Cay Sal Bank

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Cay Sal Bank
Cay Sal Bank, between Florida Street and Cuba
Cay Sal Bank, between Florida Street and Cuba
Waters Atlantic Ocean
archipelago Bahamas
Geographical location 23 ° 50 ′  N , 80 ° 5 ′  W Coordinates: 23 ° 50 ′  N , 80 ° 5 ′  W
Cay Sal Bank (Bahamas)
Cay Sal Bank
Number of islands 96
Main island Cay Sal
length 105 km
width 66 km
Land area 14.87 km²
total area 5 226.73  km²
Residents uninhabited
Cay Sal Bank map
Cay Sal Bank map
Template: Infobox Atoll / Maintenance / HoeheFehlt

The Cay Sal Bank ( Spanish : Placer de los Roques ) is a large coral reef formation with numerous small islands on a fringing reef in the Bahama Banks that is a few meters deep for long stretches .

geography

Cay Sal Bank is the third largest and westernmost of the Bahama Banks. It is closer to Cuba (separated from it by the 50 km wide Nicholas Channel ) than to the nearest Bahama Island. It is separated from the Great Bahama Bank by the Santaren Channel , the western edge of which is 50 km to the east. The western tip of Andros , the closest island to the Bahamas, is 145 km east of the Cay Sal Bank. The Florida Road separates them from the Florida Keys ( Key Largo is 100 km north).

The islands of the Cay Sal Bank are the closest foreign country to Cuba. Over the decades, 27,000 boat refugees from Cuba have been picked up in this area by the US Coast Guard, who patrol the area.

The Cay Sal Bank is a carbonate platform with a triangular floor plan. It is also considered a sinking atoll , where coral growth does not keep up with the rate of sinking. With its total extension, the Cay Sal Bank is the second largest atoll on earth, surpassed only by the Great Chagos Bank . The total area is given as about 4000 to 5230 km². To the south is the 105 km long side of the triangle, while the width from north to south is 66 km. The land area of ​​the 96 islands, some of which are very small, is given as a little less than 15 km². The lagoon is 9 to 16 meters deep.

The islands and archipelagos on the fringing reef are clockwise from southwest to southeast:

  • Cay Sal
  • Elbow Cays ( Spanish : Los Roques )
  • Crenula Cay
  • Double Headed Shot Cays
  • Water Cays (West Water Cay and East Water Cay)
  • Deadman's Cays
  • Muertos Cays
  • Dog Rocks (northeast corner)
  • Damas Cays
  • North Dangerous Shoals
  • South Dangerous Rock
  • Bellows Cay
  • Anguilla Cays

The main islands are Cay Sal, (North) Elbow Cay and Anguilla Cay.

Satellite image of the main island of Cay Sal

Cay Sal, the main island in the southwest, is 1.6 km long and has an area of ​​1.22 km². It is the only inhabited island in the atoll. In the interior of the island lies a large saltwater pond that is usually replenished by strong windswept sea waves breaking through the southwest side of the island. Otherwise the island is overgrown with stunted palm trees. On the west side are the buildings of the only settlement.

The Elbow Cays are the westernmost islands of the Cay Sal Bank, they extend from the southeast to the northwest. North Elbow Cay (formerly inhabited) is the largest and highest island in the Elbow Cays, and has a 17.7 m high lighthouse that is no longer in use . Further to the southwest are some unnamed cays and coral blocks that have occasionally fallen dry.

The Double Headed Shot Cays extend as a group of elongated islands from South Elbow Cay in the southwest to the Water Cays in the northeast. Here in the northwest of the Cay Sal Bank, the Florida Current flows at full strength past the islands at only a short distance from the shore.

The Anguilla Cays near the southeast corner of Cay Sal Bank consist of some elongated, scrub-covered sand islands that are swampy in the south and also have some stunted palm trees. At the north end of the Anguilla Cays there is a five meter high signal tower. Anguilla Cay is the northernmost and second largest island of the Anguilla Cays. Cotton Cay, to the south, is the largest. Middle Cay is in between, and there are also a number of unnamed cays.

administration

Cay Sal Bank and its islands belong to the Bimini District of the Bahamas, the main islands of which are 150 km to the north.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b [1]
  2. ↑ a b Atoll Research Bulletin (PDF; 3.7 MB)
  3. ↑ without considering completely submarine atoll-like structures such as Saya de Malha or the Zhongsha Islands .
  4. ^ IOTA-DXpedition to Cay Sal Bank NA219, Bahamas
  5. ↑ [2]

Web links