Nature
“The island is better than what I thought because the recovery of the nature has been great and well guided. It was a land of everybody and of nobody.”
Dóris Ruschamnn, reseacher.
Marco Social Instituto Souza Cruz, jul/02
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è Marine Environment
The diversity starts in the sea. The meeting of the cold marine current coming from the Falkland Islands and the warm marine current of Brazil promotes the frequency of many animals in the region.
In some points of diving is possible to observe lobsters (Palinuros argus), rock shrimp (Palaemon sp.), arrow crab (Sternorhynchus seticornis), blue crab (Callinectes danae), red swimming crab (Cronius ruber), sea urchin (Lytechynus variegatus), lion’s paw scallop (nodipecten nodosus) dusky grouper (Epinephelus marginatus) and the triggerfish (Balistes carolinensis).
Marine elephants, killer whales and whales have been sighted in the bay, on land and at the sea.
è Terrestrial Environment
A great variety of bird specimens of South America could be seen on Porto Belo Island. Some of them are: kingfisher, brown tinamou, araucuan, thrushes and tanagers.
Since 1998, educational environmental activities and a strict supervision have became the island a paradise for the fauna and individuals like the naked-tail armadillo (Cabassous sp.), birds like the araucuan (Ortalis squamata) and the brown tinamou (Crypturellus obsoletus) were the most beneficed. There are free of hunters and appear more frequently.
Research projects like the vertebrate’s survey and the monitoring of the biology of some specimens are being developed on the island. Feature the work of the Otter Project that has identified and monitored otter caves around the island for 5 years.
With some luck, the visitor can sight mammals like the raccoon, bulldog-bat and some dolphins.
Examples of the Mata Atlântica forest, like the pitanga fruit (Eugenia uniflora), the cedrela (Cedrela fissilis) and the palm (Euterpe edulis) occur frequently on the island and the care with the environment is reflected in the adapted infrastructure. Footbridges take the visitants through the forest, between the two beaches, and this structure avoids steeping on the vegetation in many fragile areas of the walking trail.
è Walking trail and lookout point
The walk may last up 1 hour and a half trough the forest that covers almost the whole length of the island and the landscape reveals details and curiosities of the local fauna and flora.
The walking trail is self-guided and completely adapted with footbridges and indicative signs to facilitate the walk, and also reserves a visit to the pedra da Cruz, an arqueologyc relic. The place gathers records of petroglyphs, carved on the rock, thousands of years ago by the first inhabitants of the region.
At the lookout point, located in one of the highest points of the island, the visitant can enjoy one of the most beautiful panoramic views of the region.
At the information point, flyers about the trail with explanations about the biodiversity and main curiosities of the walk are available. The material is translated into English and Spanish.
è Petroglyphs
Away from the continent, there are petroglyphs only on Porto Belo Island. On the top, almost at the center in the island, to the height of 30 meters and at a distance of 200 meters of the beach, a granite stone known as pedra da Cruz has an arqueologyc relic.
The face orientated to the sea is an inclined surface covered of petroglyphs carved thousands of years ago by the first inhabitants of the region.
