New footage of wreckage at Beveridge Reef
New footage shows one of the old wrecks at Beveridge Reef that has made the pristine seas destination its permanent home bringing the total documented number of wreckage’s to at least 3.
Submerged
at high tide and barely visible during low tide if not for the breaking waves, Beveridge Reef is known as being an unforgiving reef, should one hit aground.
The latest
wreckage was a catamaran belonging to a British family that hit Beveridge in 2017 and was rescued by Niue’s donor whale research vessel Dona Catharina.
BCN has exclusive footage of one of the wreckage from local non government organization Oma Tafua’s research team who circumnavigated the area over the weekend while undertaking annual whale research.
All along
the reef edge the pristine seas location is teeming with fish and abundant shellfish. The passage still remains hub to many grey reef sharks. National Geographic reported in 2017 that Beveridge Reef has arguably the highest density of grey reef sharks in
the world.
In 2017 Niue announced and declared the area as inclusive of the 40% marine protected area. Questions though remain over the monitoring, control and surveillance of the area being over 100miles out of Niue? Vessels are known to visit the area without registering in Niue should they spend time within the area. Such vessels have also harvested resources unreported and unmonitored. BCN News understands that the New Zealand Defense Force undertakes frequent air surveillance over the area.
