Sucia Island
Map of Sucia and surrounding islands
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 Sucia Island
Location within the US state of Washington
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| Etymology | from Spanish, meaning 'dirty" or "foul' |
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| Geography | |
| Location | Strait of Georgia |
| Coordinates | 48°45′13″N 122°54′48″W / 48.75361°N 122.91333°WCoordinates: 48°45′13″N 122°54′48″W / 48.75361°N 122.91333°W |
| Archipelago | Sucia Islands |
| Adjacent bodies of water | Echo Bay, Shallow Bay, Fossil Bay, Mud Bay, Snoring Bay |
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United States
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| State | Washington |
| County | San Juan |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 4 (2000) |
Sucia Island is located 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north of Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands, San Juan County, Washington, United States. It is the largest of an archipelago of ten islands including Sucia Island, Little Sucia, Ewing, Justice, Herndon, the Cluster Islands islets, and several smaller, unnamed islands. The group of islands is about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) in length and just short of a half mile wide. Sucia island is roughly the shape of a hand. The total land area of all islands is 2.74 km² (1.058 sq mi, or 677 acres). The main island of Sucia Island by itself is 2.259 km² (0.8722 sq mi, or 558.1 ac). There was a permanent population of four persons as of the 2000 census, all on Sucia Island. Sucia Island State Park is a Washington State Marine Park.
Sucia Island's name originated with the Spanish Captain Francisco de Eliza, on his map of 1791. He named it "Isla Sucia". Sucia in Spanish means "dirty" or in a nautical sense "foul". This word was chosen because the shore was deemed dangerous due to reefs and hidden rocks.
These reefs and broken shorelines are from a geologic folding of the Earth's crust, which brought many interesting marine fossils to the surface. Some good examples can be found on the southeast arm of Sucia Island.
The isolated coves and bays of Sucia Island once served the Lummi Indians in their seal hunting days. They later provided excellent hideouts in the 1800s for smugglers of illegal Chinese laborers, as well as for hiding illegally imported wool and opium. Still later, the islands played a large role in rum-running during liquor Prohibition of the 1920s and 1930s, and in recent years they have figured in drug trafficking.
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Wikipedia