Conception Island National Park

Conception Island National Park
Conception Island, Bahamas
Conception Island National Park The location of Conception Island National Park within the Bahamas
Location	Conception Island, the Bahamas
Coordinates	23.48°N 75.05°W / 23.48; -75.05[1]
Area	30,000 acres (12,141 ha)[2]
Established	1964
Governing body	Bahamas National Trust
bnt.bs/conception-island-national-park/

The Conception Island National Park is a protected area in the Bahamas. The island lies between Cat Island to the north and Rum Cay to the south. The vegetation consists of mangrove communities, with typical strand vegetation, and the island is visited by green turtles, sea birds and migrating birds.

The park

The park has a land area of 810 hectares (2,000 acres) and a maximum altitude of 20 m (66 ft). It is administered by the Bahamas National Trust.^[3]

Washington Irving identified Conception Island as the site of one of Christopher Columbus' landfalls during his 1492 voyage, but this early theory was not supported by other historians and writers (either at the time or subsequently), who identified different claimant islands as the site of Columbus's landfall.^[4]

Flora and fauna

The island has an extensive area of mangrove-dominated habitat and typical strandline vegetation. It is one of the most important nesting sites for the green sea turtle in the Bahamas and is visited by many migrating birds.^[3]

References

1. "Conception Island National Park in Bahamas". Protected Planet. Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
2. "Conception Island National Park". Bahamas National Trust. Archived from the original on 27 April 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
3. IUCN Directory of Neotropical Protected Areas. IUCN. 1982. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-907567-62-2.
4. Wilcomb E. Washburn, "Landfall Controversy" in The Christopher Columbus Encyclopedia, Vol. 1 (ed. Silvio A. Bedin: Simon & Schuster, 1992).