Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge preserves habitat for threatened and endangered species, with particular emphasis on the
leatherback sea turtle (''Dermochelys coriacea''). Its two miles (3 km) of sandy beaches on the southwest corner of
Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands is an ideal nesting place for leatherbacks. The
National Wildlife Refuge
The National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) is a system of protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), an agency within the United States Department of the Interior, Department of the Interi ...
is open to the public for limited hours on Saturdays and Sundays.
The Aklis Archeological Site, a prehistoric
shell midden
A midden is an old landfill, dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bone, bones, feces, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, Lithic flake, lithics (especially debitage), and other Artifact (archaeology), ...
on the coast, is in the refuge. The site dates back to the year 400 and show evidence of human occupation for over 200 years, and has yielded a wide variety of artifacts, including pottery and stone tool fragments, and human remains. The site is subject to gradual erosion.
It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1976.
The last scene of the 1994 film ''
The Shawshank Redemption
''The Shawshank Redemption'' is a 1994 American Prison film, prison Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the 1982 Stephen King novella ''Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption''. The film t ...
'' was filmed in the refuge.
Sandy Point NWR is administered as part of the
Caribbean Islands National Wildlife complex.
Gallery
File:Sandy Point Wildlife Refuge beach.jpg, Sandy Point beach
File:Leatherback sea turtle Tinglar, USVI (5839996547).jpg, Leatherback sea turtle on the refuge
File:Virgin Islands-CIA WFB Map.png, Map of the US Virgin Islands
File:Sand dunes at Shallow Inlet, Sandy Point - panoramio.jpg, Sandy Point beach
See also
*
List of National Wildlife Refuges
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in the United States Virgin Islands
References
External links
Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge homepage
National Wildlife Refuges of the United States in the Caribbean
National Register of Historic Places in the United States Virgin Islands
Protected areas of the United States Virgin Islands
Protected areas established in 1984
1984 establishments in the United States Virgin Islands
Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Beaches of the United States Virgin Islands
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