![]() Like many of the larger islands in the Turks and Caicos, West Caicos has several natural shallow saltwater ponds. These crafts were effective at hiding in the natural coves, shallows, and inlets found across the Caicos islands, where navigation with a larger vessel would be difficult.Īlthough West Caicos was used as a temporary stopping place by many renegades, records are only definite on the French Pirate Dulaien as having an established base on West Caicos. Nearly all pirate vessels operating in the Atlantic were heavily armed smaller ships, able to hide on the coast and maneuver better than the larger merchant ships of the day. Modern popular culture presents an idea of pirates of the period sailing in large ships, but the reality is the opposite. The Burrell Traction Engine at Yankee Town. The Turks and Caicos is located in this area, so pirates based in the islands had many opportunities to prey on ships. Because of the Atlantic North Equatorial Current, ships in the 1500s and 1600s when sailing to the newly discovered lands of the Americas and the Caribbean would often first approach land in the region north of Hispaniola before continuing on to their final destination. Pirates and privateers have also had a lingering history with West Caicos. Some of his famous illustrations of fauna, including of flamingos, iguanas, blue land crabs, and Caribbean scorpions, may have been done on West Caicos, as that array of wildlife is exactly what he is likely to have seen and been able to approach in the Turks and Caicos! Instead, “swanees” (probably flamingos) were hunted and gathered for food. However, due to rainfall, none was found. On his second voyage to the New World visited West Caicos in 1587 hoping to collect naturally evaporated sea salt. One such example is the visit of John White of Roanoke Island fame. The word got out and ships would occasionally stop when in the area. It’s known that the Spaniards in Hispaniola in the mid-1500s knew of the natural salt in West Caicos and the rest of the country and would rake salt during the dry season. This Karst feature was likely initially a water lens cave that saw a ceiling collapse. ![]() This small-scale rail system utilized carts pulled by donkeys, and transported sisal stalks for processing and export. The eastern half of the interior saline ponds tends to be the favored location of these large wading birds.Ī small railway causeway cuts across the ponds from Yankee Town to the central east coast of West Caicos. Lake Catherine supports some of the greatest populations of West Indian flamingos ( Phoenicopterus ruber) in the Turks and Caicos. These caves have been partially explored by divers from the Caicos Cave Project, but a clear connection tunnel to the ocean is still undiscovered due to difficult currents and the fragile rock composition of the caverns. Due to subterranean links with the ocean, Lake Catherine is tidal. This saline 500-acre lake is a protected area, the Lake Catherine Nature Reserve, and home to large numbers of bird and aquatic wildlife. Lake Catherine in the center of West Caicos is the island’s greatest defining feature.
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