Home > Explore News > New Maps Offer Updated Perspective of Southwest Puerto Rico Watersheds

New Maps Offer Updated Perspective of Southwest Puerto Rico Watersheds

Published on: 02/13/2013
Research Area(s): Marine Spatial Ecology

In support of a watershed restoration initiative in Guanica Bay, researchersfrom the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science released new shallow-water (less than 30 meters deep) sea floor habitat maps for the Guanica Bay/La Parguera region and Finca Belvedere Natural Reserve in the southwest part of the island.

The maps will support ongoing management of Puerto Rico's Marine Protected Areas and priority watersheds. The maps and data mark an improvement over NOAA's previous maps because they containmore detailed habitat descriptions, higher resolution maps, and more recent aerial images. All of these improvements aid regional managers in directing conservation efforts.

A summary report (33 MB PDF) and data are available for download. To supplement the report and data, the project team createdan interactive, web-based map that allows users to search and see the maps, imagery, and underwater video.

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