| Bay of Pigs | |
| Image Bathymetry: | BayofPigs.jpg |
| Caption Bathymetry: | Location of Bay of Pigs in Cuba |
| Location: | Matanzas, Cuba |
| Coordinates: | 22.2167°N -91°W |
| Type: | Bay |
| Etymology: | Cochino meaning both "pig" and "triggerfish" |
| Part Of: | Gulf of Cazones |
| Oceans: | Caribbean Sea |
| Length: | max. 27km (17miles) |
| Width: | max. 10km (10miles) |
| Area: | 200km2 |
| Shore: | 87km (54miles) |
| Temperature High: | 29C |
| Temperature Low: | 22C |
| Frozen: | Never |
| Islands: | Cayo Piedra |
| Cities: | Playa Girón, Playa Larga |
| Pushpin Map: | Cuba |
| Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Bay of Pigs in Cuba |
| Reference: | [1] [2] |
The Bay of Pigs (Spanish; Castilian: 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 instead 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,[3] to be found in the bay.
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).[4] [5]
This bay is approximately 30km (20miles) south of Jagüey Grande, 70km (40miles) west of the city of Cienfuegos, and 150km (90miles) 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). 35km (22miles) southeast of that, Playa Girón (Giron Beach) at the village of Girón, named after the notorious French pirate Gilberto Giron (c. 1604).[6]
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".[7]
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 20mto40mm (70feetto130feetm), an average water temperature of 22C in December and 29C 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.[8]
The Caves of the Fishes (Spanish; Castilian: Cueva de los Peces), with 72m (236feet) depth the deepest cenote of Cuba, is located at 18km (11miles) south of Playa Larga.[9]
Surrounding the Bay of Pigs, the endemic wormlizards Amphisbaena barbouri and A. cubana have been noted.[10] The following marine species have been registered along the eastern coast of the Bay of Pigs:
| Group | Common name | Scientific name | Image | class=unsortable | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| blue chromis | Chromis cyanea | ||||
| blue tang | Acanthurus coeruleus | ||||
| Thalassoma bifasciatum | |||||
| Scarus iseri | |||||
| beau gregory | Stegastes leucostictus | ||||
| bicolor damselfish | Stegastes partitus | ||||
| boga | Inermia vittata | ||||
| Coryphopterus dicrus | |||||
| Clepticus parrae | |||||
| longfin damselfish | Stegastes diencaeus | ||||
| Coryphopterus personatus | |||||
| threespot damselfish | Stegastes planifrons | ||||
| Halichoeres garnoti | |||||
| French grunt | Haemulon flavolineatum | ||||
| Acanthurus bahianus | |||||
| Abudefduf saxatilis | |||||
| Halichoeres bivittatus | |||||
| Ocyurus chrysurus | |||||
| Caranx ruber | |||||
| barred hamlet | Hypoplectrus puella | ||||
| brown chromis | Chromis multilineata | ||||
| Chaetodon capistratus | |||||
| Epinephelus cruentatus | |||||
| longjaw squirrelfish | Holocentrus marianus | ||||
| redband parrotfish | Sparisoma aurofrenatum | ||||
| Gramma loreto | |||||
| Sparisoma viride | |||||
| Haemulon aurolineatum | |||||
| Haemulon plumierii | |||||
| porgies | Calamus sp. | ||||
| Chaetodon striatus | |||||
| buffalo trunkfish | Lactophrys trigonus | ||||
| Ablennes hians | |||||
| Heteropriacanthus cruentatus | |||||
| Holocentrus rufus | |||||
| Bothus lunatus | |||||
| red lionfish (invasive) | Pterois volitans | ||||
| Chaetodon ocellatus | |||||
| trumpetfish | Aulostomus maculatus | ||||
| Sponges | azure vase sponge | Callyspongia plicifera | |||
| Aplysina fistularis | |||||
| green finger sponge | Iotrochota birotulata | ||||
| orange icing sponge | Mycale laevis | ||||
| pink vase sponge | Niphates digitalis | ||||
| Aplysina cauliformis | |||||
| touch-me-not sponge | Neofibularia nolitangere | ||||
| demosponges | Cliona sp. | ||||
| Cliona aprica | |||||
| Cliona delitrix | |||||
| Cliona varians | |||||
| Aiolochroia crassa | |||||
| Ectyoplasia ferox | |||||
| Ircinia felix | |||||
| Mycale laxissima | |||||
| Plakortis angulospiculatus | |||||
| Scopalina ruetzleri | |||||
| Smenospongia aurea | |||||
| Spirastrella coccinea | |||||
| Corals | boulder brain coral | Colpophyllia natans | |||
| Caribbean sea whip | Plexaura homomalla | ||||
| Acropora palmata | |||||
| great star coral | Montastraea cavernosa | ||||
| maze coral | Meandrina meandrites | ||||
| purple sea fan | Gorgonia ventalina | ||||
| sea ginger | Millepora alcicornis | ||||
| Crustaceans | Caribbean spiny lobster | Panulirus argus | |||
| Echinoderms | donkey dung sea cucumber | Holothuria mexicana | |||
| Mollusks | queen conch | Lobatus gigas | |||