Little Water Cay
Little Water Cay | |
Location | |
Location: | 21°50’8"N, 72°8’57"W |
Area: | 116 acres |
Data | |
Population: | Uninhabited |
Little Water Cay, otherwise known as Iguana Island, is a small island of the Caicos Islands some 116 acres, lying north-east of the Leeward area of Providenciales (the most populous of the Turks and Caicos Islands. It is the fist of a chain of small, low-lying islands stretching between Providenciales and North Caicos, with barely a gap between them even at high tide, such that Little Water Cay is considered a 'former island'
The cay is a nature reserve, in the care of the Turks and Caicos National Trust, as an important wildlife habitat, particularly for the endangered, endemic Turks and Caicos Rock Iguana (Cyclura carinata), hence its alternative name. . The cay displays a variety of habitats, including mangrove and buttonwood communities, hyper-saline and tidal flat areas, coastal coppice, and coastal scrub. Here there are many birds of the coast, including osprey, brown pelicans and bananaquits.
On the shores are hermit crabs, and in the seas southern stingrays are commonly seen on the south shore sand flats.