Walker's Cay

{{Short description|Island in the Bahamas}} {{Infobox islands | name = Walker's Cay | native_name =  | native_name_link = | native_name_lang = | sobriquet =  | image_name = File:Bulfeed.JPG | image_size = | image_caption = Bull sharks hand fed from the beach at Walker's Cay | image_alt = | map = Bahamas | map_alt = | map_width = | map_caption = | map_relief = | label = | label_position = bottom | coordinates = {{coord|27.260|-78.402|format=dms|region:BS_type:isle|display=inline,title}} | etymology = | location = Caribbean | pop = | GridReference =  | archipelago = Bahamas | waterbody = | area_km2 = 0.4 | area_footnotes = | rank = | length_km =  | length_footnotes = | width_km =  | width_footnotes = | coastline_km =  | coastline_footnotes = | elevation_m = | elevation_footnotes = | highest_mount = | country = Bahamas | country_admin_divisions_title = District | country_admin_divisions = North Abaco | country_admin_divisions_title_1 = | country_admin_divisions_1 = | country_admin_divisions_title_2 = | country_admin_divisions_2 = | country_capital_type = | country_capital = | 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 =  | demonym = | population = Uninhabited | population_as_of = 2014 | population_footnotes = | population_rank = | population_rank_max = | density_km2 = | density_rank = | density_footnotes = | ethnic_groups = | timezone1 = EST | utc_offset1 = −5 | timezone1_DST = EDT | utc_offset1_DST = −4 | website = | additional_info = }} '''Walker's Cay''' is the northernmost island in the Bahamas, part of the North Abaco district. Once a popular sport fishing location, the island was left deserted after 2004, following severe hurricane damage. The island is currently undergoing renovation under new owner Carl Allen, and celebrated the grand reopening of its marina in 2021.<ref name=springerforbes>{{cite news|last1=Springer|first1=Bill|title=Close To 50 Sportfishing Boats Set To Compete For Big Prize Money At The 2023 Walker’s Cay Blue Marlin Invitational |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/billspringer/2023/04/18/close-to-50-sportfishing-boats-set-to-compete-for-big-prize-money-at-the-2023-walkers-cay-blue-marlin-invitational/ |work=Forbes|date=18 April 2023| access-date= 28 April 2024}}</ref>

== Geography == Walker's Cay lies {{Convert|53|miles}} to the northeast of West End, Grand Bahama and 105 miles northeast of Jupiter, Florida, in the northern Bahamas. Its surface is only about {{Convert|100|acres}}. The island sits on the edge of the Little Bahama Bank, the bank containing shallow, blue-colored water, averaging about {{Convert|10|feet}} in depth. However, on the north side of Walker's Cay, the water drops off sharply into deep blue ocean depths. The closest island is Grand Cay.

== History == A lack of natural fresh water kept the island uninhabited.<ref name=marlinmag>{{cite news|last1= White|first1= Sam|title= Walker’s Cay on the Rebound |url= https://www.marlinmag.com/walkers-cay-bahamas-marlin-fishing/ |work= Marlin Mag|date=29 May 2019| access-date= 28 April 2024}}</ref>

Walker's Cay was named after Thomas Walker, a British judge sent to the island to deal with piracy in the early 1700s.<ref name="BaltimoreSun1992">{{cite news|last1=Waters|first1=Steve|title=There's nothing to do on the island of Walker's Cay but fish, dive and relax|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1992/07/26/theres-nothing-to-do-on-the-island-of-walkers-cay-but-fish-dive-and-relax/|work=The Baltimore Sun|date=July 26, 1992}}</ref>

After his death in 1721, the island remained uninhabited for over two hundred years.

=== Development as sport fishing location===

In 1935, Buzz Shonnard, a businessman from Palm Beach, Florida, leased the land from the Bahamian government and built a small hotel, attracting anglers and tourists to the island. A 75-slip marina was built, and an airstrip, Walker's Cay Airport, with a {{Convert|2500|foot|4=-long|adj=mid}} runway suitable for light aircraft.<ref name="Sun Sentinel">{{cite news|last1=Waters|first1=Steve|title=It Begins With A Cay|url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1992-06-05/sports/9202120841_1_blue-marlin-big-fish-fishing-boat|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160531234912/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1992-06-05/sports/9202120841_1_blue-marlin-big-fish-fishing-boat|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 31, 2016|work=Sun Sentinel|date=June 5, 1992}}</ref><ref name=marlinmag />

Shonnard's 99-year lease began an era in which Walker's Cay was a well-known sport fishing location.<ref>J. Linton Rigg, ''Bahama Islands: A Boatman's Guide to the Land and Water'' (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973.</ref> One of Walker's Cay's seasonal residents was American businessman Robert Abplanalp, the inventor of the modern-day aerosol valve for spray cans. Abplanalp bought the lease on the island in 1968 and continued to develop it as a sport fishing destination, not neglecting to pay attention to the conservation of marine life; he began encouraging tag-and-release fishing in the early 1970s.<ref name="BaltimoreSun1992" /> Walker's Cay was particularly known as a location for billfishing, with huge Atlantic blue marlin caught in the area; angling for bonefish was also popular there.<ref name="White">Sam White, [https://www.marlinmag.com/walkers-cay-bahamas-marlin-fishing/ Walker's Cay on the Rebound: An update on this northern Bahamas hot spot], ''Marlin'' (May 28, 2019).</ref>

During World War II, Walker's Cay was used by the U.S. Navy as an advanced base for maritime patrol seaplanes from Scouting Squadron 39. The seaplane tender USS ''Christiana'' was based there to support the aircraft.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/77677062?objectPage=38 |title=VS-39 - War History |publisher=U.S. Navy |pages=38}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/134272370?objectPage=28 |title=COMSCORON 39 - War Diary, 6/1-30/43 |publisher=U.S. Navy |pages=28}}</ref>

Various celebrities became regular visitors of Walker's Cay, including U.S. President Richard Nixon, actress Jane Fonda, singer Roger Daltrey and athletes like Davey Johnson and Roger Staubach.<ref name="Sun Sentinel"/>

The Walker's Cay marine area was declared a national park, Walker's Cay National Park, in 2002.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bsc-eoc.org/download/BNT-newsletter_June02.pdf|title=Walkers Cay marine park|date=June 2002|work=Currents: Newsletter of the Bahamas National Trust|page=4|accessdate=2009-03-09|archive-date=2011-06-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612101007/http://www.bsc-eoc.org/download/BNT-newsletter_June02.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Destruction in 2004 hurricanes=== Abplanalp died in 2003, and the following year the island's fortunes were dealt a further blow, when two severe hurricanes, Frances and Jeanne, destroyed the hotel and severely damaged the marina.<ref name="Tribune242">{{cite news|last1=Hartnell|first1=Neil|title=US Billionaire In Walker’S Cay Talks|url=http://www.tribune242.com/news/2014/aug/20/us-billionaire-walkers-cay-talks/|accessdate=16 April 2016|work=Tribune242|publisher=Ellington|date=20 Aug 2014}}</ref><ref name="PassageMaker">{{cite magazine |last=Fusco |first=Mark |date=20 Nov 2014 |title=Bahamas Hopes To Sell Walker’s Cay To U.S. Billionaire |url=http://www.passagemaker.com/articles/trawler-news/government-trawler-news/bahamas-govt-hopes-to-sell-walkers-cay-to-us-billionaire-video/ |magazine=PassageMaker |location=Annapolis, MD |publisher=Cruz Bay Publishing |access-date=16 Apr 2016 }}</ref>

===Redevelopment=== In April 2018, Walker's Cay was sold to Texas businessman and philanthropist Carl Allen, who announced redevelopment efforts.<ref name=gardenandgun>{{cite news|last1= Nickens|first1= T. Edward|title=Walker’s Cay: An Island Reborn |url=https://gardenandgun.com/articles/walkers-cay-bahamas/ |work=Garden&Gun| access-date= 28 April 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Robards|first1=Chester|title=Walker's Cay sold, earmarked for development|url=https://thenassauguardian.com/2018/05/22/walkers-cay-sold-earmarked-for-development/|accessdate=22 May 2018|work=The Nassau Guardian|date=22 May 2018|archive-date=19 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119131350/https://thenassauguardian.com/2018/05/22/walkers-cay-sold-earmarked-for-development/|url-status=dead}}</ref> By spring 2019, Allen was engaged in talks with Bahamian authorities on permitting plans.<ref name="White"/> The island hosted sportfishing tournaments annually starting in 2021.<ref name=springerforbes />

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://www.protectedplanet.net/315001 Walker's Cay National Park] entry at the World Database on Protected Areas

Category:Abaco Islands Category:Uninhabited islands of the Bahamas