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Introduction

Buccoo Reef is a coral reef located just off the Island of Tobago along the Southwest tip . It is considered one of the most beautiful and easily accessible places in the Caribbean. It is estimated to be visited over 45 thousand times throughout the year by researchers, tourists and scuba divers; to explore its vast variety aquatic life. The Buccoo Reef Marine Park is approximately 7 square Kilometers, it is made up of and consists 5 known reef flats, a reef lagoon and a mangrove. Buccoo Reef is addressed regularly in conjunction with The Nylon Pools. The Nylon Pools, named by Princess Margaret in 1962 is a shallow white sanded area located just behind the reef Both are visited daily by glass bottom boats, which allows swimmers as well as non-swimmers to enjoy the marine life. During the exploration of this reef swimmers and divers will come across a wide variety of coral and other aquatic life. Aside from the glass bottom boat tours, there are also scuba tours and jet ski rentals that allow those interested to take a closer look at the reef without being confined to one location.

General Infromation

In 1973 the Buccoo Reef was declared a protected area by the Institute of Marine Affairs . It is made up of five known flat reefs which consists of around 39 known species of coral and many colorful, tropical fish and other aquatic life. For the Island of Tobago these coral reefs are important as they play a large role in protecting the shoreline from regular wave as well as harsher storm conditions; approximately fifty percent of Tobago's shoreline is protected by these coral reefs. The reef also contributes to 46 percent of Tobago's GDP and employs over 60 percent of it's workforce, . In the late 1990's a trust was formed and established to ensure the safety of the reef and promote sustainable tourist activities; which meant no over fishing as well as nothing was allowed to be removed from the reef . The trust formed in order for the Island as well as the foundation to preserve what they had left of the Reefs, because people began touching the reef and breaking parts of it off for jewelry and other crafts which was killing the coral and other aquatic life around it.

Marine Life

In and around the reef many different species of fish and coral can be found. Some specific coral that can be found within this area are staghorn or Elk horn coral (Acropora palmata), brain coral (Diploria labyrinthiformis), starlet coral (Siderastrea Siderea and Queen Conch (Strombus Gigas) . Other commonly found marine life around the reef include Hawkbilled turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), green turtle (Chelonia mydas)Nassau Grouper (Epinephelus striatus), the Queen triggerfish (Balistes vetula), Hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus), Lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus), Mutton snapper (Lutjanus analis) and rainbow parrotfish (Scarus guacamaia) . Within the reef, flat reefs and mangrove there are around one hundred and nineteen different species of fish were found and of that 119, 102 were said to be found over the reef .