Thursday, November 14, 2013

Pig Beach

There is an island in the Bahamas turned over to feral pigs that swim.

According to Wiki, point of all modern-day consensus, there is no agreement as to how this came about. It is believed sailors left the pigs there with the intention of returning. That sounds the most likely of all. Alternate explanations include escapees from nearby island, sounds good too, and shipwreck survivor pigs that swam to the island, could be, and human business adventure to attract human tourists, cynical, so likely too.

The pigs do attract tourists. That is how the pigs survive. The Wikipedia article leaves us with the impression of a small island inhabited by swimming feral pigs that attracts tourists. Does that sound plausible?

Let's see.

Google Earth [pig beach, bahamas] Ha! It goes right to it and agrees with a few of the alternate names provided by Wikipedia. That was easy.

Wow, the things one learns. I had no idea the Bahamas are like that. Hundreds of islands in a line, so being stuck down there on one of them does not sound appealing at all, and two lines, two archipelagos, it appears from Google Earth. Ships all around this pig island. People pegged photos.

 Screen captures of Google Earth with photos taken from boats opened to display.








I shrank these photos, they do not enlarge. Open your own Google Earth if you care to for better looks than these.

22 comments:

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

In Cuba the pigs have a whole bay... unless that was just what the Cubans called the Kennedy baked rebels.

lame attempt at a joke, trying to introduce the talk of the Kennedy assassination anniversary.

ricpic said...

What, no sunscreen?

chickelit said...

cf: Sable Island horses and Catalina Island bison.

Icepick said...

Seems like The Ramones should have done a song about this.

Icepick said...

Or maybe Rob Zombie.

Icepick said...

(Someone alert Cody Jarett so he can come over and talk about his crush on Rob Zombie's wife.)

AllenS said...

I'll bet that there isn't any Muslims living there. Wait a minute, I have an idea...

Fr Martin Fox said...

How do they taste?

Chip Ahoy said...

That's what I'm thinking. Those tourists in their yachts aren't there just to see the pigs.

Paddy O said...

Santa Cruz Island off the coast of California (not too far from Catalina) had a big feral pig problem up through the last couple of years. I don't know if they swam.

But they did play chess. Or at least their bones did.

The rangers used to warn campers about them because they were mean. Apparently the descendants of pigs left by the Spanish. Which didn't make them mean, but just points to how long they had been there.

A person could see bones most everywhere and the occasional decaying carcass. There were a lot of pigs on that island and they, for some reason, especially liked the campgrounds.

Then the government came and shot them all. True story. They were driving the wee foxes to extinction.

One can also see the bones of pygmy mammoths on the Channel Islands, who some conjecture swum out to the islands back when mammoths were around. The government didn't get a chance to shoot them. They have been extinct for a long time. Probably killed by some other early human settlers.

ndspinelli said...

We're heading to Tuscany next month and as I read and look @ the photos I am thinking of the Tuscan specialty, Spezzatino di Cinghiale. Wild boar stew.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

William Shatner in one of his autobiographies (or maybe both, or maybe all, . . . whatever) tells a story about how he was stalking a wild boar he'd shot with an arrow (or bolt, again . . . whatever) and how he was frightened by the experience, the boar apparently fully capable of turning the tables.

Actually, it's a fairly crappy story and it has an ending that is not the least bit redeeming or even interesting for that matter.

I apologize for wasting your time, which is more than William Shatner ever did.

But then again, now that I think of it, he's William Shatner, after all.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I'll bet that a lot of people don't know that pigs have hair.

I'll also bet that nearly all of them voted for Barack Obama.

Maybe even twice.

It's possible.

Trooper York said...

The Jersey Shore has a lot of pigs at the beach.

Well while Snookie and J Wow were there. Just sayn'

Evi L. Bloggerlady said...

There are plenty of Long Island pigs Troop, Alec Baldwin comes immediately to mind.

I'm Full of Soup said...

I saw these pigs on an episode of House Hunters International.

Evi L. Bloggerlady said...

Is Titus going to book a trip to Hog Island?

Fr Martin Fox said...

Are bacon and pork chops better if the pigs lie about, or if they are vigorous and active?

ndspinelli said...

I suppose they're leaner if they get some good cardio swims in daily!

deborah said...

Luau!

Evi L. Bloggerlady said...

Fr. Martin Fox: Pork is more tender the faster the weight it put on. So less exercise and richer food is best. Virginia pigs were fed on peanuts. Italian pigs on chestnuts. Pigs in the tropics are often fed avocados and get especially good tasting on that diet.

Michael Haz said...

How is it that sharks have not found out about this?