1.
Atlantic Ocean
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The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the worlds oceans with a total area of about 106,460,000 square kilometres. It covers approximately 20 percent of the Earths surface and about 29 percent of its surface area. It separates the Old World from the New World, the Atlantic Ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending longitudinally between Eurasia and Africa to the east, and the Americas to the west. The Equatorial Counter Current subdivides it into the North Atlantic Ocean, in contrast, the term Atlantic originally referred specifically to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and the sea off the Strait of Gibraltar and the North African coast. The Greek word thalassa has been reused by scientists for the huge Panthalassa ocean that surrounded the supercontinent Pangaea hundreds of years ago. The term Aethiopian Ocean, derived from Ancient Ethiopia, was applied to the Southern Atlantic as late as the mid-19th century, many Irish or British people refer to the United States and Canada as across the pond, and vice versa. The Black Atlantic refers to the role of ocean in shaping black peoples history. Irish migration to the US is meant when the term The Green Atlantic is used, the term Red Atlantic has been used in reference to the Marxian concept of an Atlantic working class, as well as to the Atlantic experience of indigenous Americans. Correspondingly, the extent and number of oceans and seas varies, the Atlantic Ocean is bounded on the west by North and South America. It connects to the Arctic Ocean through the Denmark Strait, Greenland Sea, Norwegian Sea, to the east, the boundaries of the ocean proper are Europe, the Strait of Gibraltar and Africa. In the southeast, the Atlantic merges into the Indian Ocean, the 20° East meridian, running south from Cape Agulhas to Antarctica defines its border. In the 1953 definition it extends south to Antarctica, while in later maps it is bounded at the 60° parallel by the Southern Ocean, the Atlantic has irregular coasts indented by numerous bays, gulfs, and seas. Including these marginal seas the coast line of the Atlantic measures 111,866 km compared to 135,663 km for the Pacific. Including its marginal seas, the Atlantic covers an area of 106,460,000 km2 or 23. 5% of the ocean and has a volume of 310,410,900 km3 or 23. 3%. Excluding its marginal seas, the Atlantic covers 81,760,000 km2 and has a volume of 305,811,900 km3, the North Atlantic covers 41,490,000 km2 and the South Atlantic 40,270,000 km2. The average depth is 3,646 m and the maximum depth, the bathymetry of the Atlantic is dominated by a submarine mountain range called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It runs from 87°N or 300 km south of the North Pole to the subantarctic Bouvet Island at 42°S, the MAR divides the Atlantic longitudinally into two halves, in each of which a series of basins are delimited by secondary, transverse ridges. The MAR reaches above 2000 m along most of its length, the MAR is a barrier for bottom water, but at these two transform faults deep water currents can pass from one side to the other
2.
The Bahamas
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The Bahamas, known officially as the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is an archipelagic state within the Lucayan Archipelago. The capital is Nassau on the island of New Providence, the designation of the Bahamas can refer either to the country or to the larger island chain that it shares with the Turks and Caicos Islands. As stated in the mandate/manifesto of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, the Bahamas is the site of Columbus first landfall in the New World in 1492. At that time, the islands were inhabited by the Lucayan, although the Spanish never colonised the Bahamas, they shipped the native Lucayans to slavery in Hispaniola. The islands were mostly deserted from 1513 until 1648, when English colonists from Bermuda settled on the island of Eleuthera, the Bahamas became a British Crown colony in 1718, when the British clamped down on piracy. After the American War of Independence, the Crown resettled thousands of American Loyalists in the Bahamas, they brought their slaves with them, Africans constituted the majority of the population from this period. Slavery in the Bahamas was abolished in 1834, Today the descendants of slaves and free Africans make up nearly 90% of the population, issues related to the slavery years are part of society. The Bahamas became an independent Commonwealth realm in 1973, retaining Queen Elizabeth II as its monarch, in terms of gross domestic product per capita, the Bahamas is one of the richest countries in the Americas, with an economy based on tourism and finance. The name Bahamas is derived from either the Taino ba ha ma, alternatively, it may originate from Guanahani, a local name of unclear meaning. In English, the Bahamas is one of two countries whose self-standing short name begins with the word the, along with The Gambia. Taino people moved into the uninhabited southern Bahamas from Hispaniola and Cuba around the 11th century and they came to be known as the Lucayan people. An estimated 30,000 Lucayan inhabited the Bahamas at the time of Christopher Columbus arrival in 1492, Columbuss first landfall in the New World was on an island he named San Salvador. Some researchers believe this site to be present-day San Salvador Island, an alternative theory holds that Columbus landed to the southeast on Samana Cay, according to calculations made in 1986 by National Geographic writer and editor Joseph Judge, based on Columbuss log. Evidence in support of this remains inconclusive, on the landfall island, Columbus made first contact with the Lucayan and exchanged goods with them. The Spanish forced much of the Lucayan population to Hispaniola for use as forced labour, the slaves suffered from harsh conditions and most died from contracting diseases to which they had no immunity, half of the Taino died from smallpox alone. The population of the Bahamas was severely diminished, in 1648, the Eleutherian Adventurers, led by William Sayle, migrated from Bermuda. These English Puritans established the first permanent European settlement on an island which they named Eleuthera—the name derives from the Greek word for freedom and they later settled New Providence, naming it Sayles Island after one of their leaders. To survive, the settlers salvaged goods from wrecks, in 1670 King Charles II granted the islands to the Lords Proprietors of the Carolinas in North America
3.
Freeport, Bahamas
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Freeport is a city, district and free trade zone on the island of Grand Bahama of the northwest Bahamas. Freeport has grown to become the second most populous city in the Bahamas, Freeport is also served by domestic Bahamian ferry services to other islands and by a regular international service to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA operated by Baleària Bahamas Express. The city of Freeport emerged from a grant comprising 50,000 acres of swamp. The Grand Bahama Port Authority operates the free zone, under special powers conferred by the government under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement. The agreement also increased the land grants to 138,000 acres, Freeport is located just 80 miles off the coast of Palm Beach, Florida, and on the major EW–NS shipping routes. This has positioned it as a centre for international business. Consequently, a number of international companies use Freeport for a business site. The Lucayan National Park is 40 acres in extent and includes five ecological zones stretching from the shore to the pineyard. There is an underwater cave system beneath the park. One cave entrance is accessible by stairs at the national park, other caves are accessible for certified scubas. Freeport features a tropical rainforest climate according to Köppen Climate Classification, more specifically with mild winters and hot, seldom do temperatures drop below 60 °F. Average temperatures range in the low to upper 80s, with temperature varying between 72 to 78 °F. The winters are mild and dry, while the summers are usually hot. Although a freeze has never reported in the Bahamas, snow was reported to have mixed with rain in Freeport in January 1977. The temperature was about 4.5 °C at the time, several cruise ships stop weekly at the island. Much of the tourist industry is centered on the suburb of Lucaya. Freeport features at least two Junkanoo festivals near New Years, the city is often promoted as Freeport/Lucaya. Most hotels on the island are located along the shore facing the Northwest Providence Channel
4.
Palm Beach, Florida
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The Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the cities of West Palm Beach. In 2000, Palm Beach had a population of 10,468. Prior to Flagler, Palm Beach was sparsely populated, and was a part of Lake Worth, Palm Beach was established as a resort by Henry Morrison Flagler, who made the Atlantic coast barrier island accessible via his Florida East Coast Railway. The nucleus of the community was established by Flaglers two luxury hotels, the Royal Poinciana Hotel and The Breakers Hotel. West Palm Beach was built across Lake Worth as a town and has become a major city in its own right. The town was incorporated on 17 April 1911, an area known as the Styx housed many of the servants, most of whom were black. The workers rented their houses from the landowners. In the early 1900s the landowners agreed to all of the residents of the Styx. The houses were razed, according to the Palm Beach Daily News, the coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is not native to Florida. Its presence in Palm Beach is due to the shipwreck of the Spanish ship Providencia in 1878 and it was traveling from Havana to Cádiz, Spain with a cargo of coconuts. Since the shipwreck was near the shore, the coconuts were salvaged, a lush grove of palm trees soon grew on what was later named Palm Beach. Palm Beach is the easternmost town in Florida, located on a 16-mile long barrier island, according to the U. S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 10.4 square miles. 3.9 square miles of it is land and 6.5 square miles of it is water, the total area is 62. 45% water. Palm Beach has a tropical rainforest climate and this is a Köppen climate classification of Af where it is tropical and there is no dry season. It is wetter in the summer, from May to October, when convective thunderstorms and tropical downpours are common, average high temperatures in Palm Beach are 86 to 90 °F with lows of 70 to 75 °F. During this period, more than half of the days bring occasional afternoon thunderstorms. The winter brings drier, sunnier, and much less humid weather, average high temperatures of 75 to 82 °F and lows of 57 to 66 °F
5.
East Grand Bahama
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East Grand Bahama is a district of the Bahamas, situated on the eastern part of the island of Grand Bahama. The local government seat for the district is in the settlement of High Rock and it is situated approximately 40 miles east of the City of Freeport, and 20 miles from the easternmost settlement of McLeans Town. Other settlements of East Grand Bahama include Rocky Creek, Pelican Point, Gambier Point, the studio is still in development and will eventually add state-of-the-art sound stages, post-production facilities and a hands-on international film school. Film Studio Bahamas Website Bahamas Film Commission
6.
West Grand Bahama
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West Grand Bahama is one of 31 districts of The Bahamas. The district covers the western portion of Grand Bahama island, excluding the city of Freeport. West Ends development has been dominated by a hotel and marina located at the tip of Grand Bahama Island. The Florida-based Ginn Company sought to develop a new project in the area. In 2009, the now former Ginn Company defaulted on a $650 million Credit Suisse which a portion of the loan was used to fund Ginn Sur Mer. The project once pegged at $5 billion would have included thousands of sites,4 star resort hotel. The lawsuits filed in the U. S. and Bahamas courts are still ongoing, as for the name of each settlement, they basically got their name from the families that settled there. For example, Pinders Point was inhabited by the Pinders, russell town by the Russells and so on. At one point, there was even a town called Coopers town but over time, West Grand Bahama is divided into four town areas or townships. Each township has its own chairperson and they are, Township of West End Township of Eight Mile Rock West Township of Eight Mile Rock East Township of Pinders Point
7.
Lucayan language
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Taíno is an extinct and poorly attested Arawakan language historically spoken by the Taíno people of the Caribbean. At the time of Spanish contact, it was the language throughout the Caribbean. Classic Taíno was the language of the northern Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and most of Hispaniola. Ciboney is essentially unattested, but colonial sources suggest it was a dialect of Taíno and it was the language of westernmost Hispaniola, the Bahamas, Jamaica, and most of Cuba. By the late 15th century, Taíno had displaced earlier languages except for western Cuba, as the Taíno culture declined during Spanish colonization, the language was replaced with Spanish and other European languages. It was extinct within a years of contact. The language possibly continued to be spoken in isolated pockets in the Caribbean until the late 19th century, as the first native language encountered by Europeans in the New World, it was a major source of new words borrowed into European languages. Granberry & Vescelius distinguish two dialects, one on Hispaniola and further east, and the other on Hispaniola and further west, Classic Taíno, spoken in Classic Taíno and Eastern Taíno cultural areas. These were the Leeward Islands north of Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico, central Hispaniola, Classic Taíno was expanding into eastern and even central Cuba at the time of the Spanish Conquest, perhaps from people fleeing the Spanish in Hispaniola. Ciboney Taíno, spoken in Ciboney and Lucayan cultural areas and these were most of Cuba, Jamaica, western Hispaniola, and the Bahamas. The Lucayo subdialect had /n/ where other dialects had /r/, There is variation in accounts between e ~ i and o ~ u, perhaps reflecting transcription of the three stable vowels of Arawakan into the five vowels of Spanish. The Taíno language was not written, however there has been little research in this area. The following phonemes are reconstructed from Spanish records, There was also a flap, a distinction between /ɛ/ and /e/ is suggested by Spanish transcriptions of e vs ei/ey, as in ceiba ceiba. The /e/ is written ei or final é in modern reconstructions, There was also a high back vowel, which is often interchangeable with /o/ and may have been an allophone. There was a set of nasal vowels. The only consonant which could occur at the end of a syllable or a word was /s/, nouns appear to have had noun-class suffixes as in other Arawakan languages. Attested Taíno possessive prefixes are da- my, wa- our, ni- his, attested verbs are ka be, ka kill, ibá go, hiya speak, ã hear, rikẽ see, ya do, bu be important. Verb-designating affixes are a-, ka-, -a, -ka, -nV, a few conjugated verbs, da-ka I am, wa-ibá we go, and wa-rikẽ we see suggest that verbal conjugation for subject resembled the possessive prefixes on nouns
8.
Coral reef
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Coral reefs are diverse underwater ecosystems held together by calcium carbonate structures secreted by corals. Coral reefs are built by colonies of tiny animals found in waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups, the polyps belong to a group of animals known as Cnidaria, which also includes sea anemones and jellyfish. Unlike sea anemones, corals secrete hard carbonate exoskeletons which support, most reefs grow best in warm, shallow, clear, sunny and agitated waters. Often called rainforests of the sea, shallow coral reefs form some of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth, paradoxically, coral reefs flourish even though they are surrounded by ocean waters that provide few nutrients. They are most commonly found at depths in tropical waters. Coral reefs deliver ecosystem services to tourism, fisheries and shoreline protection, the annual global economic value of coral reefs is estimated between US$29. 8-375 billion. However, coral reefs are fragile ecosystems, partly because they are sensitive to water temperature. Most of the coral reefs we can see today were formed after the last glacial period when melting ice caused the sea level to rise and this means that most modern coral reefs are less than 10,000 years old. As communities established themselves on the shelves, the reefs grew upwards, Reefs that rose too slowly could become drowned reefs. They are covered by so much water there was insufficient light. Coral reefs are found in the sea away from continental shelves, around oceanic islands. The vast majority of islands are volcanic in origin. The few exceptions have tectonic origins where plate movements have lifted the deep ocean floor on the surface. In 1842 in his first monograph, The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs, Charles Darwin set out his theory of the formation of atoll reefs and he theorized uplift and subsidence of the Earths crust under the oceans formed the atolls. Darwin’s theory sets out a sequence of three stages in atoll formation and it starts with a fringing reef forming around an extinct volcanic island as the island and ocean floor subsides. As the subsidence continues, the reef becomes a barrier reef. Darwin predicted that underneath each lagoon would be a bed rock base, where the level of the underlying earth allows, the corals grow around the coast to form what he called fringing reefs, and can eventually grow out from the shore to become a barrier reef
9.
Lucayan people
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The Lucayans were the original inhabitants of the Bahamas before the arrival of Europeans. They were a branch of the Taínos who inhabited most of the Caribbean islands at the time, the Lucayans were the first inhabitants of the Americas encountered by Christopher Columbus. The Spanish started seizing Lucayans as slaves within a few years of Columbuss arrival, the name Lucayan is an Anglicization of the Spanish Lucayos, derived in turn from the Taino Lukku-Cairi, meaning people of the islands. Some crania and artifacts of Ciboney type were found on Andros Island. Christopher Columbuss diario is the source of first-hand observations of the Lucayans. Other information about the customs of the Lucayans has come from archaeological investigations and comparison with what is known of Taino culture in Cuba, sometime between 500 and 800, Tainos began crossing in dugout canoes from Hispaniola and/or Cuba to the Bahamas. Hypothesized routes for the earliest migrations have been from Hispaniola to the Caicos Islands, from Hispaniola or eastern Cuba to Great Inagua Island, and from central Cuba to Long Island. The settlement sites in the Caicos Islands differ from those elsewhere in the Bahamas. William Keegan argues that the sites on Caicos therefore represent a settlement after 1200 by Tainos from Hispaniola seeking salt from the salt pans on the island. Moreover, the Tainos probably did not reach central Cuba until after 1000, from an initial colonization of Great Inagua Island, the Lucayans expanded throughout the Bahamas Islands in some 800 years, growing to a population of about 40,000. Known Lucayan settlement sites are confined to the nineteen largest islands in the archipelago, Keegan posits a north-ward migration route from Great Inagua Island to Acklins and Crooked Islands, then on to Long Island. From Long Island expansion would have gone east to Rum Cay and San Salvador Island, north to Cat Island and west to Great and Little Exuma Islands. From Cat Island the expansion proceeded to Eleuthera, from which New Providence and Andros to the west and Great and Little Abaco Islands, Lucayan village sites are also known on Mayaguana, east of Acklins Island, and Samana Cay, north of Acklins. There are also sites on East, Middle and North Caicos and on Providenciales, in the Caicos Islands. Population density in the southern-most Bahamas remained lower, probably due to the climate there. The Lucayans were part of a larger Taino community in the Greater Antilles, the Lucayans, along with the Tainos in Jamaica, most of Cuba and parts of western Hispaniola have been classified as part of a Sub-Taino, Western Taino or Ciboney Taino cultural and language group. Keegan describes any distinctions between Lucayans and Classical Tainos as largely arbitrary, the Lucayans lived in smaller political units, and their language and culture showed differences, but they remained Tainos, although a hinterland of the wider Taino world. The Lucayans were connected to a Caribbean-wide trade network, Columbus observed trade carried between Long Island and Cuba by dugout canoe
