Ah, Caye Caulker, where taxis are golf carts and dinner is the
shoeless bearded guy in a billowing Hawaiian shirt, vending bbq
shrimp he caught earlier that day....
Let's learn a little about this type of land formation!
A CAY (also spelled caye or key) is a small,
low-elevation, sandy island formed on the surface of coral
reefs.
Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific ,
Atlantic and Indian Oceans (including in the Caribbean and on the
Great Barrier Reef and Belize Barrier Reef), where they provide
habitable and agricultural land for hundreds of thousands of
people. Their surrounding reef ecosystems also provide food and
building materials for island inhabitants.
COOL BEANS! This means great snorkeling!
How does a Caye form?
Cays are formed when ocean currents transport loose sediment
across the surface of a reef to a depositional node. The resulting
island accumulation is made up almost entirely of biogenic sediment
and the skeletal remains of plants and animals sourced from the
surrounding reef ecosystems - accumulated sediments are
predominantly sand then the island is called a cay.
Their sediments are largely calcium carbonate in composition.
They are produced by an assortment of plants and animals
(e.g.coral, mollusks and also sponges and other creatures).
TINY PARTICLES OF SAND FROM A CAY UNDER A MICROSCOPE
Over time soil and vegetation may develop on a cay surface,
assisted by deposited sea bird guano.
SO basically you're standing on a rock covered in dead things
and bird poop! WOOHOO!!
This particular caye has been formed due to the Belize Barrier
Reef, the 2nd largest reef system in the world after the Great
Barrier Reef in Australia.
What will happen to our Cayes?
A range of physical, biological and chemical influences affects
the addition or erosion of cay environments. These influences
include: reef surface sand accumulations, changes in ocean waves,
currents, tides, sea levels and weather conditions. Also, the shape
of the underlying reef, and the types of organisms which bind,
erode and mix sediments in the reef.
BELIZE BARRIER REEF
Major changes in cayes and their ecosystems can result from
natural phenomena such as tropical cyclones which can help build or
destroy these islands.There is concern over stability of cayes in
the face of growing human populations and particularly for Belize,
tourism. Pressures on reef ecosystems, and predicted climate
changes and sea level rise are also a contributing factor of
concern.Because of all the debate around the future of cays, there
is consensus that these island environments are very complex and
need to be cared for. The Belize government has had excellent
preservation laws in place for years which is quite an
accomplishment for a developing country.
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To claim this earth cache:
1. Take a photo with at this location or your favorite spot on the island.
2. What as tourists can we do to minimize impact or help the environments we visit?
Happy caching!