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114-446: Despite its small size, the island hosts a heritage festival and parade as part of Pirates Week, (November) and the annual LC Agriculture Show (May) which also occurs on all three Islands, but at different dates in that same month. The first recorded sighting of Little Cayman, along with Cayman Brac, was by Christopher Columbus on May 10, 1503, on his fourth and final voyage, when heavy winds forced his ship off course. Columbus had found

228-531: A Genoese dialect ( Ligurian ) as his first language, though Columbus probably never wrote in it. His name in 15th-century Genoese was Cristoffa Corombo , in Italian, Cristoforo Colombo , and in Spanish Cristóbal Colón . In one of his writings, he says he went to sea at 14. In 1470, the family moved to Savona , where Domenico took over a tavern. Some modern authors have argued that he

342-471: A "typical" streamlined shape, the Caribbean reef shark is difficult to distinguish from other large requiem shark species. It usually measures 2–2.5 m (6.6–8.2 ft) long; the maximum recorded length is 3 m (9.8 ft) and the maximum reported weight is 70 kg (150 lb). The coloration is dark gray or gray-brown above and white or white-yellow below, with an inconspicuous white band on

456-542: A boardwalk in December 2013 that allows visitors to view one of their nesting areas. There are no Blue Iguanas found on Little Cayman only in Eastern areas on Grand Cayman. There are Iguana warning slow down signs to be cautious in certain areas where they like to sun out on the road. The speed limit on Little Cayman is 25 mph (40 km/h). Little Cayman also hosts the critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle , and

570-514: A daily special. Little Cayman's Booby Pond Nature Reserve supports the largest red-footed booby population in the Caribbean and is a designated Ramsar wetland of international importance . The site encompasses 82 hectares (200 acres). The Cayman Islands National Trust building on one edge of the pond offers two view decks with telescopes, and the building itself is open for a couple of hours on weekday afternoons. It contains exhibits about Little Cayman's flora and fauna as well as souvenirs. There

684-562: A degree of longitude along the equator) spanned 56.67 Arabic miles (equivalent to 66.2 nautical miles, 122.6 kilometers or 76.2 mi), but he did not realize that this was expressed in the Arabic mile (about 1,830 meters or 1.14 mi) rather than the shorter Roman mile (about 1,480 m) with which he was familiar. Columbus therefore estimated the size of the Earth to be about 75% of Eratosthenes's calculation. Third, most scholars of

798-536: A five-week voyage across the ocean. On 7 October, the crew spotted "[i]mmense flocks of birds". On 11 October, Columbus changed the fleet's course to due west, and sailed through the night, believing land was soon to be found. At around 02:00 the following morning, a lookout on the Pinta , Rodrigo de Triana , spotted land. The captain of the Pinta , Martín Alonso Pinzón , verified the sight of land and alerted Columbus. Columbus later maintained that he had already seen

912-446: A kayak or standup paddleboard (available for rent at some resorts) and a few have even been known to swim/wade/snorkel the 300m out from the nearest point. Little Cayman has many rocky beaches suitable for walking or entry points for shore diving and snorkeling. But the island has only one truly fine swimming beach with an expanse of sand, a clean, sandy bottom, and a protective reef line: Point of Sand. Currents are often very strong, but

1026-850: A light on the land a few hours earlier, thereby claiming for himself the lifetime pension promised by Ferdinand and Isabella to the first person to sight land. Columbus called this island (in what is now the Bahamas) San Salvador (meaning "Holy Savior"); the natives called it Guanahani . Christopher Columbus's journal entry of 12 October 1492 states: I saw some who had marks of wounds on their bodies and I made signs to them asking what they were; and they showed me how people from other islands nearby came there and tried to take them, and how they defended themselves; and I believed and believe that they come here from tierra firme to take them captive. They should be good and intelligent servants, for I see that they say very quickly everything that

1140-614: A living from and exported phosphate ore , coconuts , and marine rope made from the Cayman Islands National tree the Silver Thatch. There were also a few schooners being built by the Bodden family. While the first settlement and harbor were on the northside coastline in the area off of the "Bloody Bay Wall", Blossom Village was the second settlement in the early 1800s on the southside, on South Hole Sound' , and

1254-583: A mistress in 1487, a 20-year-old orphan named Beatriz Enríquez de Arana . It is likely that Beatriz met Columbus when he was in Córdoba , a gathering place for Genoese merchants and where the court of the Catholic Monarchs was located at intervals. Beatriz, unmarried at the time, gave birth to Columbus's second son, Fernando Columbus , in July 1488, named for the monarch of Aragon. Columbus recognized

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1368-480: A nearby smaller island, which he named Mariagalante , now a part of Guadeloupe and called Marie-Galante . Other islands named by Columbus on this voyage were Montserrat , Antigua , Saint Martin , the Virgin Islands , as well as many others. On 17 November, Columbus first sighted the eastern coast of the island of Puerto Rico , known to its native Taino people as Borikén . His fleet sailed along

1482-503: A raid by a Spanish privateer , these settlements were abandoned in 1671. The island was not resettled until 1833, when the second recorded settlement of Blossom Village was established by a few families, mostly with the surname Bawden or Bodden, Scotts, Ryan, and Ritch, who is said to have been part of Cromwell's army in Jamaica. By the early 20th century, a few hundred people (400 adults and children) lived on Little Cayman and sustained

1596-579: A rarity. The most vertical section of the wall (the dive site "Great Wall West") was immortalized in 1999 by the Bloody Bay Wall Mural Project. A crew of photographers directed by Jim Hellemn photographed the wall piece by piece and the images were compiled into a single, highly detailed image of the entire wall. The photograph was reproduced in National Geographic magazine in 2001. In 2010, photographers returned to

1710-529: A shelter with picnic tables and a barbecue, but no services of any kind and no water. Getting there requires a mini-bus service, rented car, or scooter; the determined and physically fit can get there on a bicycle. A small collection focusing on local history is open for a few hours, usually weekday afternoons. There is no admission fee so donations after are appreciated and there is Tanya who has extensive knowledge of Rock Iguanas, bird life and she will happily educate and show you some of their burrows located behind

1824-621: A son, Diego , and was based in Lisbon for several years. He later took a Castilian mistress, Beatriz Enríquez de Arana , who bore a son, Ferdinand . Largely self-educated, Columbus was knowledgeable in geography, astronomy, and history. He developed a plan to seek a western sea passage to the East Indies , hoping to profit from the lucrative spice trade . After the Granada War , and Columbus's persistent lobbying in multiple kingdoms,

1938-514: A variety of ways. Columbus often wrote about seeking gold in the log books of his voyages and writes about acquiring it "in such quantity that the sovereigns... will undertake and prepare to go conquer the Holy Sepulcher " in a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy . Columbus often wrote about converting all races to Christianity. Abbas Hamandi argues that Columbus was motivated by the hope of "[delivering] Jerusalem from Muslim hands" by "using

2052-405: A wide variety of reef-dwelling bony fishes and cephalopods, as well as some elasmobranchs such as eagle rays ( Aetobatus narinari ) and yellow stingrays ( Urobatis jamaicensis ). It is attracted to low-frequency sounds , which are indicative of struggling fish. In one observation of a 2 m (6.6 ft) long male Caribbean reef shark hunting a yellowtail snapper ( Lutjanus crysurus ),

2166-515: A wool weaver who worked in Genoa and Savona , and owned a cheese stand at which young Christopher worked. His mother was Susanna Fontanarossa . He had three brothers— Bartholomew , Giovanni Pellegrino, and Giacomo (also called Diego) —as well as a sister, Bianchinetta. Bartholomew ran a cartography workshop in Lisbon for at least part of his adulthood. His native language is presumed to have been

2280-495: Is a species of requiem shark , belonging to the family Carcharhinidae . It is found in the tropical waters of the western Atlantic Ocean from Florida to Brazil , and is the most commonly encountered reef shark in the Caribbean Sea . With a robust, streamlined body typical of the requiem sharks, this species is difficult to tell apart from other large members of its family such as the dusky shark ( C. obscurus ) and

2394-586: Is accessible by air (via Cayman Airways ) via daily inter-island flights from both Cayman Brac and Grand Cayman . Its only airport, Edward Bodden Airfield is on the southwest tip of the island. Little Cayman is not an entry point to the country; visitors and residents must land first on Grand Cayman (Owen Roberts International Airport) or Cayman Brac (Charles Kirkconnell International Airport) which are international airports. Sea vessels must also call into port with CBC (Immigration and Customs) either on Grand Cayman or Cayman Brac only if planning to anchor off any of

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2508-566: Is known that in the autumn of 1477, he sailed on a Portuguese ship from Galway to Lisbon, where he found his brother Bartholomew, and they continued trading for the Centurione family. Columbus based himself in Lisbon from 1477 to 1485. In 1478, the Centuriones sent Columbus on a sugar-buying trip to Madeira. He married Felipa Perestrello e Moniz , daughter of Bartolomeu Perestrello , a Portuguese nobleman of Lombard origin, who had been

2622-474: Is no entrance fee and donations are gladly accepted. Little Cayman has the only substantial population (estimated at 2,000) of the critically endangered Lesser Caymans iguana . Predation by feral cats, encroachment by humans into their habitat, and road deaths have reduced their population on Cayman Brac to less than 100. The rock iguanas are easy to spot on Little Cayman and the National Trust unveiled

2736-541: Is said to them; and I believe they would become Christians very easily, for it seemed to me that they had no religion. Our Lord pleasing, at the time of my departure I will take six of them from here to Your Highnesses in order that they may learn to speak. Columbus called the inhabitants of the lands that he visited Los Indios (Spanish for "Indians"). He initially encountered the Lucayan , Taíno , and Arawak peoples. Noting their gold ear ornaments, Columbus took some of

2850-486: Is spent annually on shark viewing in the Bahamas , where at some sites a single living Caribbean reef shark has a value between US$ 13,000 and US$ 40,000 (compared to a one-time value of US$ 50–60 for a dead shark). This practice has drawn controversy, as opponents argue that the sharks may learn to associate humans with food, increasing the chances of a shark attack, and that the removal of reef fishes for bait may damage

2964-575: Is the sole educational provider on the island. Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus ( / k ə ˈ l ʌ m b ə s / ; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed four Spanish-based voyages across the Atlantic Ocean sponsored by the Catholic Monarchs , opening the way for the widespread European exploration and colonization of

3078-454: Is valued for meat, leather, liver oil and fishmeal . The Caribbean reef shark is the most common shark landed in Colombia (accounting for 39% of the longline catch by occurrence), where it is utilized for its fins, oil and jaws (sold for ornamental purposes). In Belize , this species is mainly caught as bycatch on hook-and-line intended for groupers and snappers ; the fins are sold to

3192-475: Is where the school, stores, post office, park, and the back sandy road are located today. After the 1932 hurricane which claimed scores of lives on the Brac and Little Cayman, many families decided to move to Cayman Brac. The South Hole Sound waters were also a lot deeper back then. Little Cayman is famous for its scuba diving . The most popular dive site areas, Bloody Bay and Jackson's Bight , are both located on

3306-747: The Reconquista , an expensive war against the Moors in the Iberian Peninsula , were eager to obtain a competitive edge over other European countries in the quest for trade with the Indies. Columbus's project, though far-fetched, held the promise of such an advantage. Though Columbus was wrong about the number of degrees of longitude that separated Europe from the Far East and about the distance that each degree represented, he did take advantage of

3420-922: The Americas , each voyage being sponsored by the Crown of Castile . On his first voyage he reached the Americas, initiating the European exploration and colonization of the continent , as well as the Columbian exchange . His role in history is thus important to the Age of Discovery , Western history , and human history writ large. In Columbus's letter on the first voyage , published following his first return to Spain, he claimed that he had reached Asia, as previously described by Marco Polo and other Europeans. Over his subsequent voyages, Columbus refused to acknowledge that

3534-474: The Bahamas and elsewhere, bait is used to attract them to groups of divers in controversial "shark feedings". This species is responsible for a small number of attacks on humans. The shark attacks usually happen in spring and summer. The Caribbean reef shark was originally described as Platypodon perezi by Felipe Poey in 1876, in the scientific journal Anales de la Sociedad Española de Historia Natural . The type specimens were six individuals caught off

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3648-586: The Cape Route around Africa to Asia. Columbus had to wait until 1492 for King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to support his voyage across the Atlantic to find gold, spices, a safer route to the East, and converts to Christianity. Carol Delaney and other commentators have argued that Columbus was a Christian millennialist and apocalypticist and that these beliefs motivated his quest for Asia in

3762-645: The Cape of Good Hope ). Columbus sought an audience with the monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile , who had united several kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula by marrying and now ruled together. On 1 May 1486, permission having been granted, Columbus presented his plans to Queen Isabella, who, in turn, referred it to a committee. The learned men of Spain, like their counterparts in Portugal, replied that Columbus had grossly underestimated

3876-512: The Ciguayos , the only natives who offered violent resistance during this voyage. The Ciguayos refused to trade the amount of bows and arrows that Columbus desired; in the ensuing clash one Ciguayo was stabbed in the buttocks and another wounded with an arrow in his chest. Because of these events, Columbus called the inlet the Golfo de Las Flechas ( Bay of Arrows ). Columbus headed for Spain on

3990-522: The Columbian exchange , named after him. These events and the effects which persist to the present are often cited as the beginning of the modern era . Columbus was widely celebrated in the centuries after his death, but public perception fractured in the 21st century due to greater attention to the harms committed under his governance, particularly the beginning of the depopulation of Hispaniola's indigenous Taíno people, caused by Old World diseases and mistreatment, including slavery . Many places in

4104-580: The Niña , but a storm separated him from the Pinta, and forced the Niña to stop at the island of Santa Maria in the Azores. Half of his crew went ashore to say prayers of thanksgiving in a chapel for having survived the storm. But while praying, they were imprisoned by the governor of the island, ostensibly on suspicion of being pirates. After a two-day standoff, the prisoners were released, and Columbus again set sail for Spain. Another storm forced Columbus into

4218-580: The donatary captain of Porto Santo . In 1479 or 1480, Columbus's son Diego was born. Between 1482 and 1485, Columbus traded along the coasts of West Africa , reaching the Portuguese trading post of Elmina at the Guinea coast in present-day Ghana . Before 1484, Columbus returned to Porto Santo to find that his wife had died. He returned to Portugal to settle her estate and take Diego with him. He left Portugal for Castile in 1485, where he took

4332-645: The fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, the Silk Road was closed to Christian traders. In 1474, the Florentine astronomer Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli suggested to King Afonso V of Portugal that sailing west across the Atlantic would be a quicker way to reach the Maluku (Spice) Islands, China , Japan and India than the route around Africa, but Afonso rejected his proposal. In

4446-435: The silky shark ( C. falciformis ). Distinguishing characteristics include dusky-colored fins without prominent markings, a short free rear tip on the second dorsal fin , and tooth shape and number. Measuring up to 3 m (9.8 ft) long, the Caribbean reef shark is one of the largest apex predators in the reef ecosystem , feeding on a variety of fishes and cephalopods . They have been documented resting motionless on

4560-547: The tiger shark ( Galeocerdo cuvier ) and the bull shark ( C. leucas ). Few parasites are known for this species; one is a dark variegated leech often seen trailing from its first dorsal fin. Off northern Brazil, juveniles seek out cleaning stations occupied by yellownose gobies ( Elacatinus randalli ), which clean the sharks of parasites while they lie still on the bottom. Horse-eye jacks ( Caranx latus ) and bar jacks ( Carangoides ruber ) routinely school around Caribbean reef sharks. The Caribbean reef shark feeds on

4674-503: The trade winds , which would prove to be the key to his successful navigation of the Atlantic Ocean. He planned to first sail to the Canary Islands before continuing west with the northeast trade wind. Part of the return to Spain would require traveling against the wind using an arduous sailing technique called beating , during which progress is made very slowly. To effectively make the return voyage, Columbus would need to follow

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4788-401: The 1480s, Columbus and his brother proposed a plan to reach the East Indies by sailing west. Columbus supposedly wrote to Toscanelli in 1481 and received encouragement, along with a copy of a map the astronomer had sent Afonso implying that a westward route to Asia was possible. Columbus's plans were complicated by Bartolomeu Dias 's rounding of the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, which suggested

4902-597: The Americas . His expeditions were the first known European contact with the Caribbean and Central and South America. The name Christopher Columbus is the anglicization of the Latin Christophorus Columbus . Growing up on the coast of Liguria , he went to sea at a young age and traveled widely, as far north as the British Isles and as far south as what is now Ghana . He married Portuguese noblewoman Filipa Moniz Perestrelo , who bore

5016-420: The Americas. He sailed with nearly 1,500 men, including sailors, soldiers, priests, carpenters, stonemasons, metalworkers, and farmers. Among the expedition members were Alvarez Chanca , a physician who wrote a detailed account of the second voyage; Juan Ponce de León, the first governor of Puerto Rico and Florida; the father of Bartolomé de las Casas; Juan de la Cosa , a cartographer who is credited with making

5130-537: The April 1492 " Capitulations of Santa Fe ", King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella promised Columbus that if he succeeded he would be given the rank of Admiral of the Ocean Sea and appointed Viceroy and Governor of all the new lands he might claim for Spain. He had the right to nominate three persons, from whom the sovereigns would choose one, for any office in the new lands. He would be entitled to 10% ( diezmo ) of all

5244-532: The Arawaks prisoner and insisted that they guide him to the source of the gold. Columbus did not believe he needed to create a fortified outpost, writing, "the people here are simple in war-like matters ... I could conquer the whole of them with fifty men, and govern them as I pleased." The Taínos told Columbus that another indigenous tribe, the Caribs , were fierce warriors and cannibals , who made frequent raids on

5358-457: The Canary Islands west to Japan; the actual distance is 10,600 nmi (19,600 km; 12,200 mi). No ship in the 15th century could have carried enough food and fresh water for such a long voyage, and the dangers involved in navigating through the uncharted ocean would have been formidable. Most European navigators reasonably concluded that a westward voyage from Europe to Asia was unfeasible. The Catholic Monarchs, however, having completed

5472-527: The Caribbean reef shark as Endangered ; its population has declined off Belize and Cuba from overfishing and exploitation continues in other regions. They are also threatened by the degradation and destruction of their coral reef habitat. Commercial fishing for this species is prohibited in United States waters. They are protected in the Bahamas due to their significance to ecotourism, as well as in

5586-426: The Caribbean reef shark is one of the least-studied large requiem sharks. They are believed to play a major role in shaping Caribbean reef communities. These sharks are more active at night, with no evidence of seasonal changes in activity or migration . Juveniles tend to remain in a localized area throughout the year, while adults range over a wider area. Caribbean reef sharks are sometimes seen resting motionless on

5700-549: The Caribbean reef shark is the sister taxon to a clade formed by the Galapagos shark ( C. galapagensis ), dusky shark ( C. obscurus ), oceanic whitetip shark ( C. longimanus ), and the blue shark ( Prionace glauca ). However, more work is required to fully resolve the interrelationships within Carcharhinus . The Caribbean reef shark occurs throughout the tropical western Atlantic Ocean , from North Carolina in

5814-627: The Castilian crown, known as the pleitos colombinos , alleging that the Crown had illegally reneged on its contractual obligations to Columbus and his heirs. The Columbus family had some success in their first litigation, as a judgment of 1511 confirmed Diego's position as viceroy but reduced his powers. Diego resumed litigation in 1512, which lasted until 1536, and further disputes initiated by heirs continued until 1790. Between 1492 and 1504, Columbus completed four round-trip voyages between Spain and

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5928-731: The Catholic Monarchs of Spain. They were replaced by the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494. The two earliest published copies of Columbus's letter on the first voyage aboard the Niña were donated in 2017 by the Jay I. Kislak Foundation to the University of Miami library in Coral Gables, Florida , where they are housed. On 24 September 1493, Columbus sailed from Cádiz with 17 ships, and supplies to establish permanent colonies in

6042-468: The Catholic Monarchs, Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II , agreed to sponsor a journey west. Columbus left Castile in August 1492 with three ships and made landfall in the Americas on 12 October, ending the period of human habitation in the Americas now referred to as the pre-Columbian era . His landing place was an island in the Bahamas , known by its native inhabitants as Guanahani . He then visited

6156-401: The Earth; and the number of miles or leagues in a degree of longitude , which was possible to deduce from the theory of the relationship between the size of the surfaces of water and the land as held by the followers of Aristotle in medieval times. From Pierre d'Ailly 's Imago Mundi (1410), Columbus learned of Alfraganus 's estimate that a degree of latitude (equal to approximately

6270-441: The Indies implausible. Columbus had left for France when Ferdinand intervened, first sending Talavera and Bishop Diego Deza to appeal to the queen. Isabella was finally convinced by the king's clerk Luis de Santángel , who argued that Columbus would take his ideas elsewhere, and offered to help arrange the funding. Isabella then sent a royal guard to fetch Columbus, who had traveled 2 leagues (over 10 km) toward Córdoba. In

6384-649: The Internet, which can only be accessed by ADSL. There are certain areas on the North East side that get no reception. The water is safe to drink as all resorts have reverse osmosis desalination for drinking, bathing, and cooking. Cistern or spring water is used for other dwellings and buildings. There is no shortage of potable drinking water. There is a weekly food supply by sea or air, electricity (110V), fuel (gas CI$ 6.05 and diesel at CI$ 6.11 an imperial gallon ), and propane gas. Little Cayman Education Services

6498-567: The Spanish crown sent him 20,000 maravedis to buy new clothes and instructions to return to the Spanish court for renewed discussions. Columbus waited at King Ferdinand's camp until Ferdinand and Isabella conquered Granada , the last Muslim stronghold on the Iberian Peninsula, in January 1492. A council led by Isabella's confessor, Hernando de Talavera , found Columbus's proposal to reach

6612-513: The Taínos, often capturing their women, although this may have been a belief perpetuated by the Spaniards to justify enslaving them. Columbus also explored the northeast coast of Cuba, where he landed on 28 October. On the night of 26 November, Martín Alonso Pinzón took the Pinta on an unauthorized expedition in search of an island called "Babeque" or "Baneque", which the natives had told him

6726-765: The Western Hemisphere bear his name , including the South American country of Colombia , the Canadian province of British Columbia , the American city Columbus, Ohio , and the United States capital, the District of Columbia . Columbus's early life is obscure, but scholars believe he was born in the Republic of Genoa between 25 August and 31 October 1451. His father was Domenico Colombo ,

6840-656: The airport as well as land tours and food delivery. There are four small souvenir/resort wear shops. It is served by the Edward Bodden Airfield , a two-man police force, a five-man fire crew with one truck and rescue boat, a full-time postmaster, a power station operated by Cayman Brac Power and Light, a clinic staffed by two nurses, and a one-room school whose enrollment is usually in single digits. Cellular phone service offered by LIME and Digicel has almost completely eliminated reliance on landlines, which many residents maintain primarily to allow them to connect to

6954-572: The boy as his offspring. Columbus entrusted his older, legitimate son Diego to take care of Beatriz and pay the pension set aside for her following his death, but Diego was negligent in his duties. Columbus learned Latin , Portuguese, and Castilian. He read widely about astronomy, geography, and history, including the works of Ptolemy , Pierre d'Ailly 's Imago Mundi , the travels of Marco Polo and Sir John Mandeville , Pliny 's Natural History , and Pope Pius II 's Historia rerum ubique gestarum . According to historian Edmund Morgan , Columbus

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7068-537: The coast of Cuba . The genus Platypodon was synonymized with Carcharhinus by later authors. Based on morphological similarities, Jack Garrick in 1982 grouped this species with the bignose shark ( C. altimus ) and the sandbar shark ( C. plumbeus ), while Leonard Compagno in 1988 placed it as the sister species of the grey reef shark ( C. amblyrhynchos ). A phylogenetic analysis based on allozyme data, published by Gavin Naylor in 1992, indicated that

7182-510: The curving trade winds northeastward to the middle latitudes of the North Atlantic, where he would be able to catch the " westerlies " that blow eastward to the coast of Western Europe. The navigational technique for travel in the Atlantic appears to have been exploited first by the Portuguese, who referred to it as the volta do mar ('turn of the sea'). Through his marriage to his first wife, Felipa Perestrello, Columbus had access to

7296-630: The designated moorings on the North and South coasts of Little Cayman. Many moorings are for the use of the dive boats only and a maximum of four hours. Little Cayman has one grocery-and-hardware store, one online grocery delivery store, one liquor store, one bank (CNB opens on Mondays and Thursdays) a 24hr ATM with CI$ and US$ cash, three full-service restaurants, and one local food delivery service, two churches, two-car rental operations, and also an 11 seater mini-bus with transport/taxi service which offers pick up and drop off to beaches, bars, restaurants, and

7410-408: The distance to Asia. They pronounced the idea impractical and advised the Catholic Monarchs to pass on the proposed venture. To keep Columbus from taking his ideas elsewhere, and perhaps to keep their options open, the sovereigns gave him an allowance, totaling about 14,000 maravedis for the year, or about the annual salary of a sailor. In May 1489, the queen sent him another 10,000 maravedis , and

7524-516: The east than Japan, including the mythical Antillia , which he thought might lie not much farther to the west than the Azores , and the distance westward from the Canary Islands to the Indies as only 68 degrees, equivalent to 3,080 nmi (5,700 km; 3,540 mi) (a 58% error). Based on his sources, Columbus estimated a distance of 2,400 nmi (4,400 km; 2,800 mi) from

7638-505: The end of the dry season from February to April, while at other locations in the Southern Hemisphere, females give birth during the Amazon summer in November and December. The average litter size is four to six, with a gestation period of one year. Females become pregnant every other year. The newborns measure no more than 74 cm (29 in) long; males mature sexually at 1.5–1.7 m (59–67 in) long and females at 2–3 m (79–118 in). Normally shy or indifferent to

7752-436: The first world map depicting the New World ; and Columbus's youngest brother Diego. The fleet stopped at the Canary Islands to take on more supplies, and set sail again on 7 October, deliberately taking a more southerly course than on the first voyage. On 3 November, they arrived in the Windward Islands ; the first island they encountered was named Dominica by Columbus, but not finding a good harbor there, they anchored off

7866-443: The first dorsal fin lies over or slightly forward of the free rear tips of the pectoral fins, and that of the second dorsal fin lies over or slightly forward of the anal fin . The pectoral fins are long and narrow, tapering to a point. The dermal denticles are closely spaced and overlapping, each with five (sometimes seven in large individuals) horizontal low ridges leading to marginal teeth. Despite its abundance in certain areas,

7980-478: The first voyage , probably dispatched to the Spanish court upon arrival in Lisbon, was instrumental in spreading the news throughout Europe about his voyage. Almost immediately after his arrival in Spain, printed versions began to appear, and word of his voyage spread rapidly. Most people initially believed that he had reached Asia. The Bulls of Donation , three papal bulls of Pope Alexander VI delivered in 1493, purported to grant overseas territories to Portugal and

8094-491: The first voyage. Columbus found the fort in ruins. He learned from Guacanagaríx , the local tribe leader, that his men had quarreled over gold and taken women from the tribe, and that after some left for the territory of Caonabo , Caonabo came and burned the fort and killed the rest of the men there. Carcharhinus perezii Eulamia springeri Bigelow & Schroeder, 1944 Platypodon perezi Poey, 1876 The Caribbean reef shark ( Carcharhinus perezi )

8208-471: The flanks. The fins are not prominently marked, and the undersides of the paired fins, the anal fin , and the lower lobe of the caudal fin are dusky. The snout is rather short, broad, and rounded, without prominent flaps of skin beside the nostrils. The eyes are large and circular, with nictitating membranes (protective third eyelids). There are 11–13 tooth rows in either half of both jaws. The teeth have broad bases, serrated edges, and narrow cusps;

8322-408: The front 2–4 teeth on each side are erect and the others increasingly oblique. The five pairs of gill slits are moderately long, with the third gill slit over the origin of the pectoral fins . The first dorsal fin is high and falcate (sickle-shaped). There is a low interdorsal ridge running behind it to the second dorsal fin, which is relatively large with a short free rear tip. The origin of

8436-405: The grounds that Columbus's estimate for a voyage of 2,400 nmi was only a quarter of what it should have been. In 1488, Columbus again appealed to the court of Portugal, and John II again granted him an audience. That meeting also proved unsuccessful, in part because not long afterwards Bartolomeu Dias returned to Portugal with news of his successful rounding of the southern tip of Africa (near

8550-506: The interpreter Luis de Torres , and founded the settlement of La Navidad , in present-day Haiti . Columbus took more natives prisoner and continued his exploration. He kept sailing along the northern coast of Hispaniola with a single ship until he encountered Pinzón and the Pinta on 6 January. On 13 January 1493, Columbus made his last stop of this voyage in the Americas, in the Bay of Rincón in northeast Hispaniola. There he encountered

8664-471: The invasive, non-indigenous red lionfish ( Pterois volitans ), which appears to be limiting its population around Little Cayman. On Wednesday afternoons, divemasters from the various resorts on Little Cayman embark on a hunt for lionfish to cull the species. Since the hunts began, more grey Caribbean reef sharks ( Carcharhinus perezii ) are noticeable on dives. The lionfish are then sent to CCMI for research and after will be given out to restaurants to offer as

8778-411: The island's Northside (Ibid), distances far beyond the areas dived by recreational divers. Little Cayman's reefs are exceptionally healthy for a regularly dived area and inhabited by a full range of typical Caribbean reef life, from seahorses to sharks, and including a notable population of green sea turtles, southern and eagle rays. In 2010, local dive operators launched a concerted effort to eradicate

8892-588: The island's southern coast for a whole day, before making landfall on its northwestern coast at the Bay of Añasco , early on 19 November. Upon landing, Columbus christened the island San Juan Bautista after John the Baptist , and remained anchored there for two days from 20 to 21 November, filling the water casks of the ships in his fleet. On 22 November, Columbus returned to Hispaniola to visit La Navidad in modern-day Haiti , where 39 Spaniards had been left during

9006-574: The islands now known as Cuba and Hispaniola , establishing a colony in what is now Haiti . Columbus returned to Castile in early 1493, with captured natives. Word of his voyage soon spread throughout Europe. Columbus made three further voyages to the Americas, exploring the Lesser Antilles in 1493, Trinidad and the northern coast of South America in 1498, and the east coast of Central America in 1502. Many names he gave to geographical features, particularly islands, are still in use. He gave

9120-486: The lands he visited and claimed for Spain were not part of Asia, in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary. This might explain, in part, why the American continent was named after the Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci —who received credit for recognizing it as a " New World "—and not after Columbus. On the evening of 3 August 1492, Columbus departed from Palos de la Frontera with three ships. The largest

9234-453: The late Philippe Cousteau declared its wall to be one of the three best dives in the world, although this story may be fanciful. At its shallowest point, the drop-off begins at a depth of 18 feet (5.5 m), allowing divers who plan carefully to achieve a maximum depth of over 100 feet (30.5 m) but still enjoy exceptionally long dive times. But the wall is so famous primarily because sections of it are so sheer as to be effectively vertical,

9348-477: The local ecosystem. Conversely, proponents maintain that shark feeds contribute to conservation by incentivizing the protection of sharks and educating people about them. Thus far, there has been little evidence that shark feeds have increased the risk of attack in the surrounding area. Shark feeding has been outlawed off the coast of Florida , but continues at other locations in the Caribbean. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed

9462-602: The lucrative Asian market and the meat sold in Belize, Mexico , and Guatemala to make "panades", a tortilla -like confection. A dedicated shark fishery operated in Belize from the mid-1900s to the early 1990s, until catches of all species saw dramatic declines. The flesh of this species may contain high levels of methylmercury and other heavy metals . A profitable ecotourism industry has arisen around this species involving organized "shark feeds", in which groups of reef sharks are attracted to divers using bait. Some US$ 6,000,000

9576-615: The name indios ("Indians") to the indigenous peoples he encountered. The extent to which he was aware the Americas were a wholly separate landmass is uncertain; he never clearly renounced his belief he had reached the Far East. As a colonial governor, Columbus was accused by some of his contemporaries of significant brutality and removed from the post. Columbus's strained relationship with the Crown of Castile and its colonial administrators in America led to his arrest and removal from Hispaniola in 1500, and later to protracted litigation over

9690-468: The nautical charts and logs that had belonged to her deceased father, Bartolomeu Perestrello , who had served as a captain in the Portuguese navy under Prince Henry the Navigator . In the mapmaking shop where he worked with his brother Bartholomew, Columbus also had ample opportunity to hear the stories of old seamen about their voyages to the western seas, but his knowledge of the Atlantic wind patterns

9804-405: The nearest point on Little Cayman. Cayman's 4th island is rumoured to be named after a sailor named Owen who was on a ship named the "Sparrow Hawk" which anchored nearby multiple times and he always would visit the key declaring that it was his personal private island. The islet features no buildings, homes, or human habitation, and is a popular day trip for families, honeymooners and adventurers. On

9918-406: The north side of the island, just west of its midpoint. The deeper sites on its south side are generally visited on winter days when the north side is too rough. Little Cayman features dive sites as shallow as 20 feet (6.1 m) and its walls are deep enough to be effectively infinite. Bloody Bay, in particular, is consistently ranked as one of the world's top dive sites. Many dive operations claim

10032-516: The north to Brazil in the south, including Bermuda , the northern Gulf of Mexico , and the Caribbean Sea . However, it is extremely rare north of the Florida Keys . It prefers shallow waters on or around coral reefs , and is commonly found near the drop-offs at the reefs' outer edges. This shark is most common in water shallower than 30 m (98 ft), but has been known to dive to 378 m (1,240 ft). A heavy-bodied shark with

10146-490: The old museum. This 6,600 square foot research center is located on the north side of Little Cayman and is a part of the Central Caribbean Marine Institute (CCMI). CCMI is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1998 to protect the future of coral reefs through research, conservation, and education. Contact the staff there to schedule a very informative tour of the facility. Little Cayman

10260-588: The port at Lisbon. From there he went to Vale do Paraíso north of Lisbon to meet King John II of Portugal, who told Columbus that he believed the voyage to be in violation of the 1479 Treaty of Alcáçovas . After spending more than a week in Portugal, Columbus set sail for Spain. Returning to Palos on 15 March 1493, he was given a hero's welcome and soon afterward received by Isabella and Ferdinand in Barcelona. To them he presented kidnapped Taínos and various plants and items he had collected. Columbus's letter on

10374-516: The presence of divers, the Caribbean reef shark has been known to become aggressive in the presence of food and grows sufficiently large to be considered potentially dangerous. As of 2008, the International Shark Attack File lists 27 attacks attributable to this species, 4 of them unprovoked, and none fatal. This species is taken by commercial and artisanal longline and gillnet fisheries throughout its range. It

10488-503: The privileges he and his heirs claimed were owed to them by the crown. Columbus's expeditions inaugurated a period of exploration, conquest, and colonization that lasted for centuries, thus bringing the Americas into the European sphere of influence. The transfer of plants, animals, precious metals, culture, human populations, technology, diseases, and ideas between the Old World and New World that followed his first voyage are known as

10602-581: The resources of newly discovered lands". Despite a popular misconception to the contrary, nearly all educated Westerners of Columbus's time knew that the Earth is spherical , a concept that had been understood since antiquity . The techniques of celestial navigation , which uses the position of the Sun and the stars in the sky, had long been in use by astronomers and were beginning to be implemented by mariners. However Columbus made several errors in calculating

10716-399: The revenues from the new lands in perpetuity. He also would have the option of buying one-eighth interest in any commercial venture in the new lands, and receive one-eighth ( ochavo ) of the profits. In 1500, during his third voyage to the Americas, Columbus was arrested and dismissed from his posts. He and his sons, Diego and Fernando, then conducted a lengthy series of court cases against

10830-469: The same section of the wall in an effort to create a comparison image showing changes over the intervening decade. The depth of Little Cayman's dropoffs is often exaggerated by local divemasters claiming depths of 3,000 feet (910 m) or 5,000 feet (1,500 m). In truth, the 1000 m contour (3000+ ft) has been charted to be approximately one mile (1600 m) offshore on Little Cayman's Southside, and 2.5 miles (4.0 km) offshore of Bloody Bay on

10944-504: The same year the monarchs furnished him with a letter ordering all cities and towns under their dominion to provide him food and lodging at no cost. Columbus also dispatched his brother Bartholomew to the court of Henry VII of England to inquire whether the English crown might sponsor his expedition, but he was captured by pirates en route, and only arrived in early 1491. By that time, Columbus had retreated to La Rábida Friary , where

11058-506: The sea bottom or inside caves, unusual behavior for an active-swimming shark. If threatened, it may perform a threat display in which it frequently changes direction and dips its pectoral fins . Like other requiem sharks, it is viviparous with females giving birth to 4–6 young every other year. Caribbean reef sharks are of some importance to fisheries as a source of meat, leather , liver oil , and fishmeal , but recently they have become more valuable as an ecotourist attraction. In

11172-481: The sea floor or inside caves; it is the first active shark species in which such a behavior was reported. In 1975, Eugenie Clark investigated the famed "sleeping sharks" inside the caves at Isla Mujeres off the Yucatan Peninsula , and determined that the sharks were not actually asleep as their eyes would follow divers. Clark speculated that freshwater upwellings inside the caves might loosen parasites on

11286-494: The shallowest areas are suitable for careful wading even by nonswimmers. Point of Sand is located on the northeastern tip of Little Cayman and boasts a clear view of the West end of Cayman Brac five miles away. Indeed, the beach is sufficiently lovely that it attracts visitors from Cayman Brac who come over on boats. Sundays, in particular, find many local families using the beach, which is likely to be deserted on weekdays. The beach has

11400-405: The shark languidly circled and made several seemingly "half-hearted" turns towards its prey, before suddenly accelerating and swinging its head sideways to capture the snapper at the corner of its jaws. Young sharks feed on small fishes, shrimps, and crabs. Caribbean reef sharks are capable of everting their stomachs , which likely serves to cleanse indigestible particles, parasites, and mucus from

11514-473: The sharks and produce an enjoyable "narcotic" effect. If threatened, Caribbean reef sharks sometimes perform a threat display , in which they swim in a short, jerky fashion with frequent changes in direction and repeated, brief (1–1.2 second duration) drops of the pectoral fins. This display is less pronounced than the better-known display of the grey reef shark ( C. amblyrhynchos ). Juvenile Caribbean reef sharks are preyed upon by larger sharks such as

11628-443: The side nearest to Little Cayman, it has a white shallow sand bar which is suitable for children, swimming, and snorkeling. Owen's Island is privately owned and the owners allow public use with the expectation in respect & maintaining cleanliness when visiting. To visit Owen Island, travelers typically cross South Hole Sound lagoon by small boat (or by water taxi) from a nearby Little Cayman resort. On calm days, some may opt to use

11742-539: The size of the Earth, the distance the continent extended to the east, and therefore the distance to the west to reach his goal. First, as far back as the 3rd century BC, Eratosthenes had correctly computed the circumference of the Earth by using simple geometry and studying the shadows cast by objects at two remote locations. In the 1st century BC, Posidonius confirmed Eratosthenes's results by comparing stellar observations at two separate locations. These measurements were widely known among scholars, but Ptolemy's use of

11856-462: The smaller, old-fashioned units of distance led Columbus to underestimate the size of the Earth by about a third. Second, three cosmographical parameters determined the bounds of Columbus's enterprise: the distance across the ocean between Europe and Asia, which depended on the extent of the oikumene , i.e., the Eurasian land-mass stretching east–west between Spain and China; the circumference of

11970-423: The statement in the apocryphal book 2 Esdras ( 6:42 ) that "six parts [of the globe] are habitable and the seventh is covered with water." He was also aware of Marco Polo's claim that Japan (which he called "Cipangu") was some 2,414 km (1,500 mi) to the east of China ("Cathay"), and closer to the equator than it is. He was influenced by Toscanelli's idea that there were inhabited islands even farther to

12084-495: The stomach lining. Reproduction is viviparous ; once the developing embryos exhaust their supply of yolk , the yolk sac develops into a placental connection through which they receive nourishment from their mother. Mating is apparently an aggressive affair, as females are often found with biting scars and wounds on their sides. At the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago and Atol das Rocas off Brazil, parturition takes place at

12198-419: The threatened West Indian whistling duck ( Dendrocygna arborea ), also known as the black-billed whistling duck. The Tarpon Lake, a salt pond near the center of the island, boasts an unusual population of landlocked tarpon , a large silver fish that usually lives only in the ocean. "Owen's Island" or "The Key" is a small islet off the south-western coast of Little Cayman, approximately 1000 ft (300m) from

12312-544: The time accepted Ptolemy's estimate that Eurasia spanned 180° longitude, rather than the actual 130° (to the Chinese mainland) or 150° (to Japan at the latitude of Spain). Columbus believed an even higher estimate, leaving a smaller percentage for water. In d'Ailly's Imago Mundi , Columbus read Marinus of Tyre 's estimate that the longitudinal span of Eurasia was 225° at the latitude of Rhodes . Some historians, such as Samuel Eliot Morison , have suggested that he followed

12426-467: The two smaller sister islands (Cayman Brac and Little Cayman) and it was these two islands that he named "Las Tortugas" The first settlement on the Island was in the 17th century when turtle fishermen set up camps that would supply pirate and military ship convoys with fresh meat (turtles, penned pigs, goats, poultry) and freshwater. There are freshwater springs that run underground in cavernous veins. After

12540-616: Was a carrack , the Santa María , owned and captained by Juan de la Cosa , and under Columbus's direct command. The other two were smaller caravels , the Pinta and the Niña , piloted by the Pinzón brothers . Columbus first sailed to the Canary Islands. There he restocked provisions and made repairs then departed from San Sebastián de La Gomera on 6 September, for what turned out to be

12654-661: Was not a scholarly man. Yet he studied these books, made hundreds of marginal notations in them and came out with ideas about the world that were characteristically simple and strong and sometimes wrong ... Under the Mongol Empire 's hegemony over Asia and the Pax Mongolica , Europeans had long enjoyed a safe land passage on the Silk Road to India , parts of East Asia , including China and Maritime Southeast Asia , which were sources of valuable goods. With

12768-858: Was not from Genoa, but from the Aragon region of Spain or from Portugal. These competing hypotheses have been discounted by most scholars. In 1473, Columbus began his apprenticeship as business agent for the wealthy Spinola , Centurione, and Di Negro families of Genoa. Later, he made a trip to the Greek island Chios in the Aegean Sea , then ruled by Genoa. In May 1476, he took part in an armed convoy sent by Genoa to carry valuable cargo to northern Europe. He probably visited Bristol , England, and Galway , Ireland, where he may have visited St. Nicholas' Collegiate Church . It has been speculated he went to Iceland in 1477, though many scholars doubt this. It

12882-495: Was rich in gold. Columbus, for his part, continued to the northern coast of Hispaniola , where he landed on 6 December. There, the Santa María ran aground on 25 December 1492 and had to be abandoned. The wreck was used as a target for cannon fire to impress the native peoples. Columbus was received by the native cacique Guacanagari , who gave him permission to leave some of his men behind. Columbus left 39 men, including

12996-459: Was still imperfect at the time of his first voyage. By sailing due west from the Canary Islands during hurricane season , skirting the so-called horse latitudes of the mid-Atlantic, he risked being becalmed and running into a tropical cyclone , both of which he avoided by chance. By about 1484, Columbus proposed his planned voyage to King John II of Portugal . The king submitted Columbus's proposal to his advisors, who rejected it, correctly, on

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