Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument

Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument is a protected area by the type of National Monuments in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It protects the coral reefs off the eastern tip of the island of St. John in the immediate vicinity of the Virgin Islands National Park. National Monument to the seabed heard before the east of the island within the three -mile zone and a narrow coastal strip of Hurricane Hole to the East End to Haulover Bay.

The protected area was established by President Bill Clinton in his last days in office, by unilateral decision without consulting the U.S. Congress to provide the omitted in the founding of the National Park parts of the coral ring around the island of St. John permanently protected. It is co-managed by the National Park Service of the National Park and has no own structures.

Ecosystem

The coral reefs in the U.S. Virgin Islands were affected in 2005 by a massive outbreak of coral bleaching. The coral reefs in the National Park and National Monument fell by around 60%. Subsequent investigations of the USGS in 2009 found surprisingly previously unknown coral deposits in the Hurricane Hole area. The corals colonize there the tree trunks of the permanently flooded portions of the mangroves on the coast. This is the first evidence of coral in mangroves.

In the recent discoveries so far about 30 of the 45 coral species of the Virgin Islands were detected, which is an extraordinary biodiversity in a confined space. The holdings are predominantly small and young, but some are so extensive that they must have existed prior to the coral bleaching of 2005. In the regions also an unusually large number of sponges and a diverse fish fauna occur.

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