the country to
the Ranguana and Sapodilla Cayes.
Inside the reef
the water is shallow, with a blue tinge; outside the reef the water is deep and
from the air shows a dark royal blue. On very clear days the reef appears as a
narrow yellow line dividing the two shades of blue. Only near Ambergris
Caye does the reef run so close to a well-populated caye. Here it is an almost
so!id wall of magnificent coral formation broken only by narrow channels
called "quebradas". Here an observant diver can be kept entertained for hours
on end by the unending variety, shapes and colours ofthe tropical coral.
But the reef is more than just a decorative sideshow. Without it the island
would not exist for it serves as a natural break-water protecting the beach
from erosion by the waves, and sheltering the caye and its inhabitants.
The remarkably clear and shallow water inside the reef allows excellent
viewing of the fabulous marine life of the area. Rainbow tinged tropical fish,
delicate sea fans and majestic coral gardens abound. Outside the reef, the
seabed drops sharply in a series of plateau to depths of thousands of feet. Out
here in the blue are found the gamefish - mackerel, kingfish, wahoo, tuna,
sailfish and marlin.
Although it looks Iike dead stone, the reef is in fact a living wall formed
by
millions of coral organisms. These coral are carnivorous animals, known as
polyps, which eat small sea creatures that float by, capturing them with
stinging tentacles. They feed, however, only at night, pulling their tentacles back into
the skeleton during the day. Within the reef skeleton live minute blue green
algae. These give off oxygen which the coral polyps breathe; the algae, in
turn absorb the carbon dioxide which the polyps give off, forming thus a
genuine symbiotic relationship. Coral are multicoloured varying from gold
to red, orange, green, brown and yellow The soft, living tube shaped coral
polyp protects itself by forming a hard layer of calcium carbonate called the
corallite. Colonies ofthese polyps form the structure of the coral reef growing
in strange and exotic shapes that give the different varieties their popular
names, such as brain coral, staghorn coral and elkhorn coral.
The reef needs two factors to survive - solar energy and chemical nutrients.
The nutrients flow into the sea as plant and animal organic material from
rivers and creeks on the mainland and on the caye itself The organic material
is broken down into its chemical derivates by bacteria and other microorganisms,
thus providing the nutrients necessary for reef growth.
The warm clear water off the coast of Belize, fed as it is by various mainland
rivers and streams, form an excellent environment for the reef.
The entire island of Ambergris in fact probably resulted from the
accumulation of coral fragments along with silt from the Rio Hondo. The
report of the British Honduras Land Use Survey Team of l959 notes: "The
connected chains of coral islands known as Ambergris Caye was formed
from the accumulation of coral fragments...first as a shoal patch. These shoals
tend to build up in long lines parallel to the coast of the mainland. It is
thought that their orientation may be connected with submarine geological
strata rather than being entirely the work of sea currents."
The preceeding article was excerpted from the book Ambergris Caye,
Paradise With A Past, published by Cubola Productions of Benque Viejo del
Carmen and written by the Honourable Glenn D. Godfrey, Area
Representative from Belize Rural South. It is available in local bookstores.