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This working group supports the preservation of the arboretum, coconut grove, nature trail, mangroves, and other plants, as well as the aerial, aquatic, and terrestrial animals, and general ecosystem of the beach park, as well as efforts to educate beachgoers about the wildlife.
Interested to get involved? Fill out our working group interest form.
Spotlight on manchineel:
Spotlight on manchineel:
The manchineel tree (Hippomane mancinella) holds the Guinness World Record for "most dangerous tree"! The fruits, leaves, bark, and sap are all poisonous. Even standing under a manchineel tree in the rain can result in pain and blisters, and burning manchineel wood can cause temporary blindness. The Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon was reported to have been killed in the 1500s by an arrow poisoned with manchineel sap. Manchineel trees can grow to be quite large – 40 feet with spreading crowns and thick trunks– and their fruits look like small yellow or green apples. The bright green, shiny ovate or elliptic or lance-shaped, alternate leaves are about 2-4 inches long and have a reddish round gland at the leaf-petiole junction. There are several manchineel trees at Magens.
Manchineel tree - Do not touch! All parts of the tree are very toxic! The fruit is poisonous!
Manchineel fruit
See photos and learn about other plants at Magens.
Spotlight on green sea turtles:
Spotlight on green sea turtles:
Green sea turtles are named for the greenish color of their fat, which in turn comes from the seaweed and algae that makes up most of their diet. Green sea turtles live in the Virgin Islands waters and adult female turtles come to shore to nest on several Virgin Islands beaches. At birth a hatchling weighs less than half a pound, but adults can grow to 350 pounds. Turtles face many threats, including mongooses and sharks, human poachers, pollution, and boat strikes (turtles must surface to breathe), but those turtles who do survive to adulthood sometimes live to be more than 70 years old.
Several of the green sea turtles at Magens sport visible injuries
See photos and learn about other & animals at Magens.
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