{{Short description|Sand cays and reef system in the Gulf of Mexico}} {{Infobox islands | name = Cayos Arenas | native_name = <!-- or |local_name= --> | native_name_link = | native_name_lang = | sobriquet = | image_name = Cayo Arenas satellite.jpg | image_size = 300px | image_caption = Satellite image of Cayo Arenas | image_alt = | image_map = | image_map_alt = | image_map_size = | image_map_caption = | pushpin_map = Mexico | pushpin_label = Cayos Arenas | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_relief = y | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Gulf of Mexico | coordinates = {{coord|22.10|-91.39|region:ID_type:isle|display=inline,title}} | etymology = | location = Campeche Bank<ref>[{{geonameslink|gnid=3531731|name=Bahía%20de%20Campeche}} Bahía de Campeche] in [{{geonamesabout}} Geonames.org (cc-by)]</ref> | grid_reference = <!-- UK only --> | archipelago = | waterbody = {{unbulleted list|Gulf of Mexico|Yucatán Channel}} | total_islands = 4 | major_islands = {{unbulleted list|'''Cayo Arenas (Arenas Island)'''|3 unnamed cays}} | area_km2 = <!-- or |area_m2= or |area_ha= --> | area_footnotes = | rank = | length_km = 1 <!-- or |length_m= --> | length_footnotes = <ref name="Gulfbase">{{cite web |title=Cayo Arenas Complex |url=https://www.gulfbase.org/geological-feature/cayo-arenas-complex |website=Gulfbase |publisher=Harte Research Institute |access-date=10 March 2025}}</ref> | width_km = 3.30 <!-- or |width_m= --> | width_footnotes = <ref name="Gulfbase" /> | coastline_km = <!-- or |coastline_m= --> | coastline_footnotes = | elevation_m = | elevation_footnotes = | highest_mount = | country = Mexico | country_admin_divisions_title = United Mexican States | country_admin_divisions = | country_admin_divisions_title_1 = Federal Entity of Mexico | country_admin_divisions_1 = Yucatán | country_admin_divisions_title_2 = | country_admin_divisions_2 = | country_capital_type = Capital | country_capital = Mérida | country_largest_city_type = | country_largest_city = | country_capital_and_largest_city = | country_largest_city_population = | country_leader_title = | country_leader_name = | country_area_km2 = <!-- or |country_area_m2= or |country_area_ha= --> | country1 = | country1_admin_divisions_title = | country1_admin_divisions = | country1_admin_divisions_title_1 = | country1_admin_divisions_1 = | country1_capital_type = | country1_capital = | country1_largest_city_type = | country1_largest_city = | country1_capital_and_largest_city = | country1_largest_city_population = | country1_leader_title = | country1_leader_name = | country1_area_km2 = <!-- or |country1_area_m2= or |country1_area_ha= --> | demonym = | population = | population_as_of = | population_footnotes = | population_rank = | population_rank_max = | density_km2 = | density_rank = | density_footnotes = | languages = | ethnic_groups = | timezone1 = | utc_offset1 = | timezone1_DST = | utc_offset1_DST = | website = | additional_info = | footnotes = }} '''Cayo Arenas''' is a small reef complex in Campeche Bank in the Gulf of Mexico.
== Geography == Cayo Arenas is a reef complex found {{convert|169|km|mi}} from the Yucatán Peninsula. The reef has 3 sections: a northeastern reef wall, southeastern reef wall, and western reef wall. These reefs occupy a horseshoe shape and contain of 4 cays.<ref name="Gulfbase" /> The largest cay, named Cayo Arenas (or Arenas Key), is located on the western reef wall and has a size of around {{convert|300|yd|m}} by {{convert|200|yd|m}}<ref name="Dpt of State">{{cite web |title=THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE GUANO ISLANDS IN THE CARIBBEAN SEA |url=https://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/7f2c9f39-d6b5-46e1-a37f-c4ef7e6a0a95/content |website=eVols |publisher=eVols |access-date=10 March 2025}}</ref> 2 smaller unnamed cays are found in the NE reef and 1 is found in the SE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tunnell |first1=John |title=Coral Reefs of the Southern Gulf of Mexico |date=2007 |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |isbn=9781603442770 |page=22 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Coral_Reefs_of_the_Southern_Gulf_of_Mexi/tu0sqBp8eAAC?hl=en&gbpv=1 |access-date=11 March 2025}}</ref>
The nearest other islands to the cay are the Arrecifes Triangulos (Triangle Reefs) {{convert|98|mi|km}} to the southeast. The phantom island of Bermeja was said to be near the reef.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spacedaily.com/2006/090211185744.8z1tpwk3.html|publisher=Space Daily|date=2009-02-11|title=Missing Mexican island fuels mystery|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213081100/http://www.spacedaily.com/2006/090211185744.8z1tpwk3.html|archive-date=2009-02-13}}</ref>
== History == thumb|right|1846 map displaying Cayo Arenas as Sable/Sandy Island It is not known when Cayo Arenas was discovered and named. An 1846 map displayed the island's name as "Sable" or "Sandy Island"
=== United States Claim === On May 24, 1869 Captain James W. Jenette aboard the American schooner ''Petrel'' filed a notice of discovery for guano in Cayo Arenas under the Guano Islands Act. He claimed that he made the discovery on January 18, 1867. A second notice of discovery was filed by John G. Wallis on March 20, 1880. After his discovery on January 20 he loaded his schooner, the ''Eben H. King'', with 130 tons of guano, and left 14 laborers on the island.<ref name="Dpt of State" /><ref name="Mexico">{{cite book |last1=Mexico |first1=Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores |title=Cayo Arenas y otras islas guaneras en los mares de Campeche y Yucatán |date=1895 |publisher=Imprenta del Gobierno |page=13 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Cayo_Arenas_y_otras_islas_guaneras_en_lo/FPYMAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |access-date=11 March 2025}}</ref> After this notice of discovery, Wallis filed a claim for the islands under the Guano Islands Act. On May 7, 1881 the United States Department of the Treasury fulfilled this claim despite the United States Department of State never recognizing it.:<ref name="Dpt of State" /> {{Blockquote |text="That the said lessors for and in consideration of the sum of seven hundred and fifty dollars to them in hand paid by the said lessee at and before the signing and delivery hereof, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowleged, do hereby let unto the said lessee the island of Arenas or Arenas Key, situate on the Campeachy Bank, in the Gulf of Mexico... for the term of twenty years, together with the full, free, and exclusive right, liberty, and privilege of the said lessee, his executors, administrators, and assigns, to go upon the said island and keys to mine, excavate, and carry away therefrom during the first year of said term any amount of guano, at the option of the said lessee."<ref name="Harrison">{{cite book |last1=Harrison |first1=Benjamin |last2=United States Congress. Senate |title=In the Senate of the United States. Message from the President of the United States, in relation to guano deposits on Acras Cays. |date=July 25, 1892 |publisher=Library of Congress |page=12 |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/2024766431/ |access-date=11 March 2025}}</ref> }}
In October 1881, John Wallis sent a lessee named William Adams to the islands to extract guano. The Mexican authorities then sent the gunboat ''Libertad'' to remove Adams from the island and replace the American flag with the Mexican flag. Adams then issued a complaint with the Department of State, however, since they did not recognize the claim Adams and his employees were regarded as trespassers. The Mexican Government then provided evidence of their claim over Cayo Arenas and the island was removed from the Treasury register in 1894.<ref name="Dpt of State" /> A 1914 map of the area still showed Cayo Arenas and phantom island Bermeja belonging to the US. thumb|1914 map
== Infrastructure == Cayo Arenas has two lighthouses. The first lighthouse was built in 1959 and is a 22-meters tall with a range of 15 miles,<ref>{{cite web |title=El Arrecife de los Alacranes y Cayo Arenas |url=http://thematrix.sureste.com/cityview/merida1/tours/ecoturismo/alacranes.htm |website=The Matrix |publisher=Yucatan Journal |access-date=11 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120713125521/http://thematrix.sureste.com/cityview/merida1/tours/ecoturismo/alacranes.htm |archive-date=July 13, 2012 |language=Spanish}}</ref> this lighthouse has been inactive since 2012. The next lighthouse was built in 2012 and is a red, skeletal, {{convert|32|m|ft|adj=mid|-tall|sp=us}} tower.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lighthouses of Mexico: Southern Gulf Coast |url=https://www.ibiblio.org/lighthouse/mxy.htm |website=The Lighthouse Directory |publisher=The Lighthouse Directory |access-date=11 March 2025}}</ref>
== Ecology == Seventeen types of scleractinian corals and one hermatypic coral have been found in the reef.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Busby |first1=Roswell |title=Sediments and Reef Corals of Cayo Arenas, Campeche Bank, Yucatan, Mexico |date=January 1965 |publisher=U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office |page=1 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Sediments_and_Reef_Corals_of_Cayo_Arenas/VGYiAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |access-date=11 March 2025}}</ref> Cayo Arenas is the only island with vegetation. Cayo Arenas gets around 80 inches of seasonal rain a year, and, due to a high evaporation rate the island experiences a dry climate.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Meyer |first1=Franz |title=Vadose Compaction on Cayo Arenas, Campeche Banks |url=https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cayo-arenas-overly-close-packing-dr-franz-o-meyer/ |website=Linkedin |access-date=11 March 2025}}</ref> Multiple species such as Sea Rosemary (''Tournefortia gnaphalodes''), Sweet Prickly Pear cactus (''Puntia dillenii''), the vine ''Ipomoea pescaprae'' and the purslane (''Portulaca oleracea'') have all been found on the island.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cayo Arenas |url=http://oceandots.com/atlantic/campeche-bank/cayo-arenas.php |website=OceanDots |publisher=OceanDots |access-date=11 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010202027/http://oceandots.com/atlantic/campeche-bank/cayo-arenas.php |archive-date=2011-10-10}}</ref> A study from 1952 saw around 400 Blue-faced boobies on the island.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Clapp |first1=Roger |title=Marine Birds of the Southeastern United States and Gulf of Mexico: Charadrillformes |date=1982 |publisher=Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior |location=the University of Michigan |page=34 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Marine_Birds_of_the_Southeastern_United/Ljm20_RDHy8C?hl=en&gbpv=0 |access-date=11 March 2025}}</ref> A study from 2001 found 258 masked booby nests on the island.<ref name="Gulfbase" />
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Islands of Campeche Category:Caribbean islands claimed under the Guano Islands Act Category:Uninhabited islands of Mexico