San Salvador Island, previously Watling's Island, is an island and district of the Bahamas, famed for being the probable location of Christopher Columbus's first landing of the Americas on 12 October 1492 during his first voyage. This historical importance, the island's tropical beaches, and its proximity to the United States have made tourism central to the local economy. The island has a population of 824 (2022) and is under the administration of Gilbert C. Kemp. Its largest settlement and seat of local government is Cockburn Town.

Names

Watling's Island was named after George or John Watling, an Englishman who settled it in the 17th century. The name was used officially from the 1680s until 1926. It is still used unofficially in discussions of the actual location of Columbus's first landfall.

San Salvador derives from the Spanish ("Island of the Holy Savior"), bestowed by Christopher Columbus in honor of Jesus Christ in thanks for his fleet's safe arrival in what he thought was East Asia. Columbus recorded the natives' name for the place as Guanaham,

Geography

thumb|right|300px|The [[Antilles Current]]

San Salvador Island sits on its own isolated carbonate platform surrounded by a narrow shelf that reaches a depth of up to . Past the shelf, the slope becomes almost vertical and depth quickly increases to . San Salvador Island experiences a semidiurnal tide, with two high tides and two low tides per day. Water temperature in San Salvador can range from depending on the location and time of year. Salinity and dissolved oxygen are consistent throughout the island and throughout the year (35 ppt and 6.0% respectively). This current cools the waters around San Salvador in the summer and warms the water around the island in the winter. This keeps the water temperature relatively mild and consistent throughout the year.

History

thumb|right|300px|San Salvador from space <small>(2007)</small>

Columbus's arrival

Christopher Columbus's voyages west were sponsored by Spain in the hopes that he would reach China and the East Indies, circumventing both Turkish and Portuguese control of the eastern and southern routes of the lucrative spice trade. Letters from Columbus to the Spanish monarchs IsabellaI of Castile and FerdinandII of Aragon record that the first island sighted during his first voyage was known to its Lucayan inhabitants as Guanahaní and that he renamed it San Salvador in thanks to God. "timid to a surprising degree", despite forcing his crew to stop cheating them in exchanges of random trash for items of great worth, including one who received 12 g of gold for a used leather strap. Despite their general intelligence, the naval historian Samuel E. Morison; and the Benedictine priest Chrysostom Schreiner eventually led to the island's 1926 renaming. Fr. Schreiner relocated to San Salvador, where his tomb is still preserved. More recently, the National Geographic Society, Keith Pickering, and others have argued for alternative locations, including Samana Cay.

Later history

thumb|right|250px|The [[USCG LORAN Station San Salvador under construction in the late 1950s]]

The island now called San Salvador was settled in the 17th century by the English buccaneer George or John Watling. Britain formally colonised the Bahamas in the early 18th century.

Watling Island's name would later be officially changed to San Salvador in 1925 in order to recognize Columbus' first landing, with this name change going into effect on 6 May 1926. After the LORAN station was decommissioned, it became the Bahamian Field Station and then the Gerace Research Centre. More than 1,000 students and researchers work from the station every year as a base of operations for studying tropical marine geology, biology, and archaeology.

San Salvador has required extensive rebuilding following Hurricane Lili in 1996, Hurricane Floyd in 1999, and Hurricane Joaquin in 2015. Floyd in particular caused considerable beach erosion. Fossilized staghorn coral () and elkhorn coral () are present near the crest of the fossil reef and other corals such as , , and are scattered in the periphery. San Salvador is also known for the quick dropoff of the submerged platform of the island, allowing for numerous deep dive sites. The western coast has many wall reefs with steep drop offs, while the northern coast has many shallow barrier reefs, particularly surrounding the large shallow lagoon of Grahams Harbour.

There are three endemic fish species found only in the inland hypersaline lakes on this island. The scale-eating pupfish (Cyprinodon desquamator), the molluscivore pupfish (Cyprinodon brontotheroides), and the are all endemic to this island.

The Dixon Hill lighthouse is located on the island south of Dixon Hill Settlement on the east side of the island. It is approximately tall and was constructed in 1887 by the Imperial Lighthouse Service.

There are also several monuments, ruins, and shipwrecks in the area.

Government

The seat of local government is Cockburn Town, with a population of 271 <small>(2010)</small>. The current administrator is Gilbert C. Kemp.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="140px">

File:SanSalvador from lighthouse1.JPG|A view of North Point, Rice Bay, and Dixon Hill Settlement, facing north from the lighthouse in 1998.

File:Grahams Harbour 1.JPG|A view of Grahams Harbour facing west from North Point in 1998. The water tower at left is located at the Gerace Research Centre, but no longer stands.

File:Seagrass Grahams Harbour.jpg|Seagrass (Thalassia testudinum) bed with several echinoids (Tripneustes ventricosus), Grahams Harbour, 1999

File:Gaulin Reef San Salvador.jpg|Elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) on the crest of Gaulin Reef in 1999

</gallery>

References

Citations

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  • High resolution map of the island
  • Multi-media exploration of San Salvador's people, plants, sea life, culture and research project topics , Bahamas-Research
  • Marine life around San Salvador island, photo gallery