Swan Islands
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
See also the Swan Islands, Falkland Islands.
The Swan Islands, a possesion of Honduras, are positioned 97 mi (156 km) north of Honduras in the Caribbean Sea, latitude 17 degrees North and longitude 83 degress West. The Swan Islands consist of 3 islands, Great Swan, Little Swan, and Booby Cay. The islands are about 3 sq mi (8 sq km) in total area. Great Swan is almost two miles in length, while Little Swan is about 1.5 miles in length by 0.3 miles wide. Booby Cay is only ~100 yards in length.
Discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1502, the islands were christened Islas de las Pozas. The islands were later renamed in the 18th century after Captain Swan, who was believed to have been one of the pirates who dominated the area.
As a result of the Guano Islands Act, the Swan Islands were claimed in April of 1857 by John Valentine White. White filed his claim with the U.S. State Department, reporting the existence of guano. Later in 1857, White conveyed all rights, title, and interest in the islands to Charles Sterns, Joseph W. Fabens, and Duff Green, who later incorporated under the name Atlantic and Pacific Guano Co.
In 1904, Alonzo Adams claims Swan Islands, after a chemical company which had bought the islands became insolvent. In 1908, the rights are conveyed by Adams to the Swan Is. Commercial Co.
In 1914, Great Swan became an official U.S. weather station.
In 1923, Honduras puts forward a claim to the islands with the argument that since the islands were discovered by Columbus, they should be owned by the nearest Spanish-speaking country.
In 1960, the Gibraltar Steamship Company installed a 50,000 watt radio transmitter on Great Swan, began blasting anti-Castro propaganda 350 miles away into Cuba. It is believed that the Gibraltar Steamship Company was a front for the CIA.
On November 22, 1971, the US and Honduras signed a treaty recognizing Honduran sovereignty over the Swan Islands, which had been claimed under the Guano Act of 1856. The treaty was effective September 1, 1972, and the islands were handed over to Honduran President Ramone Ernesto Cruz.
It is believed in 1980, the CIA and other covert government agencies, used the islands as a secret training facility for Nicaraguan Contras.
In 1989 Honduran president, Rafael Leonardo Callejas, proclaimed the islands a protected wildlife area.
In 2001 it was annouced that Swan Island Development, LLC, would develop luxury resort hotels on the islands.
In 2004, Swan Island Development, LLC announced it plans to launch a multimillion-dollar center to grow and study human embryonic stem cells on the islands.
