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Picture: the One ton Keel being lifted from Bobby’s Marina unto Aquatic Solution’s Work Vessel Big Dog
The Nature Foundation on Wednesday re-opened the Proselyte Dive Site when it sank a recycled sailboat keel as a mooring block on Wednesday. Through the Generous donation and assistance of Seatrek Helmet Divers, the Bobby’s Marina Group of Companies and Aquatic Solutions the in excess of one ton keel was sank as a mooring close to the Island’s most sought after diving location.
The previous Proselyte Reef Mooring was attached to pins which were drilled into the bottom, but because the bottom at the location is made out of a clay-like substance and the pins were not holding it was decided to sink the keel instead. The Foundation had to wait for a few months to ensure that the weather conditions were optimal for the project to be concluded successfully.
Because the Marine Park in General and Proselyte Reef more specifically is an important aspect of St. Maarten’s tourism product due to the significant amount of dive tourists that visit there, moorings are installed so that dive boats can tie unto them instead of illegally using their anchors, which damages coral.
The Man of War Shoal Marine Protected Area, which includes the Proselyte Dive Site, includes the island’s most ecologically and economical important marine habitat, including extensive coral reef areas and seagrass beds and has a high intrinsic ecological, economic and cultural value. The Man of War Shoal Marine Park is a home and migratory stop over or breeding site for 3 IUCN Red List Species, 10 CITES Appendix I species and 89 Appendix II species. It is an area with a relatively healthy population of marine mammals including migratory whales and dolphins, numerous species of shark, sea turtles and numerous fish species. Studies conducted by the St. Maarten Nature Foundation have shown that biodiversity in this area, particularly coral reef density, is high and the economic goods and services which the ecosystem provides are in excess of fifty million dollars annually.
The Nature Foundation would like to thank Seatrek for the donation of the keel, Bobby’s Marina Group of Companies for assisting with moving the keel using their heavy equipment and Aquatic Solutions very graciously taking the keel to the dive site and sinking at location.