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
[edit]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>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Better source needed
Geography
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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
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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>Template:Cite web</ref>
Diving
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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>Template:Cite 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>Template:Cite web</ref>
Biodiversity
[edit]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:
