Bay of Pigs

Template:Pp-move-indef Template:Short description Template:About Template:Distinguish Template:Infobox body of water The Bay of Pigs (Template:Langx) is an inlet of the Gulf of Cazones, located on the southern coast of Cuba. By 1910 it was included in Santa Clara Province, and then to Las Villas Province by 1961, but in 1976, it was reassigned to Matanzas Province, when the original six provinces of Cuba were re-organized into 14 new Provinces of Cuba.

The bay is historically important for the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961. The area is a site known for its diving, with an abundance of marine fauna, e.g. 30 species of sponges belonging to 19 families and 21 genera,<ref name=Caballero2009_p95>Caballero et al., 2009, p.95</ref> to be found in the bay.<ref name=BuceoGiron/>

Etymology

In Cuban Spanish, cochinos may also mean the queen triggerfish (Balistes vetula), which inhabit coral reefs in Bahía de Cochinos, in addition to the literal meaning, pigs (Sus scrofa).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Better source needed

Geography

File:Playagiron.jpg

Sunset in Playa Girón in October 2007

This bay is approximately Template:Convert south of Jagüey Grande, Template:Convert west of the city of Cienfuegos, and Template:Convert southeast from the capital city Havana. On the western side of the bay, coral reefs border the main Zapata Swamp, part of the Zapata Peninsula. On the eastern side, beaches border margins of firm ground with mangroves and extensive areas of swampland to the north and east. At the north end of the bay, the village of Buena Ventura is adjacent to Playa Larga (Long Beach). Template:Convert southeast of that, Playa Girón (Giron Beach) at the village of Girón, named after the notorious French pirate Gilberto Giron (c. 1604).<ref name=Rodriguez1999_p115>Rodríguez Cruz, 1999, p.115</ref>

History

File:BahiadeCochinos40b.png

Bay of Pigs in 1961

Playa Girón and Playa Larga were the landing sites for seaborne forces of armed Cuban exiles and the land strip for some American planes (but not many as America did not want Cuba to realize that it was American sponsored) in the Bay of Pigs Invasion, an American CIA-sponsored attempt to overthrow the new government of Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro in April 1961.

According to Fidel Castro's former bodyguard, the late Juan Reinaldo Sánchez, Castro lived in great luxury and had a private island called Cayo Piedra in the Bay of Pigs, replete with "mansions, guest houses, a heliport, dolphinarium, turtle lagoon, his luxury yacht Aquarama – a gift from Leonid Brezhnev – and deep-sea fishing speedboat".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Diving

File:Monument honoring 5 US political prisoners - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg

Monument honoring five Cuban political prisoners held captive in the United States

The Bay of Pigs is a relatively quiet site for diving. Dive centers exist in Playa Larga, Playa Girón and Caleta Buena. Twelve dive sites in the bay display excellent visibility of Template:Convert, an average water temperature of Template:Convert in December and Template:Convert in July. Walls of coral, caverns, and a variety of fish (including the barracuda, lionfish, and groupers, among others), coral, and sponges can be found in the Bay of Pigs.<ref name=BuceoGiron>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The Caves of the Fishes (Template:Langx), with Template:Convert depth the deepest cenote of Cuba, is located at Template:Convert south of Playa Larga.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Biodiversity

Surrounding the Bay of Pigs, the endemic wormlizards Amphisbaena barbouri and A. cubana have been noted.<ref name=Rodriguez2013_pp9_10>Rodríguez Schettino et al., 2013, pp.9–10</ref> The following marine species have been registered along the eastern coast of the Bay of Pigs:

Group	Common name	Scientific name	Image	Notes
Fish	blue chromis	Chromis cyanea	File:Chromis cyanea - blue chromis and Lactophrys trigonus - buffalo trunkfish - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg	{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
	blue tang	Acanthurus coeruleus	File:Acanthurus coeruleus - blue tang - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg
	bluehead wrasse	Thalassoma bifasciatum	File:Halichoeres bivittatus - slippery dick and Thalassoma bifasciatum - bluehead wrasse - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg
	striped parrotfish	Scarus iseri	File:Scarus iserti - striped parrotfish - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg
	beau gregory	Stegastes leucostictus
	bicolor damselfish	Stegastes partitus
	boga	Inermia vittata
	Colon goby	Coryphopterus dicrus
	creole wrasse	Clepticus parrae
	longfin damselfish	Stegastes diencaeus
	masked goby	Coryphopterus personatus
	threespot damselfish	Stegastes planifrons
	yellowhead wrasse	Halichoeres garnoti
	French grunt	Haemulon flavolineatum	File:Haemulon flavolineatum - French grunt - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg	{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
	ocean surgeon	Acanthurus bahianus	File:Acanthurus bahianus - ocean surgeon - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg
	sergeant major	Abudefduf saxatilis	File:Sergeant major - Abudefduf saxatilis - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg
	slippery dick	Halichoeres bivittatus	File:Halichoeres bivittatus - slippery dick and Thalassoma bifasciatum - bluehead wrasse - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg
	yellowtail snapper	Ocyurus chrysurus	File:Ocyurus chrysurus - yellowtail snapper - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg
	bar jack	Caranx ruber
	barred hamlet	Hypoplectrus puella
	brown chromis	Chromis multilineata
	foureye butterflyfish	Chaetodon capistratus
	graysby	Epinephelus cruentatus
	longjaw squirrelfish	Holocentrus marianus
	redband parrotfish	Sparisoma aurofrenatum
	royal gramma	Gramma loreto
	stoplight parrotfish	Sparisoma viride
	tomtate grunt	Haemulon aurolineatum
	white grunt	Haemulon plumierii
	porgies	Calamus sp.
	banded butterflyfish	Chaetodon striatus	File:Chaetodon striatus - banded butterflyfish - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
	buffalo trunkfish	Lactophrys trigonus	File:Chromis cyanea - blue chromis and Lactophrys trigonus - buffalo trunkfish - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
	flat needlefish	Ablennes hians	File:Ablennes hians - flat needlefish - caught in the Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
	glasseye	Heteropriacanthus cruentatus	File:Heteropriacanthus cruentatus - glasseye - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
	longspine squirrelfish	Holocentrus rufus	File:Holocentrus rufus - longspine squirrelfish - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
	plate fish	Bothus lunatus	File:Bothus lunatus - plate fish - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
	red lionfish (invasive)	Pterois volitans	File:Pterois volitans - red lionfish - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
	spotfin butterflyfish	Chaetodon ocellatus	File:Chaetodon ocellatus - spotfin butterflyfish - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
	trumpetfish	Aulostomus maculatus	File:Aulostomus maculatus - trumpetfish - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
Sponges	azure vase sponge	Callyspongia plicifera	File:Callyspongia plicifera - azure vase sponge - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
	yellow tube sponge	Aplysina fistularis	File:Aplysina fistularis - sponge - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg	{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
	green finger sponge	Iotrochota birotulata
	orange icing sponge	Mycale laevis
	pink vase sponge	Niphates digitalis
	row pore rope sponge	Aplysina cauliformis
	touch-me-not sponge	Neofibularia nolitangere
	demosponges	Cliona sp.
		Cliona aprica
		Cliona delitrix
		Cliona varians
		Aiolochroia crassa
		Ectyoplasia ferox
		Ircinia felix
		Mycale laxissima
		Plakortis angulospiculatus
		Scopalina ruetzleri
		Smenospongia aurea
		Spirastrella coccinea
Corals	boulder brain coral	Colpophyllia natans	File:Corals - Montestrea cavernosa, Colpophyllia natans, Plexaura homomalla and Millepora alcicornis - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
	Caribbean sea whip	Plexaura homomalla	File:Corals - Montestrea cavernosa, Colpophyllia natans, Plexaura homomalla and Millepora alcicornis - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
	elkhorn coral	Acropora palmata	File:Acropora palmata - elkhorn coral - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
	great star coral	Montastraea cavernosa	File:Corals - Montestrea cavernosa, Colpophyllia natans, Plexaura homomalla and Millepora alcicornis - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
	maze coral	Meandrina meandrites	File:Meandrina meandrites - maze coral - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
	purple sea fan	Gorgonia ventalina	File:Gorgonia ventalina - purple sea fan - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
	sea ginger	Millepora alcicornis	File:Corals - Montestrea cavernosa, Colpophyllia natans, Plexaura homomalla and Millepora alcicornis - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
Crustaceans	Caribbean spiny lobster	Panulirus argus	File:Panulirus argus - Caribbean spiny lobster - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
Echinoderms	donkey dung sea cucumber	Holothuria mexicana	File:Holothuria mexicana - donkey dung sea cucumber - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
Mollusks	queen conch	Lobatus gigas	File:Lobatus gigas - queen conch - Bay of Pigs - Cuba.jpg	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}

See also

• Geography of Cuba

Bibliography

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Further reading

• Template:Cite book Template:ISBNT.