Buck Island Reef

https://www.nps.gov/buis/index.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_Island_Reef_National_Monument Buck Island Reef National Monument is a small, uninhabited, 176 acre (712,000 m²) island about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of the northeast coast of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Most of the Monument area is underwater. Buck Island National Monument is one of few places in the Virgin Islands where brown pelicans and threatened least terns nest. With its 4,554-acre (18.43 km2) long reef there is plenty to explore and experience in the water. Snorkelers can follow an underwater marked trail on the eastern tip. Two thirds of the island is surrounded by an elkhorn coral barrier reef, providing an ecosystem for over 250 fish species and a variety of other marine life including spotted eagle rays, nurse sharks and lemon sharks, and juvenile Blacktip reef sharks and Whitetip reef sharks. In the spring endangered Leatherback turtles come onto the beach to nest while Green turtles and Hawksbill turtles nest during the summer months. Turtle Beach on the western edge of the island features a pristine white sand beach and has been voted one of the world's most beautiful beaches by National Geographic. Welcome to Buck Island! Before you come, please watch our 2014 Telly Award winning film "Caribbean Gem." Watching this will catch you up on 50+ years of National Park Service protection and civic engagement. Learn what we do every day to preserve this resource for Virgin Islanders and visitors alike. For the General Management Plan and Environmental Compliance, visit the News page. Use one of our concessionaires to get to Buck Island! Buck Island Reef National Monument There is no visitor center at Buck Island. Please visit the bookstore or fee booth at Christiansted National Historic Site. The bookstore is located at the historic Scale House, at the water's edge. The fee booth is located just inside the gate and to the right in Fort Christiansvaern. To Christiansted National Historic Site from Henry E. Rohlsen Airport: Drive east on Route 64 to Melvin Edwards Highway (Route 66). Turn right and continue for 4.8 miles (7.2 kilometers). Continue straight onto Old Centerline Road (Queen Mary Highway), and continue straight onto the Christiansted Bypass 3.7 miles (5.9 km). Turn left onto Hospital Street. The parking lot for Christiansted National Historic Site will be on your right. None No camping is allowed at Buck Island Reef NM on the island. Anchoring overnight at West Beach in the designated anchor area, requires a prior special use permit to be issued at the Christiansted National Historic Site, Administrative Office. Elkhorn Coral at Buck Island Reef NM Snorkeler swimming by Elkhorn Coral at Buck Island Reef NM. Snorkelers may view Elkhorn Coral at the Underwater Trail, Buck Island Reef NM Buck Island Reef NM Underwater Trail Snorkelers in formation departing the concessioner's vessel in route to the underwater trail. Snorkelers are lead in small groups through the underwater trail at Buck Island Reef NM. Tropical dry forest, Buck Island Photograph of the trees and vegetation along the hiking trail on Buck Island The plants that make up the subtropical dry forest on Buck Island range from old historic tamarinds to gumbo limbo, from cactus to delicate orchids. Snorkeling at Buck Island Photograph of snorkeler among the coral reefs at Buck Island Enjoy snorkeling the reefs and see lots of tropical reef fish. Green sea turtle hatchling green sea turtle hatchling on beach heading towards the ocean For over 30 years scientists have studied sea turtle nesting habits on Buck Island, training over 100 students in the field of biology. End of the rainbow Photograph of rainbow at Buck Island Buck Island is a magical place! Come snorkel the waters and hike the trails. Beach at Buck Island the forest meets the sandy beach and waves Come see the unspoiled beauty of Buck Island Buck Island from the water view of Buck Island from the water From the highest ridge to the water and reefs below, Buck Island offers adventure and learning. Coral garden fish swimming among the corals Our underwater trail will take you through beautiful gardens of coral. Hiking trail hiking trail wandering through a beachside forest Take our hiking trail through beach forests up to the observation deck at 300 feet above sea leve. Listening to the Eclipse: National Park Service scientists join Smithsonian, NASA in nationwide project A solar eclipse is visually stunning, but what will it sound like? NPS scientists will find out by recording sounds in parks across the USA. An NPS scientist installs audio recording equipment in a lush valley at Valles Caldera NP. NPS Geodiversity Atlas—Buck Island Reef National Monument, Virgin Islands Each park-specific page in the NPS Geodiversity Atlas provides basic information on the significant geologic features and processes occurring in the park. Links to products from Baseline Geologic and Soil Resources Inventories provide access to maps and reports. aerial view of island and reef Uniforms for the Caribbean Did you know that employees from across the National Park Service stepped up to help their fellow employees after hurricanes hit the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico? In September of 2017, Hurricane Irma, one of the strongest known hurricanes in the Atlantic, lashed the Caribbean and Florida. It was followed within days by Hurricane Maria, another devastating hurricane that also hit Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, among other places. Boxes line a hallway awaiting shipment to parks in the Caribbean. Photo by Kristine Brunsman National Park Getaway: Buck Island Reef National Monument When you think of visiting “America’s Paradise,” what comes to mind? Sparkling clear waters? Coral reefs? Palm trees swaying the breeze? History? All of these and more can be found in Buck Island Reef National Monument in the US Virgin Islands. School of fish in a coral reef The Slave Wrecks Project at Christensted and Buck Island NPS archeologists working with the Slave Wrecks Project (SWP) searched for underwater wrecks of slaver ships and terrestrial remains of slave markets to learn more about the global slave trade. Archeologists look at something underwater Caribbean Trade and Networks A study on prehistoric artifacts of the Saladoid-era (ca. 400 B.C. to A.D. 600) peoples on St. Croix Island used archeological and settlement pattern data to understand the lives of ancient Caribbean societies, including how they settled the landscape; their contacts and exchanges both among themselves and their island neighbors; and how these communities, societies, and their interactions changed over time. SARI excavations. Series: National Park Service Geodiversity Atlas The servicewide Geodiversity Atlas provides information on <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/geoheritage-conservation.htm">geoheritage</a> and <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/geodiversity.htm">geodiversity</a> resources and values all across the National Park System to support science-based management and education. The <a href="https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1088/index.htm">NPS Geologic Resources Division</a> and many parks work with National and International <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/park-geology.htm">geoconservation</a> communities to ensure that NPS abiotic resources are managed using the highest standards and best practices available. park scene mountains Data Manager Profile: Judd Patterson Meet Judd Patterson, Data Manager for the South Florida Caribbean Network. As a data manager, helps wrangle all the information that we collect on the health of our park resources. Judd is excited about the stories data can tell through time, whether that's looking back at park records from over a hundred years ago, or making sure the science we do in our parks today become time capsules for future generations to learn about how things were back in 2021. Data manager Judd Patterson smiles at the camera while holding camera equiment. Maritime Heritage at the Virgin Islands Based on archival research, several hundred shipwrecks are thought to be in the waters surrounding the U.S. Virgin Islands. Many ships wrecked on reefs and rocks. Many others were lost during hurricanes, the great tsunami of 1867, and other natural disasters. Other ships were attacked during times of war or inter-European rivalries to keep colonies from prospering. Commercial boat at St. Thomas Why Sea Turtles Returned to Buck Island Beneath the turquoise waves of a Caribbean “gem,” we are witnessing the comeback of some of the world’s oldest animals. Woman kneeling over a large sea turtle, measuring its shell with a tape measure. Buck Island’s Corals Get Relief from a Deadly Disease Through trial and error, outreach, and a small army of volunteer divers, scientists slow the progress of one of the Caribbean’s most lethal coral diseases—for now. A diver treats a large round brown coral with antibiotic