The St. Maarten Nature Foundation last week upgraded the dive moorings at two of the island's most popular scuba diving sites inside of the Man of War Shoal marine Park Mike's Maze and Proselyte Reef. The installation of the moorings is an essential activity of the Nature Foundation with regards to the management of the Man of War Shoal Marine Park as it is prohibited to anchor in the park. Anchoring damages valuable coral reefs and destroys important habitat for fish and numerous other reef creatures.
Because the Marine Park is an important aspect of St. Maarten's tourism product due to the significant amount of dive tourists that visit the park, moorings are installed so that dive boats can tie unto them instead of illegally using their anchors. The mooring pins are installed by specially trained Nature Foundation divers using an underwater jackhammer and drill. The full mooring installation should be completed by the weekend taking into account the approaching weather.
The Man of War Shoal Marine Park includes the island's most ecologically and economical important marine habitat, including extensive coral reef areas and seagrass beds and has 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.