The Gales Point Wildlife Sanctuary is in the

Belize District Belize District is a district of the nation of Belize. Its capital is Belize City. Geography Most of the Belize District is in the east central mainland of Belize; the Belize District also includes various offshore islands, including Amber ...

approximately 23.7 southwest of

Belize City Belize City is the largest city in Belize and was once the capital of the former British Honduras. According to the 2010 census, Belize City has a population of 57,169 people in 16,162 households. It is at the mouth of the Haulover Creek, w ...

and 34 km north of

Dangriga Dangriga, formerly known as Stann Creek Town, is a town in southern Belize, located on the Caribbean coast at the mouth of the North Stann Creek River. It is the capital of Belize's Stann Creek District. Dangriga is served by the Dangriga Airpo ...

. The Sanctuary includes ''Southern Lagoon'', ''Sapodilla Lagoon'', ''Western Lagoon'', ''Quashie Trap Lagoon'' and a portion of the ''

Manatee river The Manatee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 18, 2011 river in Manatee County, Florida. The river forms in the northeastern corner of Manatee County an ...

''. It has a shoreline of 66-foot that is along all the lagoons and waterways except for the peninsula. The Wildlife Sanctuary covers a complex matrix of creeks, mangroves, mudflats and brackish lagoons. Both the rivers and creeks drains into the lagoon from the west. The lagoon is also connected to the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

via the Bar River.

Protection of Endangered Species

The primary purpose of the Sanctuary is for the protection of the ''Endangered Antillean manatees''. The regionally endemic ''Central American river turtle'' and the '' Goliath grouper'' are two other species of conservation interest within the Sanctuary as they are both critically endangered. Just outside the sanctuary is another focal point of conservation interest on the sand bar facing the Caribbean Sea for the critically endangered

Sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhe ...

''Hawksbill turtle'', ''Green turtle'' and ''Loggerhead turtle'' nest here each year. This area has been recognized as one of the most important nesting beaches within the wider Caribbean.

Species in the Sanctuary

The Sanctuary has a diverse array of species including fish, mammal, reptile and bird population. There are 26 species of international concern within the Sanctuary and the 66-foot buffer vegetation on the edge of the lagoon. The

water opossum The water opossum (''Chironectes minimus''), also locally known as the yapok (), is a marsupial of the family Didelphidae.* It is the only living member of its genus, ''Chironectes''. This semiaquatic creature is found in and near freshwater ...

, Yucatán howler monkey, Morelet's crocodile, Morlet's crocodile, American Saltwater crocodile, salt water crocodile, Baird's tapir, Neotropical otter, Neotropical river otter, cownose ray and the Cubera snapper can be found within or around the sanctuary. They are also 330 species of birds, including the Yellow-headed amazon, yellow-headed parrot, the great curassow, and the jabiru stork can be seen. Several other species can be found just outside the protected are such as the jaguar, Puma (genus), puma, margay, ocelot, jaguarundi and the Central American spider monkey.

References

Wildlife Trust. Gales Point Wildlife Sanctuary. Belize : Wildlife Trust, 2008. Print. {{coord missing, Belize Wildlife sanctuaries of North America Protected areas of Belize Belize District Belize Rural Central