Sandy Cay is an uninhabited

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

of the

British Virgin Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = Territorial song , song = " Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands" , image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg , map_caption = , mapsize = 290px , image_map2 = Bri ...

in the Caribbean. It is located between

Tortola Tortola () is the largest and most populated island of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It has a surface area of with a total population of 23,908, with 9,400 residents in ...

and

Jost Van Dyke Jost Van Dyke (; sometimes colloquially referred to as JVD or Jost) is the smallest of the four main islands of the British Virgin Islands, measuring roughly . It rests in the northern portion of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands, loca ...

. The island was owned by the

Laurance Rockefeller Laurance Spelman Rockefeller (May 26, 1910 – July 11, 2004) was an American businessman, financier, philanthropist, and conservationist. Rockefeller was the third son and fourth child of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. As ...

Estate. On 1 May 2008, ownership of the island was transferred to the National Parks Trust of the Virgin Islands. In 2002, International NGO, Island Resources Foundation led a project to eradicate invasive black rats from the island. The island comprises . It is a "managed habitat" area. The island has a short hiking trail, maintained with the help of the Jost Van Dykes BVI Preservation Society (JVDPS), a local

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

(NGO). The National Parks Trust subcontracts caretaking responsibilities to the Jost Van Dyke Preservation Society (JVDPS), which sponsors regular visits from Little Harbour on Jost Van Dyke to maintain the trail, do frequent bird counts and remove trash. The rocks on the island have a greenish colour from

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 Apr ...

deposits. The island also contains a small salt pond in its centre. The island's wildlife includes many hermit crabs, which flourished after the eradication of invasive black rats in 2003. The name Sandy Cay is also shared by several small islands in the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

as well as an island in Honduras. There is no beach bar or anything similar on the island, though it is a very popular stopping point for holidaymakers cruising on boats in the area. There is a small daytime mooring field on the leeward (southwest) side of the island. The island provides habitat for the

crested anole ''Anolis cristatellus'' is a small species of anole, belonging to the Dactyloidae family of reptiles, which is native to Puerto Rico and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, with introduced populations in locations around the Caribbean. The ...

(''Anolis cristatellus wileyae''), and the

big-scaled least gecko There are two species of gecko named big-scaled least gecko: * '' Sphaerodactylus macrolepis'', distributed in Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, and the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean * '' Sphaerodactylus grandisquamis'', ...

(''Sphaerodactylus macrolepis macrolepis'').

References

External links

Sandy Cay Photos
Uninhabited islands of the British Virgin Islands {{BVI-geo-stub