Caribbean
- Caribbean Photo
- ©Julie Larsen Maher
The Caribbean Sea is perhaps best known by its islands—the Belize Barrier Reef, West Indies, and Caymans, to name a few—which draw millions of tourists each year. The sea is part of the Atlantic Ocean, bordered on the west and south by Central and South America. The Caribbean is one of the largest saltwater seas. Its pink sands and turquoise waters, strings of coral reefs, and deep lagoons support the world’s most important feeding grounds for green sea turtles, in Nicaragua. It contains the largest coral reef system in the Western Hemisphere, just off the coast of Belize. It also supplies a significant fishing industry that feeds millions of people around the world.
Away from the crashing surf of its beaches, along miles of mangroves and lagoons, the landscape of Belize blends almost seamlessly with the Caribbean, while submerged coral reefs continue the subtle transition farther out to sea.
No animals better
reflect the health of Nicaragua’s Caribbean coastline than its sea turtles—the critically
endangered hawksbill and endangered green, loggerhead, and
leatherback turtles. But many of the country’s coastal communities count on
green turtles for income and a protein source.
From the Newsroom
WCS marine scientists provide a color code for coral conservation by mapping out the stress loads of the world's reefs.