Little Gasparee
| Little Gasparee | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Waters | Gulf of Pariah | |
| Archipelago | Bocas Islands | |
| Geographical location | 10 ° 40 ′ 34 " N , 61 ° 39 ′ 11" W | |
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| length | 200 m | |
| width | 50 m | |
| surface | 0.8 ha | |
| Highest elevation | 18 m | |
| Residents | uninhabited | |
Little Gasparee , also known as Gasparillo and Centipede Island , is a currently uninhabited island belonging to Trinidad and Tobago and belongs to the group of Bocas Islands . Administratively, Little Gasparee is part of the Diego Martin region .
geography
The archipelago of the Bocas Islands is in front of the northwestern tip of Trinidad, Chaguaramas . While Chacachacare , Huevos and Monos are located in the Dragon's Mouth Strait (Bocas del Dragón), which separates the northwestern tip of Trinidad from Venezuela, Gaspar Grande and Little Gasparee are further southeast in the Gulf of Paria , just under a kilometer from the Trinidadian mainland (Staubles in North, the Point Gourd peninsula in the east). Little Gasparee reaches a height of 18 meters and consists of karstified limestone full of small caves and is densely overgrown with dry forest. Just north of Little Gasparee, another tiny and nameless island juts out of the water.
history
Little Gasparee was known by numerous names throughout its history, despite its minor importance. The original Spanish name Gasparillo , which is still used synonymously today, is derived from the significantly larger island Gaspar Grande, a little further south, and means "little Gaspar". After the former Spanish colony of Trinidad was passed to the British in 1797 , the names Scorpion Island and Centipede Island were common in addition to the English translation of the Spanish name, which is still official today, because of the arthropods that live on the island ; the latter is still used occasionally today. In the second half of the 19th century, the island was also known as Gopee after its owner at the time, Robert John Lechmere Guppy . With Guppy not paying his property taxes, the island reverted to the British Crown. At the beginning of the 20th century, Little Gasparee was acquired by the industrialist Charles Conrad Stollmeyer, owner of Stollmeyer's Castle , who wanted to mine limestone there, but this failed because of the advanced karstification of the island. Stollmeyer leased the island to a member of the Gransaull family of industrialists who built a holiday home there.
From 1940 to 1963 the Chaguaramas region , in which Little Gasparee is located, was rented by the colonial power Great Britain under the destroyer-for-base agreement to the USA, which set up a naval base and a missile early warning system there. The property of the Gransaull family was therefore confiscated and returned to the British state after the US forces withdrew. In 1962 ownership passed to the since then independent state of Trinidad and Tobago, which declared Chaguaramas and thus Little Gasparee a national park and in 1972 transferred the administration of the area to the Chaguaramas Development Authority (CDA).
Flora and fauna
The short-tailed swift nests on the island. Pelicans and black vultures use them as resting places. The Atlantic tarpon, popular with sports anglers, lives in the waters around the island .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Geographical information on Index Mundi. Retrieved December 17, 2015 .
- ↑ Michael Anthony: Historical Dictionary of Trinidad and Tobago, p. 114.Scarecrow Press 1997.
- ^ Anthony de Verteuil: Western Isles of Trinidad, p. 68. Paria Publishing, 3rd edition 2011.
- ^ Ministry of Legal Affairs: Chaguaramas Development Authority Act. Retrieved December 17, 2015 .