Walker's Cay
Bull sharks hand fed from the beach at Walker's Cay
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 Walker's Cay
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| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Caribbean |
| Coordinates | 27°15′36″N 78°24′07″W / 27.260°N 78.402°WCoordinates: 27°15′36″N 78°24′07″W / 27.260°N 78.402°W |
| Archipelago | Bahamas |
| Area | 0.4 km2 (0.15 sq mi) |
| Administration | |
| District | North Abaco |
| Demographics | |
| Population | Uninhabited (2014) |
| Additional information | |
| Time zone | |
| • Summer (DST) | |
Walker's Cay is the northernmost island in the Bahamas, part of the North Abaco district. Once a popular sport fishing location, the island has been deserted since 2004, following severe hurricane damage.
Walker's Cay lies 53 miles to the northeast of West End, Grand Bahama, in the northern Bahamas. Its surface is only about 100 acres (40 ha). The island sits on the edge of the Little Bahama Bank, the bank containing shallow green colored water, averaging about 10 feet in depth. However, on the north side of Walker's Cay the water drops off sharply into deep blue ocean depths. The closest island is Grand Cay.
Walker's Cay was named after Thomas Walker, a British judge exiled on the island in the early 1700s. After his death in 1721, the island remained uninhabited for over two hundred years, until Buzz Shonnard, a businessman from Palm Beach, Florida, leased the land from the Bahamian government in 1935 and built a small hotel, attracting anglers and tourists to the island. A 75-slip marina was built, and also an airstrip, Walker's Cay Airport, with a 2,500 feet-long runway suitable for light aircraft.
Shonnard had connections with affluent American sport fishermen of the 1930s and promoted Walker's Cay as a location for billfishing. Blue marlin in excess of 500 pounds have been caught off Walker's Cay.
During World War II, Walker's Cay was used by the U.S. Military as an anti-submarine base, since its airstrip allowed aircraft to patrol the waters near the southeast Florida coast.
One of Walker's Cay's seasonal residents was American businessman Robert Abplanalp, the inventor of modern-day aerosol valve for spray cans. Abplanalp bought the lease on the island in 1968 and continued to develop it as a sport fishing destination, while paying attention at the same time to the conservation of the island.
Various celebrities became regular visitors of Walker's Cay, such as US President Richard Nixon, actress Jane Fonda, singer Roger Daltrey and athletes like Davey Johnson and Roger Staubach.
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Wikipedia