Catamaran runs aground in Half Moon Caye Natural Monument

Halfmoon Caye Natural Monument, Belize, Thursday, May 3, 2007

The Belize Audubon Society (BAS) protected areas staff at the Halfmoon Caye Natural Monument have reported that a 38-foot sailing catamaran hull has run aground within the Halfmoon Caye Natural Monument, a protected area co-managed by BAS. The catamaran, Sun Jam, is registered in California and was being captained by David Luckner.

BAS along with a team comprised of the Department of the Environment, Belize Port Authority, Coast Guard and

the Customs and Immigration Departments are heading out to the site to determine if the boat can be moved and to assess any damage. An update will be issued based on the team’s report.

Half Moon Caye is located at the southeast corner of Lighthouse Reef, the eastern most of the three atolls in Belizean water, some 50 miles southeast of Belize City. It was declared a protected area in 1982, the first marine protected areas in Belize and Central America, to protect its Red-footed Booby Bird (Sula Sula) population. In 1996, it was declared as one of the marine protected areas of Belize’s Barrier Reef Reserve World Heritage Site. Halfmoon Caye Natural Monument also boasts well-formed fringing reefs which is an attraction for the over 40,000 visitors who visit the caye annually.

The Belize Audubon Society helped establish Belize’s first protected area at Half Moon Caye, and now manages nine protected areas covering over 162,000 acres, on behalf of the people and Government of Belize. These protected areas include St. Herman’s Blue Hole National Park, Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary (Jaguar Reserve), Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary (Ramsar site), Guanacaste National Park, Halfmoon Caye Natural Monument (World Heritage Site), Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve, Blue Hole Natural Monument (World Heritage Site), Victoria Peak Natural Monument and Tapir Mountain Natural Monument.