Bonaire
- ISS004-E-9733
- 08 April 2002
- 19:00 UTC
Bonaire is situated in the southern Caribbean approximately 80 km north from the Venezuelan coast and 41 km east from Curaçao. Together with Curaçao and the Dutch islands of the northeastern Caribbean (St. Maarten, Saba, and St. Eustatius) it forms part of the Dutch overseas territory of the Netherlands Antilles. (Aruba 160 km to the northwest is also a Dutch territory, but is no longer part of the Netherlands Antilles.) Measuring 40 km in length with a maximum width of 11 km, Bonaire has a surface area of 288 km².
Bonaire has a a very low relief, with its highest elevation of 238 m being found in the north of the island. Geologically the island consists of folded rocks of volcanic origin overlain with sedimentary rocks and rocks deriving from fossil reef formations. Its coasts consist of coral rubble beaches, except on the northern windward coast where low limestone cliffs occur. Lac, an open bay on the windward shore, is the main lagoonal area with mangroves and seagrasses. All other lagoonal areas are land locked being closed off from the sea by a coral rubble barrier and have therefore formed hypersaline environments (salinas).
The islands poor soils support a dry, desert-like scrub vegetation with large columnar cacti being common — growing up to 6 m in height — such as the Candle Cactus (Subpilocereus repandus). Also characteristic of the area is the wind-swept Divi Divi tree (Caesalpinia coriaria), the branches of which grow at a 90° angle to the trunk. The cactus scrub gives way to a cactus-woodland mix on the western sides of the island where there is slightly higher rainfall. Common species in this area include: the Mesquite Tree (Prosopis juliflora), Twisted Acacia (Acacia tortuosa), and the Brazilwood tree (Haematoxyln brasiletto).
The reefs around Bonaire form a narrow fringing reef which starts practically at the shore line and extends to a maximum of 300 m off shore. The whole area is protected as part of the Bonaire Marine Park. On the leeward (western) shore a shallow terrace extends 30-150 m from the shore to the drop off which starts at a depth of around 10-15 m. On the windward (eastern) shore the terrace extends generally 100-200m off shore to a depth of 12 m. It is covered primarily with crustose coralline algae and Sargassum. The reef slope is generally far less steep than is found on the leeward shore with less coral cover and abundant brown algae.
Off the western shores of Bonaire lies the the extremely flat and uninhabited island of Klein Bonaire.
