BELIZE NATIONAL PARKS, NATURAL RESERVES, & WILDLIFE SANCTUARIES

TURNEFFE ATOLL

For further information on the Turneffe islands, expecially on the diving sites there, click here and here.

ESTABLISHMENT HISTORY
The site includes Northern (also known as Vincente) Lagoon.

The marine life at Turneffe Island makes the scuba diving an adventure like no other dive destination in the Caribbean. The vastness and variety of marine life and coral formations are truly unmatched.

The Turneffe Islands have been recognized for over three decades as one of the Caribbean's top destinations for bonefish, tarpon and permit as well as a long list of other saltwater game fish. Saltwater anglers thrill in the challenge of chasing the difficult, prestigious "Grand Slam"- catching a bonefish, permit and tarpon all in one day.

JUSTIFICATION
To protect the area's American Crocodile population and various bird nesting sites. It is also possible habitat of the endemic Belize Atoll Gecko Phyllodactylus insularis whose range is restricted to Belize's atolls. For further information on the Turneffe islands, expecially on the diving sites there, click here.

HABITATS
Shallow saline lagoon, mangroves and savanna, seagrass and reef

ZOOGEOGRAPHICAL AFFINITIES
Caribbean and Marine.

MARINE REGION
Coral Atolls Division of the Belize Region.

WILDLIFE

With more than 200 mangrove islands, the atoll is a natural nursery for a wide variety of exotic fish, including the rare Whitespotted Toadfish, which is endemic to Belize. Other types of tropical marine life commonly viewed include eagle rays, playful dolphins, turtles, huge green morays, giant jewfish, nurse sharks, reef sharks, trunkfish, grouper, snapper, permit, and horse-eye jacks.

Investigations have revealed a substantial population of American Crocodile on the atoll, possibly the largest in Belize. There appears to be an endemic snale sub-species on Turneffe, namely Leptophis mexicana hoeversi. The atoll's avifauna, are examined in Raines (1994), including an extensive listing of Osprey nesting sites. Marine habitat data have been collected by CCC (1995). 9 marine habitat types have been identified. Preliminary studies of back lagoons by the UK Natural History Museum have revealed abundant submerged encrusting communities on mangrove prop roots. A list of coral and algae species is provided. Preliminary information on the atoll's vegetation is presented by Stoddart (1962) and Murray. The latter authors expanded on Stoddart's breakdown of vegetation communities, identifying a far greater range than bad been previously thought to exist, including extensive palmetto thicket and savannas, as well as mangrove, beach thicket, cocal, and cave forest previously reported. Populations of Bottle-nosed Dolphins have been studied by researchers from the Marine Mammal Research Programme at Texas A&M University.

LOCAL POPULATION
The atoll has a scattering of fishing camps, some of which are permanently occupied, and some of which are used only on a seasonal basis. At peak times, when combined with tourists and researchers, the atoll is inhabited by approximately 300 people.

PHYSICAL FEATURES & CLIMATE
An average of less than 60 inches of rain falls on the area a year. The site is at sea level, with surrounding land elevated to approximately 1-2 ft.

The Turneffe Atoll area stretches 30 miles long and 10 miles wide. It has often been described as a myriad of different dive destinations all bundled into one.

The 12-acre island is surrounded by one of the most fertile marine ecosystems in the world. The Eastern side of the 30-mile long Atoll is lined with pristine and productive wadeable flats.

A network of flats, creeks, and lagoons dotted by literally hundreds of mangrove islands runs throughout the shallow interior of the Turneffe Atoll. It's home to millions of baitfish, crabs, shrimp, and other small aquatics, serving as the first link in the undersea food chain that supports the most abundant marine life in the Caribbean.

VISITOR FACILITIES
There are 3 tourist lodges on the atoll, but trails etc. are limited. It does however, offer sports fishing of world repute. The southern end of the atoll, known as The Elbow is a commonly used dive site and here are several other less popular dive locations around Turneffe.

CULTURAL FEATURES
There are Mayan sites on the atoll.

For further information on the Turneffe islands, expecially on the diving sites there, click here and here.

BELIZE NATIONAL PARKS, NATURAL RESERVES, & WILDLIFE SANCTUARIES
Belize Parks Home / Bacalar Chico / Bird Sanctuaries / Burdon Canal Nature Reserve / Blue Hole National Park / Great Blue Hole, Lighthouse Reef / Chiquibul National Park and Caracol / Cockscomb Wildlife Sanctuary / Columbia River Forest Reserve / Community Baboon Sanctuary / Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary / Five Blues Lake National Park / Glover's Reef Marine Reserve / Guanacaste National Park / Half Moon Caye Natural Monument / Hol Chan Marine Reserve / Laughing Bird Caye / Marco Gonzales / Mexico Rocks / Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve / Payne's Creek National Park / Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area / Shark Ray Alley / Shipstern Nature Reserve / Turneffe Atoll /

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