Bullock's Harbour: Manatees in the Bahamas

Two West Indian manatees in marina basin at Great Harbour Cay.

After successfully completing our 40 mile sail from Cross Harbour Bight to the Berry Islands, including a close encounter with two patrol boats from the Royal Bahamian Defense Force (we did not know that they had ships of that size...see pic below), we dropped Pandion's anchor outside of Bullock's Harbour.

One of two patrol vessels from the Royal Bahamas Defense Force that passed by Pandion enroute to the Berry Islands.

The next morning, we brought Pandion into the marina at Great Harbour Cay. Our first overnight stay at a marina since starting our adventure in March, Pandion's batteries are in need of a conditioning charge that requires shore power.

Much to our surprise, we discovered two West Indian manatees swimming lazily about within the marina basin. When I asked the marina staff about them, they replied that there were three manatees in residence there. My experience with manatees in Florida had led me to believe that while they sometimes range as far west as Texas, and as far north as Virginia, the existing population of West Indian manatees was now considered restricted to South Florida.

Wrong! According to several local environmental groups, there were at least 15 manatees living in the Bahamas as of 2015. Makes sense. Manatees forage primarily on seagrass, and the Bahamas has seagrass in abundance. They also need freshwater, and a number of islands (including Great Harbour Cay in the Berry Islands) have freshwater sources.

Brenda and Gary on golf cart joyride in Great Harbour Cay.

We went rolling off on an island adventure, in a gas powered golf cart loaned to us by a local islander named Elam. Without a map (ooops) we took off in the cart, with a top speed of about 15 MPH, and located a well stocked grocery store, dodging a few rain showers along the way.

The island has an interesting history, replete with stories of mafia and a casino that was never built, drug trafficking in the 1980's, hosting movie stars including Cary Grant and Bridget Bardot, and celebrity golf tournaments.

We have connected with the crew of S/V Cool Runnings, a family that we met in the Dry Tortugas over two years ago, as they were just beginning their epic circumnavigation in a Lagoon catamaran, and are hoping to cross paths with them again here in the Berry Islands. What stories they have to tell!