| Pedro Bank Placer de la Víbora | |
| Subdivision Type: | Sea |
| Subdivision Name: | Caribbean |
| Subdivision Type1: | Area |
| Subdivision Name1: | Nicaragua Rise |
| Subdivision Type2: | Country |
| Subdivision Name2: | Jamaica |
| Subdivision Type4: | Minimum depth |
| Subdivision Name4: | 20 m |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
Pedro Bank is a large bank of sand and coral, partially covered with seagrass, about 80 km south and southwest of Jamaica, rising steeply from a seabed of 800 metres depth. It slopes gently from the Pedro Cays to the west and north with depths from 13to(-). The total area of the bank within the 100m (300feet) isobath measures 8040km2. The area of a depth to 40m (130feet) is triangular, 70km (40miles) long east-west, and 43km (27miles) wide. 2400km2 are less than 20m (70feet) deep. With its islets, cays and rocks, a total land area of 270000m², it is the location of one of the two offshore island groups of Jamaica, the other one being the Morant Cays (Jamaica also has nearshore islands like the Port Royal Cays). The bank is centered at 17.1°N -98°W.
Pedro Bank is a part of submarine Nicaragua Rise, which stretches from Cabo Gracias a Dios through Rosalind Bank to Jamaica.
Pedro Bank was originally named 'Viper Bank', Spanish; Castilian: Placer de la Víbora,[1] by Spanish mariners because its shallow reefs, rocks and shoals are laid out in the shape of a gigantic serpent.[2] It was once a busy and treacherous shipping passage used by seafaring Europeans in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; archaeologists estimate there are over 300 shipwrecks on the Bank.[2]
Pedro Bank was annexed by the United Kingdom in 1863 and added to Jamaica in 1882.
Today the Bank is known for its economic and cultural importance; it is the main harvesting ground for Queen Conch in the Caribbean and is highly valued by Jamaica's fishing community who have been operating on the Bank and using its small Cays as a base since the 1920s.[2]
The Pedro Cays, at 17°N -127°W, four small, flat (2 to 5 metres high), low-lying and mostly uninhabited cays, lie about midway along the southern edge of the eastern half of Pedro Bank. The sparse land vegetation consists of six species of plants, none of which are endemic. The cays are regionally important seabird nesting and roosting areas (masked boobies, roseate terns and others) and also provide several endangered turtle species such as hawksbills and loggerheads with nesting grounds. The islets yield some guano and coconuts. More importantly, they represent the primary harvesting area for the largest export of Queen Conch from the Caribbean region. They were occupied by the British in 1863 and made part of Jamaica in 1882. They are considered part of the parish of Kingston, for all purposes except taxes.
In a wider sense, some over-water rocks, small outcrops of oolitic limestone over which water breaks, are considered part of the Pedro Cays:
There are several submarine features on Pedro Bank, such as: