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Codrington Lagoon
View on WikipediaCodrington Lagoon is lagoon on the west coast of Barbuda, an island in the Caribbean. The lagoon measures 9 km long and 2.5 km wide,[3] taking up a large portion of the island. Its water is shallow (between 1–4.5 m deep), and much of the shore of the northern half of the lagoon is marshland. The village of Codrington, the main settlement on the island, is located on the eastern shore of the lagoon.
Key Information
Prior to 2017, the lagoon's only connection to the Caribbean Sea was a small channel at the northern tip of the lagoon, called Cuffy Creek (locally "the creek").[3] In 2017, Hurricane Irma destroyed a portion of the western edge of the lagoon and two inlets developed,[3] providing additional acess to the lagoon from the sea.
Frigatebird colony
[edit]To the north of the lagoon is a magnificent frigatebird colony, on the tiny Man of War Island. The colony, known as the Frigate Bird Sanctuary, is one of the main ecotourism attractions in Barbuda. The colony is the largest in the Caribbean region, and is a Ramsar site.[4]
During the mating season, from September to April, this rare bird displays a huge scarlet throat pouch to attract a female mate; the pair will lay one egg on a nest built precariously on the mangrove. These birds cannot walk or swim; they soar high in the clouds and live solely on fish, which they often steal from other birds, giving them their local name, Man of war. They have few predators here, making this nesting site one of the most important in the world for the endangered birds.
It had an estimated 2,500 nesting pairs prior to Hurricane Irma landfall in September 2017.[5] The lagoon was hit by Hurricane Irma's storm surge although the population survived.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ "NGA GEOnet Names Server". National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 2008-07-07. Archived from the original on 2003-10-08. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
- ^ "Codrington Lagoon". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ^ a b c Biguenet, Maude; Chaumillon, Eric; Sabatier, Pierre; Bastien, Antoine; Geba, Emeline; Arnaud, Fabien; Coulombier, Thibault; Feuillet, Nathalie (2023-12-06). "Hurricane Irma: an unprecedented event over the last 3700 years? Geomorphological changes and sedimentological record in Codrington Lagoon, Barbuda". Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences. 23 (12): 3761–3788. doi:10.5194/nhess-23-3761-2023. ISSN 1561-8633.
- ^ "Antigua and Barbuda | the Convention on Wetlands, the Convention on Wetlands".
- ^ Lewis, Emma; Sutton, Ann. "After the Storm". BirdsCaribbean. 2017-09-11. Retrieved 2017-09-18.
- ^ "Barbuda sees a comeback of national bird after Hurricane Irma". 2018-06-25. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
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