Welcome to the Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve website

The Jobos Bay Reserve is the second largest estuarine area in Puerto Rico. It extends between the municipalities of Guayama and Salinas, and in 1981 the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources obtained these territories. A little after that, the region was designated as Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). More information can be found in http://www.ocrm.nos.noaa.gov/nerr.

Jobos Bay represents a typical example of an estuarine system in the arid coasts of the Caribbean region.

Vast lagoons, small islands inhabited by mangroves, sea grass prairies, and coral reefs characterize the Reserve’s coast. The non-saline water comes to the sea from rivers, creeks, underground waterways, and springs.

The Reserve is home to several endangered species, among them: the Brown Pelican, Antillean Manatee, sea turtles and yellow-shouldered black bird. It also has commercial value as an area for marine recreation, for commercial and recreatiœonal fishing and ecotourism.

To accomplish with the Jobos Bay Reserve’s goals several programs have been established: Research, Education and Community participation.