Capiro Bank aka Banco Capiro is a boat accessible salt water dive site, located in Tela, Honduras.
From Dive Training magazine;
Newly Discovered Reef In Honduras ’Remarkable’
Compiled by Gene Gentrup
A reef discovered off the coast of Honduras could turn out to be one of the best coral reefs in the Caribbean.
The site near the coastal town of Tela, Honduras, was discovered recently by the Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL), The Healthy Reefs Initiative (HRI) and locals. It’s considered so extraordinary that the local municipal government recently declared it a marine protected area, and CORAL is working with local officials, conservation groups and business owners to put in place additional protections.
Divers who visit this area will get a glimpse of what a Caribbean reef looked like nearly 30 years ago, according to CORAL. The healthy reef includes an area known as Capiro Banks, which contains 69 percent live coral cover. Reefs around the nearby diving hotspot of Utila and the Cayos Cochinos Marine Protected Area exhibit coral cover of 25 and 18 percent, respectively, and algal cover of 23 and 47 percent, respectively. Coral cover in the Caribbean averages less than 20 percent, according to the Healthy Reefs Initiative.
The newly discovered reef boasts an unusually high concentration of Diadema sea urchins an important reef grazer whose populations plummeted in the 1980s. And just northwest of Capiro Banks, adjacent to a terrestrial park, the team recorded more than 800 critically endangered elkhorn corals.
This important reef-building coral provides valuable habitat for marine life.
"These reefs along the Caribbean mainland of Honduras are quite remarkable," says Jason Vasques, assistant director of conservation programs at CORAL. "The discovery of Capiro Banks is surprising because here is a remarkable reef that has no business being where it is. Despite increasing pressure from nearby nutrient-rich and sediment-laden rivers and watersheds, this coral oasis appears to be thriving. While many elkhorn coral populations have collapsed throughout the Caribbean due to disease outbreaks, bleaching and numerous other localized impacts, this particular reef is defying the odds. It may also be a critical source of coral spawn that could potentially allow this endangered species to repopulate the region."
The declaration of the marine protected area near Tela was based in part on reef monitoring data collected by CORAL and HRI as part of the Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment program. After the team presented its findings to the Honduras Vice-Minister of Tourism Synthia Bennett Soleman and David Zacaro, the mayor of Tela, Zacaro wasted no time in making the declaration. "We are very excited about this newly protected area," he says, "but we also understand the great responsibility that has been put upon our shoulders. We must work tirelessly together in order to ensure the future of this beautiful gift, so that future generations can also enjoy the benefits of our amazing reefs."
The protection of the reef area near Tela follows a decision made by the Honduran government earlier this year to designate Cordelia Banks a "Site of Wildlife Importance." Located not far from Tela, off the southwest coast of Roatan, Honduras, Cordelia is home to one of the Caribbean’s largest known stands of staghorn coral — listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as a critically endangered species. Honduras, with the elkhorn coral at Tela and the staghorn coral in Cordelia, can now claim protections for significant populations of two endangered corals.
Reports of Tela’s reefs are spreading quickly throughout the local tourism industry. Construction has started on the new Tela Marine Research Center. This facility is expected to serve as an educational resource for the greater public about coral reef conservation and will accommodate the needs of 30-40 divers each day.
"Seasoned divers will find Tela’s reef different from anything they have seen before," says Marcello Dicunta, a dive instructor and owner of Tela Dive Center. "And because it’s so different, we need to ask important questions like why are the coral coverage and sea urchin populations thriving here. Compared to the rest of the Caribbean, Capiro Banks is a very healthy reef and it’s worth preserving so that we can spend time studying it."
Antal Borcsok, member of the Tela Chamber of Tourism’s board of directors, also sees tremendous potential for the area. "This incredible news has sent shock waves throughout the entrepreneurial veins of the people of Tela. We recognize how important it is to act quickly and responsibly to ensure a long-term, sustainable source of income for the community."
CORAL and its partners are already preparing for the potential effect that added dive tourism will have on the reefs near Tela. Recent programs include installing moorings to reduce anchor damage to sensitive reef habitats, training local marine operators and community teachers in sustainable marine recreation principles, and working with federal authorities to eventually designate Tela’s reefs a Site of Wildlife Importance.
"It is critical that political and private interests align to protect these amazing reefs," Vasques says.
For more details about the discovery and efforts to protect it, check out
www.coral.org. (I can’t find any more info at that site, RayC LA)
From IPS;
In July 2011, another seven reefs were discovered in Tela Bay, on the country’s Atlantic coast.
Six of them form the barrier reef of Capiro Bank, located 8 km out to sea from the city of Tela. The seventh, similar to Cordelia, is off the coast of nearby Punta Sal. The national and local authorities have decided to create a protected area to encompass all of them.