Pelican Island (Barbados)
{{Infobox islands
| name = Pelican Island
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| image_name = File:Barbados-Antigua expedition; narrative and preliminary report of a zoological expedition from theUniversity of Iowa to the Lesser Antilles under the auspices of the Graduate College (1919) (14770217284).jpg
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| image_caption = Item 6. Voluta musica, variety carneolata collected at Pelican Island, Barbados by Barbados-Antigua expedition in 1919.Charles Cleveland Nutting Barbados-Antigua Expedition (1919), 330 pages, Kessinger Publishing {{ISBN|978-1120264879}} Per Lamarck. [http://www.femorale.com/shellphotos/detail.asp?species=Voluta+musica+carneolata%2C+Lamarck%2C+1811&url=%2Fshellphotos%2Fthumbpage.asp%3Ffamily%3DVOLUTIDAE%26cod%3D1097%26nav%3D4%26prov%3D VOLUTIDAE - Voluta musica carneolata, Lamarck, 1811]
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| coordinates = {{Coord|13|06|02|N|59|37|43|W|display=inline,title|region:BB_type:isle_source:GNS-enwiki}}
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Pelican Island was a small uninhabited island that once existed off the west coast of Bridgetown and Fontabelle, in St. Michael, Barbados.[http://www.geonames.org/3373632/pelican-island-historical.html Pelican Island (historical)] Geonames.org
History
According to historical record, the island received its name from brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) that would nest there.
To get there, one could have used one of the pair of nearby boat jetties along the Barbados shoreline, or during low tide it was believed to have been possible to wade out to the island as well.
The island held a quarantine facility specifically for sick crew and passengers from ships, in order to prevent spread of infectious diseases to the mainland. There were housing facilities for patients, a morgue, a caretaker's quarters and a laundry area equipped with a cauldron for boiling clothes for sterilisation.
Over the five years of 1956 to 1961, a southwest section of the Atlantic Ocean between the island and Barbados was reclaimed and filled in during the building of the Bridgetown Port,The Journal of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society
, Volumes 46-48, p.79 (2000) and now Pelican Island has become incorporated into the mainland in the Bridgetown Deep Water Harbour complex.[http://www.bidc.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=74&Itemid=158 Pelican Island], Barbados Investment and Development Corporation.
Tourist attraction
There is now a tourist attraction called The Pelican Village ("Pelican Crafts Centre") in the area, at the port, as a tribute to the separate island that once existed there.[http://www.barbados.org/pelican_village.htm Pelican Village]
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
Category:Uninhabited islands of Barbados
Category:Saint Michael, Barbados
{{Barbados-geo-stub}}