Bay of Pigs
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{{short description|Bay on the island of Cuba}}
{{About|the geographical location|the 1961 invasion at the bay|Bay of Pigs Invasion|the 2009 EP by Destroyer|Bay of Pigs (EP)}}
{{distinguish|Pig's Bay|Pig Beach}}
{{Infobox body of water
| name = Bay of Pigs
| native_name ={{native name|es|Bahía de los Cochinos}}
| other_name =
| image = Varkensbaai2.jpg
| alt = Photo of a bay with clear blue-green water to the left of some rocky land with trees on it.
| caption = Bay of Pigs from Cueva de los Peces
| image_bathymetry = BayofPigs.jpg
| alt_bathymetry = Map of Cuba with Bay of Pigs labeled on the southern coast.
| caption_bathymetry = Location of Bay of Pigs in Cuba
| group =
| coordinates = {{coord|22|13|N|81|10|W|type:waterbody_region:CU|display=inline,title}}
| type = Bay
| etymology = Cochino meaning both "pig" and "triggerfish"
| part_of = Gulf of Cazones
| inflow =
| rivers =
| outflow =
| oceans = Caribbean Sea
| catchment =
| basin_countries =
| length = max. {{convert|27|km|mi|abbr=on}}
| width = max. {{convert|10|km|mi|abbr=on}}
| area = {{convert|200|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
| depth =
| max-depth =
| volume =
| residence_time =
| salinity =
| shore = {{convert|87|km|mi|abbr=on}}
| elevation =
| temperature_high = {{convert|29|C|F|abbr=on}}
| temperature_low = {{convert|22|C|F|abbr=on}}
| frozen = Never
| islands = Cayo Piedra
| sections =
| trenches =
| benches =
| cities = Playa Girón, Playa Larga
| pushpin_map = Cuba
| pushpin_label_position = bottom
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location of Bay of Pigs in Cuba
| website =
| reference = {{Cite web|url=https://www.freemaptools.com/area-calculator.htm|title=Area Calculator Using Maps|website=www.freemaptools.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.freemaptools.com/measure-distance.htm|title=Measure Distance on a Map|website=www.freemaptools.com}}
}}
The Bay of Pigs ({{langx|es|Bahía de los Cochinos}}) is an inlet of the Gulf of Cazones, located on the southern coast of Cuba. By 1910 it was included in Santa Clara Province, and then to Las Villas Province by 1961, but in 1976, it was reassigned to Matanzas Province, when the original six provinces of Cuba were re-organized into 14 new Provinces of Cuba.
The bay is historically important for the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961. The area is a site known for its diving, with an abundance of marine fauna, e.g. 30 species of sponges belonging to 19 families and 21 genera,Caballero et al., 2009, p.95 to be found in the bay.
Etymology
In Cuban Spanish, cochinos may also mean the queen triggerfish (Balistes vetula), which inhabit coral reefs in Bahía de Cochinos, in addition to the literal meaning, pigs (Sus scrofa).{{Cite web | last =Claro | first =Rodolfo | author2 =García-Arteaga, Juan P. | author3 =Gobert, Bertrand | author4 =Cantelar Ramos, Karel | title =Tabla 2. Pesos y tallas mínimos legales en Cuba y proporción de peces con tallas inferiores en las capturas con chinchorros y nasas de la empresa pesquera de Caibarién. | work =Situación actual de los recursos pesqueros del Archipiélago Sabana-Camagüey, Cuba | publisher =Invemar | date =13 May 2003 | url =http://www.invemar.org.co/redcostera1/invemar/docs/Vol33/BIMC_33_03_Claro.pdf | access-date =14 April 2011 | archive-date =21 December 2019 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20191221153445/http://www.invemar.org.co/redcostera1/invemar/docs/Vol33/BIMC_33_03_Claro.pdf | url-status =dead }}{{cite web|url=http://www.fishbase.org/comnames/CommonNamesList.php?ID=19&GenusName=Balistes&SpeciesName=vetula&StockCode=27 |title=Common Names List - Balistes vetula |publisher=Fishbase.org |access-date=2015-04-17 }} {{Better source needed|reason=English language source needed|date=April 2024}}
Geography
File:Playagiron.jpg in October 2007]]
This bay is approximately {{convert|30|km|mi}} south of Jagüey Grande, {{convert|70|km|mi}} west of the city of Cienfuegos, and {{convert|150|km|mi}} southeast from the capital city Havana. On the western side of the bay, coral reefs border the main Zapata Swamp, part of the Zapata Peninsula. On the eastern side, beaches border margins of firm ground with mangroves and extensive areas of swampland to the north and east. At the north end of the bay, the village of Buena Ventura is adjacent to Playa Larga (Long Beach). {{convert|35|km|mi}} southeast of that, Playa Girón (Giron Beach) at the village of Girón, named after the notorious French pirate Gilberto Giron (c. 1604).Rodríguez Cruz, 1999, p.115
History
Playa Girón and Playa Larga were the landing sites for seaborne forces of armed Cuban exiles and the land strip for some American planes (but not many as America did not want Cuba to realize that it was American sponsored) in the Bay of Pigs Invasion, an American CIA-sponsored attempt to overthrow the new government of Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro in April 1961.
According to Fidel Castro's former bodyguard, the late Juan Reinaldo Sánchez, Castro lived in great luxury and had a private island called Cayo Piedra in the Bay of Pigs, replete with "mansions, guest houses, a heliport, dolphinarium, turtle lagoon, his luxury yacht Aquarama – a gift from Leonid Brezhnev – and deep-sea fishing speedboat".{{Cite web|url=https://www.lainformacion.com/mundo/cerca-de-20-mansiones-tres-yates-y-un-helipuerto-son-algunas-de-las-posesiones-de-fidel-castro_EiSeOSScA5c56PZiM4AlV3/|title=Cerca de 20 mansiones, tres yates y un helipuerto son algunas de las posesiones de Fidel Castro|date=June 16, 2014|website=La Información}}
Diving
File:Monument honoring 5 US political prisoners - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg
The Bay of Pigs is a relatively quiet site for diving. Dive centers exist in Playa Larga, Playa Girón and Caleta Buena. Twelve dive sites in the bay display excellent visibility of {{convert|20|to|40|m|ft}}, an average water temperature of {{convert|22|C|F}} in December and {{convert|29|C|F}} in July. Walls of coral, caverns, and a variety of fish (including the barracuda, lionfish, and groupers, among others), coral, and sponges can be found in the Bay of Pigs.{{Cite web|url=http://divescover.es/diving/cuba/playa-giron-bahia-de-cochinos|title=Diving in Playa Girón - Bahia de Cochinos|website=divescover.es|access-date=2018-08-02|archive-date=2020-02-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216180616/http://divescover.es/diving/cuba/playa-giron-bahia-de-cochinos|url-status=dead}}
The Caves of the Fishes ({{langx|es| Cueva de los Peces}}), with {{convert|72|m|ft}} depth the deepest cenote of Cuba, is located at {{convert|18|km|mi}} south of Playa Larga.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cubaconecta.com/naturaleza/articulos/2017-06-19-u34-e14-cueva-peces-cenote-profundo-y-bello-cuba|title=La Cueva de los Peces, el cenote más profundo y bello de Cuba |date=June 19, 2017|website=CubaConecta}}
= Biodiversity =
Surrounding the Bay of Pigs, the endemic wormlizards Amphisbaena barbouri and A. cubana have been noted.Rodríguez Schettino et al., 2013, pp.9–10 The following marine species have been registered along the eastern coast of the Bay of Pigs:
See also
References
= Citations =
{{Reflist}}
= Sources =
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite journal |last1=Caballero |first1=Hansel |last2=Busutil |first2=Linnet |last3=García |first3=Yanel |last4=Alcolado |first4=Pedro M. |year=2009 |title=Variación espacial en comunidades de esponjas de la costa oriental de Bahía de Cochinos, Cuba |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228350039 |journal=Rev. Invest. Cost. |volume=I |pages=95–109 |doi=10.15359/revmar.1.5 |accessdate=2018-08-01 |doi-access=free |hdl=1834/3523 |hdl-access=free |issn = 1659-407X}}
- {{cite journal |last1=Chevalier |first1=Pedro P. |last2=Cárdenas |first2=Antonio L. |year=2005 |title=Variación espacial y temporal de las asociaciones de peces en arrecifes costeros de la costa oriental de la Bahía de Cochinos – II: Análisis multidimensional |url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262372183 |journal=Rev. Invest. Mar. |volume=26 |pages=59–66 |accessdate=2018-08-01 }}
- {{cite book |last=Rodríguez Cruz |first=Juan Carlos |year=1999 |title=Bay of Pigs and the CIA |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=22hqAAAAMAAJ |publisher=Ocean Press, Melbourne |pages=1–212 |isbn=978-1-875284-98-6 |accessdate=2018-08-01 }}
- {{cite journal |last1=Rodríguez Schettino |first1=Lourdes |last2=Mancina |first2=Carlos A. |last3=Rivalta González |first3=Vilma |year=2013 |title=Reptiles of Cuba: Checklist and Geographic Distributions |url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/22148/2013.SHIS144.pdf |journal=Smithsonian Herpetological Information Service |volume=144 |pages=1–96 |accessdate=2018-08-01 |hdl=10088/22148 }}
{{refend}}
Further reading
- {{cite book|last=Wyden|first=Peter|year=1979|title=Bay of Pigs – The Untold Story|publisher=Simon and Schuster|place=New York|isbn=0-671-24006-4|postscript=,}} {{ISBNT|0224017543|978-0-671-24006-6}}.
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