Pig Beach
{{Short description|Uninhabited island in Exuma, the Bahamas}}
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{{Infobox islands
| name = Big Major Cay
| native_name =
| sobriquet = Pig Beach
| image_name = Vorobek Bahamas - swimming pigs.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| image_caption = Pigs swimming in the Bahamas
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| map = Bahamas
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| location = the Americas
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| archipelago = Exuma Cays
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| total_islands = 1
| major_islands = 1
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| Country_heading =
| country = The Commonwealth of the Bahamas
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| country_capital = Nassau
| country_largest_city = Nassau
| country_largest_city_population = 248,948; {{As of|2010|lc=y}}
| country_leader_title = Prime Minister
| country_leader_name = Hubert Minnis
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Pig Beach{{cite book|title=Ripley's Believe It or Not! Annual 2013 |date=11 September 2012 |publisher=Ripley |isbn=978-1-60991-032-7 }} located on Big Major Cay{{cite web|title=Swimming with Pigs|url=http://www.bahamas.co.uk/things-to-do/bahamas-water-activities/swimming-with-pigs|publisher=The Island of the Bahamas|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308184735/http://www.bahamas.co.uk/things-to-do/bahamas-water-activities/swimming-with-pigs|archive-date=March 8, 2016|accessdate=February 28, 2013}} (also known as Major Cay{{cite book|publisher=Lonely Planet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nVchOZiQ5ZgC&dq=swimming+pigs+exuma&pg=PT79 |title=The Bahamas - Guidebook Chapter: Chapter from Caribbean Islands travel guide book |year=2012 |edition=6 |isbn=9781743210826 }}) is a beach on an uninhabited island (or cay) located in Exuma, the Bahamas. The island takes its unofficial name from the fact that it is populated by a colony of feral pigs which live on the island. It has become a tourist attraction in modern times.
The pigs are known in popular culture as "the swimming pigs"{{Cite web|title=What Killed More Than Half a Dozen of the Bahamas' Swimming Pigs?|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/what-killed-half-dozen-bahamas-swimming-pigs-180962386/|last=Daley|first=Jason|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en|access-date=2020-05-27}} although other islands with swimming pigs exist in the Bahamas.{{Cite web|title=Hurricane Dorian: What happened to the beloved swimming pigs of The Bahamas?|url=https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/20190916/hurricane-dorian-what-happened-to-beloved-swimming-pigs-of-bahamas|last=Rhodes|first=Wendy|website=The Palm Beach Post|language=en|access-date=2020-05-27}}
Geography and features
{{see also|Exuma Cays}}
Exuma is a district of the Bahamas, and consists of over 360 islands.{{cite web|url=http://www.bahamas.gov.bs/bahamasweb2/home.nsf/vContentW/261ECD6B4A23A15106256ECF00824192!OpenDocument |publisher=The Official Website of the Government of the Bahamas |title=Exuma |accessdate=February 27, 2013 }} Near Big Major Cay is Staniel Cay.{{cite news|newspaper=New York Post |url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/pig_kahuna_is_bacon_on_own_island_muqc4i0r4Au4tbAVzsTLKO |title=Pig Kahuna is 'bacon' on own island |author=Susannah Cahalan |author-link=Susannah Cahalan |date=January 30, 2011 |accessdate=March 1, 2013 }} There are three freshwater springs on the island.
History
= Anecdotal history =
A single, factual account of how the pigs ended up on the cay does not appear to exist. Folklore and various theories claim a number of different scenarios including pirates.{{Cite web|title=The Bahamas beach where piggies swim|url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/swimming-pigs-bahamas/index.html|first= Matt |last=Villano|website=CNN|date=9 October 2018 |language=en|access-date=2020-05-27}}
Some say the pigs are said to have been dropped off on Big Major Cay by a group of sailors who wanted to come back and cook them. The sailors, though, never returned; the pigs survived on excess food dumped from passing ships.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}
Another legend has it that the pigs were survivors of a shipwreck and managed to swim to shore, while other accounts claim that the pigs had escaped from a nearby islet.{{cite news |url=http://www.caribbeantravelmag.com/articles/day-trip-exumas-pigs-paradise |newspaper=Caribbean Travel Magazine |first=Sarah |last=Greaves-Gabbadon |title=Best Bahamas Trips: Swim with Pigs in the Exumas |accessdate=February 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307225623/http://www.caribbeantravelmag.com/articles/day-trip-exumas-pigs-paradise |archive-date=March 7, 2016 |url-status=dead }} Yet others suggest that the pigs were part of a business scheme to attract tourists to the Bahamas{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}} while another claims the pigs were stocked on the island in the 1990s by residents of nearby Staniel Cay to raise for food.
= Modern day =
The pigs are now fed by residents from neighboring islands and tourists{{cite book |title=Halcyon Days: From A Dream To Reality |year=2004 |publisher=Trafford Publishing |isbn=9781412016650 |last=Moorhouse |first=Austin E. |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/halcyondays00aust }}{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=January 2018}} and the island is unofficially known as Pig Beach by both locals and tourists.{{cite news|newspaper=The Telegraph |title=Pigs swim in sea in Bahamas |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5843957/Pigs-swim-in-sea-in-Bahamas.html |date=July 16, 2009 |accessdate=February 27, 2013 }}
In 2017, a number of the resident pigs were found dead,{{Cite web|title=Widely Adored Swimming Pigs Found Dead in the Bahamas|url=https://www.travelandleisure.com/animals/swim-with-pigs-death|website=Travel + Leisure|language=EN|access-date=2020-05-27}} which caused speculation regarding the cause of death including claims of tourists feeding pigs alcohol or the pigs ingesting sand.{{Cite web|title=This Is What Really Killed The Famous Swimming Pigs|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/03/swimming-pigs-bahamas-death/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190807063834/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/03/swimming-pigs-bahamas-death/|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 7, 2019|date=2017-03-04|website=National Geographic News|language=en|access-date=2020-05-27}}{{Cite web|title=Tourists Were Giving the Bahamas Pigs Alcohol, Officials Say|url=https://www.travelandleisure.com/animals/bahamas-pigs-alcohol|website=Travel + Leisure|language=EN|access-date=2020-05-27}}
Demographics and fauna
Big Major Cay is an island uninhabited by humans.{{cite web|publisher=Atlas Obscura |url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/swimming-pigs-of-big-major-cay |title=Swimming Pigs of Big Major Cay |accessdate=February 27, 2013 }} The pig population was estimated between fifty and sixty pigs as of 2019. A few stray cats{{cite book|title=The Exumas, Bahamas: Frommer's ShortCuts |author=Frommer's ShortCuts |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z3eofWTr2fkC&dq=magic&pg=PT17 |edition=2 |isbn=9781118470343 |year=2012 }} and goats{{cite news|newspaper=Huffington Post |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/23/bahamas-wild-pigs-mission-blue_n_1540270.html |last=McRae |first=Mavis |title=The Bahamas' Wild Pigs Meet Dr. Sylvia Earle And Mission Blue (PHOTOS) |accessdate=February 28, 2013 |date=May 23, 2012 }} can be found on the island as well.
Travel and tourism
From Nassau to Pig Beach is 89 miles (143 km) and takes 2 hours by speed boat. A number of tour operators offer both private and group trips from Great Exuma, Staniel Cay, and other nearby cays.
Popular culture
Pig beach has become a popular topic on social media sites like Instagram and featured in the television series, The Bachelor.{{Cite web|title=Everything to Know About Swimming With Pigs in the Bahamas|url=https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/bahamas-swimming-pigs-big-major-cay|website=Travel + Leisure|language=EN|access-date=2020-05-27}} Some people claim to have been bitten by a pig while visiting.{{Cite web|title=Pig beach is the Instagram hotspot you need to know about|url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/entertainment/travel/a28260333/pig-beach/|last=Baxter-Wright|first=Dusty|date=2019-07-07|website=Cosmopolitan|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-05-27}} They have been written about in a book and claim to be featured in a documentary.{{Cite web|title=The Bahamas beach where piggies swim|url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/swimming-pigs-bahamas/index.html|first=Matt |last=Villano|website=CNN|date=9 October 2018 |language=en|access-date=2020-05-27}}
See also
{{Portal|Caribbean|Geography|Animals}}
- {{Commons category-inline|Pig Beach}}
- Staniel Cay
- Exuma
- List of islands of the Bahamas
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Coord|24|11|01|N|76|27|23|W|display=title}}
Category:Beaches of the Caribbean
Category:Landforms of the Bahamas