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Mooring Buoys are a small, but essential tool for protecting the seafloor from damage in in high traffic areas. The Trust maintains an active buoy deployment and maintenance programme, coupled with stakeholder education regarding their proper use. In order to understand the role mooring buoys play, its important that we understand the environment these buoys are used in.
Benthic (bottom) habitats
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 Soft substrate environments include sandy bottoms, mud, mixed gravel and any other finely textured substrates
• The creatures in this environment are mainly in-fauna (live in the soil)
• These include cucumbers, sea mice, sand dollars, razor fish, worms, clams, stingrays, crabs, flounder, garden eels
• These animals are largely filter feeders and planktivores- they help clean the water
• Soft bottom habitats are important feeding grounds for adult fish of many species
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Sea-grass
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 • Plant roots hold soil and break waves
• This is necessary nursery habitat for many species, including parrot fish, grunt, snapper, jacks, stingrays…
• It is also feeding habitat for adult fish: grunt, snapper, tarpon, snook, bone fish, grouper, barracuda, eagle ray…
• Home for conch, octopus, clams, crabs, squid...
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Coral
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 Coral is a colony of little living polyps with limestone skeletons. It is an important ecosystem for a variety of reasons:
• Habitat for mature and juvenile animals: Fish, Crabs, Squid… pretty much everybody
• Reefs help breaks waves before they reach the shore, or more delicate habitats such as mangroves or sea-grass areas
• Eroding coral creates sand, e.g. Montego Bay's beautiful white sand beaches
• Coral is the colourful product that watersports sell.
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