Andros

Andros

Sobriquet: Big Yard
Geography
Andros, Bahamas (Bahamas )
Location	Atlantic Ocean
Coordinates	24°26′N 77°57′W / 24.433°N 77.95°W / 24.433; -77.95
Archipelago	The Bahamas
Area	5,957 km2 (2,300 sq mi)
Length	167 km (104 mi)
Width	64 km (40 mi)
Country
Bahamas
Largest city	Andros Town (pop. 2,318)
Demographics
Population	7,800
Density	1.31 /km2 (3.4 /sq mi)
Ethnic groups	Blacks 85%, Whites 12%, Asian and Hispanic 3%

Andros Island is the largest island of the Bahamas and the fifth largest island in the West Indies at roughly 6,000 km² (2,300 sq mi) in area and 167 km (104 mi) long and 64 km (40 mi) 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 225 km (140 mi) long. It is affectionately known by Bahamians as the "Big Yard".

History

The first inhabitants of Andros Island were probably 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.

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, Jr..

In the 1960s and 1970s the Owens Lumber company, a US-owned company, deforested much of the indigenous pineyards that grew on North Andros. As a result of poor planning for re-growth, what is found on the island today over-crowded forests of mainly young trees.

Owing 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 days 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.

Name

The Spanish named the island “Espiritu Santo,” the Island of the Holy Spirit. A 1782 map calls it San Andreas.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]} The island could have been named after the inhabitants of St Andro Island (St Andrew or San Andrés) on the Mosquito Coast, because 1,400 of them settled in Andros in 1787.^{[citation needed]} Still another theory suggests that the island was name after the Greek isle of Andros, by Greek sponge fishermen.^{[citation needed]}

The island today

Andros is the least densely populated of all the Bahamas, with a population of a little over six thousand. Most of these people live on the east coast of the island in the three major towns on the island; Nicholls Town and Andros Town on North Andros, and Congo Town, on South Andros.

Much freshwater comes from this island, with about nineteen million litres of freshwater being shipped to Nassau a day through the pumping station located in Morgan's Bluff[1][2]. Andros has thousands of kilometres of freshwater rivers that come from rainwater 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, produced in a variety of bright vibrant colors and designs. It 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.

International Field Studies, Inc. runs Forfar Field Station, located on the east coast near North Blanket Sound.^[1] Students can stay there to learn about the culture, biology, and geology of the Bahamas.

Transportation

Andros Town International Airport serves the island.

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. [3] 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 225 km (140 mi) long, and has a drop off of over 1.8 km (5,900 ft). The water above the reef averages 4 m (13 ft) deep. There are more than 104 km² (40 sq mi) of subtropical forests and the swamps are 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) 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 island's blue holes 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. Two of the inland blue holes on Andros include Charlie's Blue Hole, reputedly first explored by Jacques-Yves Cousteau, and the larger Church's Blue Hole and Guardian Blue Hole.^[2]

Cave diving is dangerous. Divers require training before entering any cave system and should be accompanied by a guide.

Religion

There are a number of church denominations represented within Andros. In North Andros, the Anglican Episcopal Church has a presence through St Margaret's Parish. This parish consist of two churches, St Margaret's located in the settlement of Nicholl's Town and St Mary Magdalene located in the settlement of Mastic Point.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nassau [4] provides clergy for parishes throughout Andros. On South Andros Sacred Heart parish is in Little Creek and St. Robert Bellarmine parish is in High Rock. Mangrove Cay is served by St. Benedict's parish and Central Andros is served by St. John Chrysostom parish in Fresh Creek and Christ the King parish in Cargill Creek. Catholic services are also provided on Saturday evening at the AUTEC Navy Base chapel.

Gallery

South Andros Island, at Tiamo.	Guardian Blue Hole	Saddleback Cay	Sunset from Blanket Sound
Captain Morgan's Cave	Forfar Field Station	Church's Blue Hole	The North Beach of Small Hope Bay Lodge

References

1. ^ http://www.intlfieldstudies.org/Forfar.html
2. ^ Rob Palmer, Deep into Blue Holes. Unwin Hyman Limited, 1989. ISBN 0-04-440380-1.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Andros, Bahamas

• Blue Holes of Andros
• Blue Hole Foundation
• Diving a Blue Hole
• Andros Wall Diving
• International Field Studies
• St Margaret's Anglican Episcopal Church in North Andros

See also

• Tongue of the Ocean

Coordinates: 24°26′N 77°57′W / 24.433°N 77.95°W / 24.433; -77.95