Description: The small island of Blanquilla is named for its white sand beaches, visible as a bright border along the northeastern–eastern shoreline. Located approximately 292 kilometers (182 miles) northeast of Caracas, this Caribbean island is a popular destination for divers and tourists arriving by boat or airplane (the airstrip is visible at image bottom).
The plants and animals of Isla Blanquilla are an interesting mixture of arid (cacti, iguanas) and introduced species (wild donkeys and goats), but it is particularly notable for the presence of black coral. Black coral is something of a misnomer, as it refers to the skeleton of the coral rather than the living organism, which is usually brightly colored. Black corals around the world are harvested for use in jewelry and other craftwork, so much so that the species has been listed for protection under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
The island is the southernmost above-water exposure of the Aves Ridge, a seafloor topography feature of the southernmost Caribbean Sea. The island’s basement rock (the oldest rocks in an area) is in the western third of the island. These granite rocks date back to the last part of the Mesozoic Era (the Cretaceous Period, 146-65 million years ago) and the first part of the Cenozoic Era (the Paleocene Epoch, 65-54.8 million years ago). The remainder of the island consists of three limestone terraces deposited on the older basement rock. The terraces get younger from west to east across the island. The terraces record fluctuating sea levels during the Pleistocene Epoch (the Ice Age, 1.8 to about 10,000 years ago). The changes in sea level on the island may have been due to glacial advances and retreats during the Ice Age, or tectonic uplift of the island, or a combination of both processes. |
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