Mochima National Park

Mochima National Park ( ) is located in the Anzoátegui and Sucre states, on the northeastern coast of Venezuela. The park covers 94,935 hectares and is made up of an exclusively marine area in its western sector (Anzoátegui State), a coastal marine area that includes the Gulf of Santa Fé and Mochima Bay, and a mountainous area that covers the Turimiquire Dam watershed (Sucre State). Mochima Park was created to protect the montane forests of the Turimiquire Range and the country's eastern Caribbean Sea marine landscapes.

History

Mochima National Park was created on December 19, 1973. Named after the town of Mochima, it is one of numerous national parks along Venezuela's northeast Caribbean coastline. It was the second marine park in Venezuela and encompasses the entire shoreline between Puerto La Cruz and Cumaná plus 32 islands just offshore.

Geography

This coast is a mountainous zone with beaches, gulfs and inlets of extraordinary beauty. Because of various microclimates, some areas have gigantic cliffs nearly devoid of vegetation dropping into the water, while others are lush with jungle vegetation and sandy beaches. Many small towns have sprung up along the 50 km between the cities on either side (Puerto La Cruz and Cumaná).

Islands + Islands of Mochima National Park Rank Island / Islet State Area (ha) Area (km²) Coordinates 1 Isla Chimana Grande (Puinare) Anzoátegui 875.00 8.7500 2 Isla La Borracha Anzoátegui 805.00 8.0500 3 Caracas del Este Sucre 455.00 4.5500 4 Caracas del Oeste Sucre 355.00 3.5500 5 Isla Chimana del Sur Anzoátegui 226.50 2.2650 6 Isla Los Venados Sucre 190.00 1.9000 7 Isla Los Monos Anzoátegui 187.00 1.8700 8 Isla Chimana Segunda Anzoátegui 97.00 0.9700 9 Picuda Grande Sucre 90.00 0.9000 10 Isla Chimana del Oeste Anzoátegui 65.30 0.6530 11 Isla El Borracho Anzoátegui 42.00 0.4200 12 Isla Arapo Sucre 20.30 0.2030 13 Isla Arapito Sucre 17.80 0.1780 14 Picuda Chica Anzoátegui 17.10 0.1710 15 Isla Larga de Sucre Sucre 9.44 0.0944 16 Isleta Cachicamo Anzoátegui 6.90 0.0690 17 Cayo El Borracho Anzoátegui 5.80 0.0580 18 Isleta Caribe Anzoátegui 5.29 0.0529 19 Isleta Morro Pelotas Anzoátegui 5.09 0.0509 20 Isleta El Lobo Anzoátegui 4.28 0.0428 21 Isla Chimana Chica Anzoátegui 4.04 0.0404 22 Isla de Plata Anzoátegui 3.50 0.0350 23 Isleta Quirica Anzoátegui 3.39 0.0339 24 Isla El Burro (Corta Barriga) Anzoátegui 3.37 0.0337 25 Isla Redonda Sucre 3.33 0.0333 26 Isla Santa Ana Sucre 2.17 0.0217 27 Varadero Anzoátegui 1.90 0.0190 28 La Catedral Anzoátegui 1.69 0.0169 29 Cayo El Borrachito Anzoátegui 1.26 0.0126 30 Isleta El Cangrejo Anzoátegui 1.24 0.0124 31 Isleta El Burro Anzoátegui 0.91 0.0091 32 Isla Garrapata Sucre 0.42 0.0042 33 Isleta Tigüitigüi Anzoátegui 0.36 0.0036 34 Isleta La Querica Anzoátegui 0.33 0.0033 35 Isleta Los Beatos Anzoátegui 0.26 0.0026 36 Piedra El Gato Sucre 0.15 0.0015 37 Isla Piscina Sucre 0.11 0.0011 38 Piedra El Ratón Sucre 0.05 0.0005

Climate

Year-round temperatures range between 20 and 26 °C. Coastal climate has high temperatures and constant trade winds from November until May, while it is a bit cooler with more humidity from June to October.

Size The park measures .

Fauna and flora Marine waters in the park are rich in cetacean diversities, including such as humpback whales, Bryde's whales, sperm whales, pilot whales, and several species of dolphins. The turtle grass present in Mochima Bay provides a good environment for many gastropods and mollusks such as Eared ark clam, Tiger lucine, Buttonsnail, and Turkey wing clam.

Gallery

References

Mochima National Park

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