Thursday, January 01, 2009

Trip Pic of the Day: Laughigh Bird Caye

One of the seven named locations on Belize's barrier reef World Heritage Site (1996), Laughing Bird Caye is situated at 16°27' North latitude and 88°12' West longitude, 11 miles off the coast of Placencia.

The caye is effectively an elongated ridge of reef known as a faro - an angular atoll located on top of a continental shelf - and got its name from the species of gull (Larus artricilla) which used to nest here until they suffered a sense of humour failure when all of us snorkelers turned up.

The faro or shelf atol structure is quite unusual and supports a range of different coral habitats. The caye was designated a National Park in 1981 ans as such is home to permanent Ranger. I had to sign his guestbook along with all the other visitors.

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