Dog Islands
Encyclopedia
British Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands , is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S...
in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
.
The islands originally received their names from sailors who heard barking when they moored there, and assumed that they must be dogs. However, the barking noises were made by Caribbean Monk Seal
Caribbean Monk Seal
The Caribbean monk seal or West Indian monk seal is an extinct species of seal. It is the only seal ever known to be native to the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. The last verified recorded sighting occurred in 1952 at Serranilla Bank...
s. The sailors also regarded the Caribbean Monk Seal as a good source of fresh meat, and as a result, they are now believed by scientists to be extinct.
Geography
The Dog Islands are situated about 6 miles (10 km) north east off the main island of TortolaTortola
Tortola is the largest and most populated of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. Local tradition recounts that Christopher Columbus named it Tortola, meaning "land of the Turtle Dove". Columbus named the island Santa Ana...
and about 2,5 miles (4 km) off the north west of Virgin Gorda
Virgin Gorda
Virgin Gorda is the third-largest and second most populous of the British Virgin Islands . Located at approximately 18 degrees, 48 minutes North, and 64 degrees, 30 minutes West, it covers an area of about...
in the strait
Strait
A strait or straits is a narrow, typically navigable channel of water that connects two larger, navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not...
Sir Francis Drake Channel
Sir Francis Drake Channel
The Sir Francis Drake Channel is a strait in the British Virgin Islands separating the main island of Tortola from several smaller islands to the south....
. The coordinates of the main islet are 18°28′96″N and 64°27′70″W.
The uninhabited islets are of volcanic
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
origin and have a total area of about 173 acres (0,7 km2).
The group consist of 5 islets:
- Great Dog IslandGreat Dog IslandGreat Dog Island is an uninhabited islet of the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. It is located in a smaller sub-group of islands referred to as the Dog Islands, or more commonly, "The Dogs"...
, main islet, about 98 acres (0.41 km2)
- George Dog IslandGeorge Dog IslandGeorge Dog is an uninhabited island of the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. It is located in a smaller sub-group of islands referred to as "The Dogs" to the northwest of Virgin Gorda....
, about 15 acres (0.06 km2)
- West Dog IslandWest Dog IslandWest Dog Island is an uninhabited islet of the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. It is located in a smaller sub-group of islands referred to as the Dog Islands, or more commonly, "The Dogs". Other islets in The Dogs include Little Seal Dog Island, East Seal Dog Island and George Dog...
, about 27 acres (0.11 km2) 1.
- and the subgroup Seal Dogs about 1,8 miles (3 km) north east off Great Dog Island with
- East Seal Dog IslandEast Seal Dog IslandEast Seal Dog is an uninhabited islet of the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. It is located in a smaller sub-group of islands referred to as the Dog Islands, or more commonly, "The Dogs". Other islets in The Dogs include Little Seal Dog Island, West Dog Island and George Dog Island, all...
, about 2,2 acres ( 0.01 km2) and
- Little Seal Dog IslandLittle Seal Dog IslandWest Seal Dog is an uninhabited islet of the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. It is located in a smaller sub-group of islands referred to as the Dog Islands, or more commonly, "The Dogs". Other islets in The Dogs include Great Dog, East Seal Dog and George Dog, all of which are to the...
(mostly called West Seal Dog), about 5.7 acres (0,02 km2) 2.
Situated west off George Dog lies the small islet Cockroach Island
Cockroach Island
Cockroach Island is an uninhabited island of the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. It is located near North Sound, Virgin Gorda, amongst a collection of islands known as "The Dogs" or "The Dog Islands"....
.
History
The first European sighting of the Virgin Islands was by Christopher ColumbusChristopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
in 1493 on his second voyage to the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
. Columbus gave the area the fanciful name Santa Ursula y Las Islas Once Mil Vírgenes (Saint Ursula and her 11,000 Virgins), shortened to Las Vírgenes (The Virgins), after the legend of Saint Ursula
Saint Ursula
Saint Ursula is a British Christian saint. Her feast day in the extraordinary form calendar of the Catholic Church is October 21...
.
Today the waters around the islets are a popular site for scuba diving
Scuba diving
Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
(3).
West Seal Dog nowadays is a BVI National Park (4).
