Buck Island National Wildlife Refuge, National wildlife refuge near St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands.
Buck Island National Wildlife Refuge is a small protected island near St. Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands, covered with scrub vegetation, open grassland, and rocky shoreline with coral reefs just offshore. The surrounding shallow waters shelter a range of marine species that gather around the island's edge.
The island was once owned by the U.S. Navy and transferred in 1969 to the Fish and Wildlife Service, which has managed it as a protected area ever since. That shift marked the beginning of a formal effort to conserve the native plants, birds, and marine life found here.
The waters around Buck Island hold the wreck of a World War II cargo vessel that was relocated here specifically to create a diving site. Divers can explore the hull up close, making it one of the few places in the area where history and marine life meet directly.
Getting to the island requires arranging a boat from St. Thomas, since no ferry or scheduled service connects them. The refuge is open from sunrise to sunset, so arriving early gives you more time to walk the trails and spot wildlife.
The island has two lighthouses standing side by side, one older and one solar-powered, both still sending signals out to sea. Having two working navigation structures of different eras on such a small piece of land is something visitors rarely expect to find.
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