Photocredit: A large anchor of from the wreck of the HMS Proselyte within the Man of War Shoals Marine Park (Mauricio Handler/ DCNA)
The wreck of the HMS Proselyte within the Man of War Shoal Marine Park was highlighted as an example of an underwater heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) during the context of the International Year of Small Island Developing States 2014. The 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Heritage is an international treaty that fights the looting and destruction of underwater cultural heritage and guides the development archeology through widely respected scientific guidelines and fosters the access and enjoyment of submerged site by the public. A picture of the wreck, taken by renowned underwater photographer Mauricio Handler with the Nature Foundation, was featured in the UNESCO produced 2014 calendar celebrating the Underwater Cultural Heritage in Small Island Developing States.
The HMS Proselyte was a British frigate which sunk on the shallow reef just outside of Great Bay and gives the name to the Man of War Shoal Marine Protected Area, St. Maarten’s first National Park managed by the St. Maarten Nature Foundation. The calendar also features submerged cultural resources from Cuba, the Bahamas, Jamaica and Vanuatu.