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Where is it?Exuma , Bahamas [ 23.46141962534 , -75.900438330 ]
What ’s in the photo?A string of island , or cays , interspersed with mystifying tidal distribution channel
Tidal channels are underwater ravines carved out of the seafloor between cays over millions of years. They are much deeper than the surrounding waters.
Who necessitate the photo?An unnamed astronaut on circuit card the International Space Station ( ISS )
When was it taken?July 15 , 2015
This prominent dig , captured by an unnamed astronaut aboard the ISS in 2015 , shows deep tidal TV channel cut through the seafloor between a serial of small islands , or cays , once used by pirates in the Bahamas .
A closer look at a tidal channel. This dark ravine is located between Wax Cay and Norman’s Cay, north of Great Exuma Island and the cays in the astronaut photo.
The line of cays stretches around 9 mil ( 14.5 kilometre ) outward from SW Great Exuma Island in the Exuma district of the Caribbean nation . From left to right , the named ground masses are Bowe Cay , Hummingbird Cay , Culmer ’s Cay , Tommy Young ’s Cay , Davy Cay , Hog Cay , and Green Turtle Cay . ( Some of the smallest Florida key are unidentified . ) Part of the Great Exuma seacoast is also seeable in the top right field of the photo .
Exuma contains more than 360 individual islands and is located to the west of most of the other large Bahamian islands . As a result , the autochthonal Lucayan people , who were enslaved and removed from the islands by Spanish explorers in the sixteenth C , bear on to the region as Curateo , meaning " outer far distant land . "
Deep tidal channels can be seen between each landmass . These channels were created as water supply moved back and forth between the cays with the rise and fall of the tides , cutting through the seafloor like a hack saw , according toNASA ’s Earth Observatory . Each television channel is one C of foot deep , while the smother lighter - risque sea is only 80 feet ( 24 meters ) deep .
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The sour - blue line are a classifiable lineament when viewed from space . " For astronauts , this is one of the most recognizable points on the planet,“NASArepresentatives wrote .
In the past , Exuma ’s cays were a hot spot for pirate ship activity because they were a great shoes to set up bases and hide hoarded wealth , according to the Earth Observatory .
Captain Kidd is think to have favored the cays surrounding Great Exuma Island because the tidal line were deep enough to harbor great ship at low tide . Some local anaesthetic still consider that some of Kidd ’s treasureis inhume on one of Exuma ’s key .
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These canal are home to a multifariousness of marine life , including ocean turtles , groupers , conch , lobsters and seabirds . They also host central ecosystems , such as mangroves , seagrass meadows and coral reefs .
However , these habitat are being threatened by invasive redlionfish(Pterois volitans ) , which are wiping out smaller fish in the area and have food chains to give , consort to theBahamas National Trust .
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