Lighthouse Reef is an

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gr ...

in 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 ...

, the easternmost part of the

Belize Barrier Reef The Belize Barrier Reef is a series of coral reefs straddling the coast of Belize, roughly offshore in the north and in the south within the country limits. The Belize Barrier Reef is a long section of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, ...

and one of its three atolls, the other two being

Turneffe Atoll Turneffe Atoll is located southeast of Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker, off the coast of Belize in Central America, from Belize City. It is one of three atolls of the Belize Barrier Reef, along with Glover's Reef and Lighthouse Reef. It is appr ...

and

Glover's Reef Glover's Reef is a partially submerged atoll located off the southern coast of Belize, approximately 45 kilometres from the mainland. It forms part of the outermost boundary of the Belize Barrier Reef, and is one of its three atolls, besides Turn ...

. Lighthouse Reef is located about southeast 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 ...

. The atoll is of oblong shape, approximately long from north to south, and about wide. It forms a shallow sandy

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') ...

with an area of and a depth between deep. The reef is one of the best developed and healthiest reefs in the Caribbean, "with an emergent fringing reef, a sloping fore reef with a coral rimmed shelf edge, vertical coral walls, and numerous patch reefs in the shallow central lagoon." There are several islands, listed here from north to south: * Sandbore Caye * Northern Caye * Half Moon Caye * Saddle Caye * Long Caye * Hat Caye Lighthouse Reef is known as a snorkelling and diving destination, considered one of the best dive sites in Belize and the whole Caribbean. Notable diving locations are Half Moon Caye Wall, Long Caye Aquarium ("The Aquarium"), Silver Caves, Tres Cocos, and West Point. In addition to these

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

s, it is also home to the

Great Blue Hole The Great Blue Hole is a giant Blue hole, marine sinkhole off the coast of Belize. It lies near the center of Lighthouse Reef, a small atoll from the mainland and Belize City. The hole is circular in shape, across and deep. It has a surface ...

Flora and fauna

Half moon caye im Lighthouse Reef, Belize (22223264616)

The flora on the reef islands is mostly coconut trees. On the western half of Half Moon Caye there is a rare surviving example of an atoll siricote ('' Cordia sebestena'') forest, while there is natural vegetation on Sandbore Cay. Half Moon Caye is home to a

rookery A rookery is a colony of breeding animals, generally gregarious birds. Coming from the nesting habits of rooks, the term is used for corvids and the breeding grounds of colony-forming seabirds, marine mammals ( true seals and sea lions), and ...

magnificent frigatebird The magnificent frigatebird (''Fregata magnificens'') is a seabird of the frigatebird family Fregatidae. With a length of and wingspan of it is the largest species of frigatebird. It occurs over tropical and subtropical waters off America, bet ...

(''Fregata magnificens''), as well as a nesting colony of some 4000 red-footed booby (''Sula sula''). A colony of white-crowned pigeons (''Columba leucocephala'') formerly nested on Long Cay but has been wiped out by overhunting. The most dominant fish species at the reef are

creole wrasse The creole wrasse (''Clepticus parrae'') is a species of wrasse native to the western Atlantic Ocean. Description The creole wrasse is a small wrasse, with males reaching around 30 cm (1 ft) in length, while females are smaller. It ha ...

(''Clepticus parrae'') and blue chromis ('' Chromis cyanea''). Other prevalent species are (in descending order of prevalence) blackcap basslet ('' Gramma melacara''), bicolor damselfish ('' Pomacentrus partitus''), brown chromis (''

Chromis multilineata ''Chromis multilineata'' is a species of fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as var ...

''), yellowtail snapper ('' Ocyurus chrysurus''), bluehead wrasse (''

Thalassoma bifasciatum ''Thalassoma bifasciatum'', the bluehead, bluehead wrasse or blue-headed wrasse, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a wrasse from the family Labridae. It is native to the coral reefs of the tropical waters of the western Atlantic Ocean ...

''), royal gramma ('' Gramma loreto''), masked goby ('' Coryphopterus personatus''), and sunshine chromis ('' Chromis insolata''). Endangered and threatened animal species include

American crocodile The American crocodile (''Crocodylus acutus'') is a species of crocodilian found in the Neotropics. It is the most widespread of the four extant species of crocodiles from the Americas, with populations present from South Florida and the coasts ...

(''Crocodylus acutus''), 3 species of sea turtles (

hawksbill The hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Eretmochelys''. The species has a global distribution, that is large ...

(''Eretmochelys imbricata''), loggerhead (''Caretta caretta''), and green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas'')), the Belize endemic leaf-toed gecko (''Phyllodactylus insularis''), and the Allison's anole (''Anolis allisoni'').

Environmental protection

The reef has only partial environmental protection. The Great Blue Hole and Half Moon Caye have been designated as Natural Monuments and are UNESCO

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

s (as part of the

Reserve System) since 1996. The protected areas are and in size respectively. Additionally, 3 more areas are National Protected Areas: Northern Two Cayes (a Nassau Grouper & Species Protection site), Sandbore (a Spawning Aggregation Site Reserve), and South Point (another Spawning Aggregation Site Reserve). Despite the protection, the atoll suffers from human impact in the form of uncontrolled fishing and tourism.

References

External links

* {{coord, 17, 18, N, 87, 33, W, region:BZ_type:waterbody, display=title Atolls of Belize Belize Rural South Reefs of Belize Underwater diving sites in Belize Uninhabited islands of Belize World Heritage Sites in Belize