(Redirected from Andros Island) 'Andros'
 Map of Bahamas |
| Population: | 7,686 |
| Area (km².): | 5,957 |
| Capital: | Andros Town |
'Andros Island' is the largest
island of the
Bahamas and the fifth largest island in the West Indies at roughly 2300 square miles (6,000 km²) in area and 104 miles (167 km) long and 40 miles (64 km) wide at its widest point. It is actually composed of three major islands:
North Andros,
Mangrove Cay, and
South Andros. The island has the world's third largest barrier reef, which is over 140 miles long. It is affectionately known by Bahamians as the "Big Yard".
History
There is some evidence that suggests that the first inhabitants of Andros Island were the indigenous
Lucayan people. The
Lucayans throughout the Bahamas were wiped out mainly by exposure to disease following the arrival of the
Spanish in the 1550s. The island was given the name “Espiritu Santo,” the Island of the Holy Spirit, by the Spanish, but is also called San Andreas on a 1782 map. The modern name is believed to be in honour of Sir
Edmund Andros, Commander of Her Majesty’s Forces in
Barbados in 1672 and Governor successively of New York, Massachusetts, and New England. It is also believed that the island could have been named after the inhabitants of
St. Andro Island (
St. Andrew or San Andrés) on the
Mosquito Coast as 1,400 of them settled in Andros in 1787. Still another theory suggests that the island was name after the Greek isle of
Andros, by Greek sponge fisherman.
During the
1700s pirates occupied the island. Morgan's Bluff and Morgan's Cave on North Andros are named after the famous privateer-pirate,
Henry Morgan.
Loyalists and their slaves also settled in Andros in the late 18th Century.
Andros Island's port of Fresh Creek was once a popular hangout for the "
Rat Pack", including Sammy Davis Junior.
In the 1960s and 1970s the Owens Lumber company, a U.S. owned company, deforested much of the indigenous pine forests that grew on North Andros. As a result of poor planning for re-growth, what is found on the island today consists mainly of young, over-crowded tree forests.
Due to its proximity to the Tongue of the Ocean and network of fresh and saltwater blue holes, Andros Island became a popular
Scuba diving destination in the early day's of the sport, frequented by such well known divers as
Jacques Cousteau. The first dive resort on Andros was built by Archie Forfar, a Canada native who later died trying to break the Guinness world record for deep diving. His resort, in Blanket Sound, is now home to Forfar Field station, an environmental education facility owned and operated by International Field Studies.
The island today
Andros has a population of over six thousand and has the fewest people per unit area of all of the Bahamas. Most of these people live on the east coast of the island in the three major towns on the island;
Nicholl's Town and
Andros Town on North Andros, and
Congo Town, on South Andros.
Much fresh water comes from this island, with about seven thousand US gallons (26 m³) of fresh water being shipped to
Nassau a day. Andros has thousands of kilometres of fresh water rivers that come from rain water collected in the many caves in the island's interior.
A type of fabric called
Androsia is manufactured in Andros. Androsia is the local type of
batik fabric, which is produced in a variety of bright vibrant colors and designs, and is distributed widely throughout the Bahamas.
The
Chickcharnie, an
extinct cryptid believed by some to be based on the flightless, 1 metre tall
barn-owl, ''
Tyto pollens'', is said to have formerly occurred on Andros.
Andros is hit by a
hurricane on average every two and a half years.
The
AUTEC- Atlantic Underwater Testing and Evaluation Center Deep Water Weapons Range runs parallel to the east coast of the islands, and operates a base on North Andros.
Tourism
Unlike most of the Bahamian islands, Andros's interior has been largely free of commercial development for the
tourism industry, preserving much of its natural beauty. Current Bahamian tourism efforts refer to it as the least-explored island in the chain.
[1] There are currently efforts being made by the Bahamas National Trust and the Nature Conservancy to establish a national park on the island.
There are few hotels and resorts on the island. However Andros, famous for its bonefishing, is home to many lodges which cater to the sport.
The island is filled with natural beauty. It has the second largest
barrier reef in the
Northern Hemisphere and the third largest in the world, at one hundred and forty miles (225 km) long, and has a drop off of over six thousand feet (1.8 km). The water above the reef averages twelve feet (4 m) deep. There are more than forty square miles (104 km²) of subtropical forest area and the
swamp land that is inhabited by more than 50 species of
orchids. Andros is actually made up of three different major islands (North Andros, Mangrove Cay and South Andros Island) and hundreds of cays adjoined by these mangrove estuaries and tidal swamp lands. Two hundred different types of
birds are native to the island.
Andros Island draws thousands of visitors every year.
Anglers come from all over the world to fish there. It is said to be "the
bonefish capital of the world".
Divers come to explore the blue holes and reefs. Andros Island is next to the
Tongue of the Ocean, a deep oceanic trench and is famous for its wall diving.
Blue Holes
The islands Blue Holes
[1] are water filled cave systems. They attract cave divers from all over the world to dive sites such as 'Stargate', 'The Guardian' and 'Little Frenchman'. There are Blue Holes in the ocean and inland.
References
1. Deep into Blue Holes by Rob Palmer. Published by Unwin Hyman Limited in 1989. ISBN 0-04-440380-1.
Photographs
External links
★
Blue Holes of Andros
★
Blue Hole Foundation
★
Blue Hole dive organiser
★
Diving a Blue Hole
★
Andros Wall Diving
See also
Tongue of the Ocean
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