Luperon Bay, an impressive natural beauty

Luperon Bay is located in the municipality of the same name, Puerto Plata province, in the north of the Dominican Republic, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.

This natural harbor has witnessed important historical moments in America. Christopher Columbus used this bay to protect his ships from tropical storms.

Columbus is recognized for discovering America on October 12, 1492. On December 26 of that year, he ordered the construction of Fort La Navidad with the remains of the Santa Maria, which had run aground, in an area that today corresponds to Haiti.

In 1494, he founded in Luperon Bay, the first city of the New World, La Isabela or Villa Isabela, in honor of the Queen of Spain, Isabella the Catholic.

The beauty of this bay is impressive, it receives the largest number of sailing yachts in the Caribbean and is considered an important point of world sailing.
The Central Mountain Range turns this bay into a natural shelter against storms and hurricanes, guaranteeing the safety of the boats anchored there.

According to Liliana Betancourt Fernández and Alejandro Herrera Moreno, in their book “Bahía de Luperón: apuntes ecológicos para la conservación de un área protegida”, there are negative repercussions from human activities in the area, including nautical tourism.

Other environmental impacts described by the authors of the book are the construction of the dock that altered the natural water circulation patterns, overfishing, wastewater, uncontrolled dredging, species extraction, deforestation, and poor mangrove management, because many boats are tied to its roots, causing significant damage.

In addition, they maintain that during the hurricane season, there is an accumulation of boats in Luperon Bay, because in addition to those anchored in the port for several months, there are also those seeking protection from atmospheric phenomena.

They consider that the environmental impact caused by the number of boats should be managed according to strict norms, taking into consideration that Luperon Bay is an important part of the national system of protected areas.

The study by Betancourt Fernández and Herrera Moreno concludes that the construction of a marina could possibly help reduce the risk of exceeding the carrying capacity of this bay.

Advertisements

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

fifteen − five =

Verified by MonsterInsights