Strangers Cay is a small, 360-acre island 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 arc ...

, which is approximately 2.25 miles long. It is owned by Beyoncé and Jay-Z. Also known as Jwycesska

Island An island or isle is a piece of subcontinental land completely surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island in a river or a lake island may be ...

, Strangers Cay is situated as the fourth northernmost named island within

archipelago, following

Walker's Cay Walker's Cay is the northernmost island in the Bahamas, part of the North Abaco district. Once a popular sport fishing location, the island has been deserted since 2004, following severe hurricane damage. The island is currently undergoing renovat ...

Grand Cay Grand Cay is one of the districts of the Bahamas. It is geographically located in the Abaco Islands. Grand Cay is a small island or cay situated south of Walker's Cay in the Bahamas Islands. It is a settlement of Abaco, a major island of the B ...

, and Sugna Island. It is positioned to the northwest of

Abaco Island Abaco is a variant Italian form of the Biblical name "Habakkuk" (but normally Abacùc or Abacucco). Abaco may refer to: People * Evaristo Felice Dall'Abaco (1675–1742), Italian composer and violinist * Joseph Abaco (1710–1805), Belgian compo ...

Geography

Jwycesska Island is positioned between the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

on its eastern (windward) side and the

Grand Bahama Bank Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and commun ...

on its western (leeward) side. It is located halfway between

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

Grand Bahama Grand Bahama is the northernmost of the islands of the Bahamas, with the town of West End located east of Palm Beach, Florida. It is the third largest island in the Bahamas island chain of approximately 700 islands and 2,400 cays. The island is ...

and

Treasure Cay Treasure Cay, is a parcel of land connected to Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas. It has a population of 1,187 as of the 2010 Bahaman census. There are two resortBahama Beach Clubdeveloped by Businessman Craig H. Roberts and Treasure Cay Beach Hot ...

. It is northeast of

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

, northeast of

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from several nearby cities including West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach by the Intraco ...

, and northeast of

Nassau, The Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the Bahamas. With a population of 274,400 as of 2016, or just over 70% of the entire population of the Bahamas, Nassau is commonly defined as a primate city, dwarfing all other towns in ...

. There is a natural harbor on the west side of the island and a large bay to the southwest of the island that is shallow and not suitable as a boat anchorage. Most of the island is uninhabited and covered with thick vegetation. The island's elevation is

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. The ...

at its highest point, with several acres above . It is cragged and covered with trees and shrubs. Some pathways have been cut to allow passage through the dense vegetation. There are dive sites nearby for both

snorkelers Snorkeling ( British and Commonwealth English spelling: snorkelling) is the practice of swimming on or through a body of water while equipped with a diving mask, a shaped breathing tube called a snorkel, and usually swimfins. In cooler waters, a ...

and

scuba divers This is a list of underwater divers whose exploits have made them notable. Underwater divers are people who take part in underwater diving activities – Underwater diving is practiced as part of an occupation, or for recreation, where t ...

. The southern end is relatively flat and has a ~35 acres fresh to brackish water marsh. There is a thin freshwater lens, a pond, and a shallow freshwater well. The northern end of the island has a long, nearly level, narrow ridge. This ridge runs on a northwest to southwest axis and is approximately in length. At this end of the island, deeper water comes in close to the shoreline.

History

During

World War Two World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Solomon Schonfeld Rabbi Solomon Schonfeld (21 February 1912 – 6 February 1984) was a British Rabbi who was honoured as a British Hero of the Holocaust for saving the lives of thousands of Jews. Early life and career Schonfeld was the second son of Rabbi Av ...

purchased the island as part of a rescue plan for the endangered Jews in Europe. He assumed that if he owned an island he would be free to invite Jews who can escape from the European continent to stay there, for extended periods. He received a positive response to his proposal from the

Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created to deal with the colonial affairs of British North America but required also to oversee the increasing number of col ...

, and raised £10,000 to purchase Stranger's Cey. The plan failed when a different department within the Colonial Office countered the initial support for the plan.

References

{{coord, 27.12, N, 78.08, W, source:wikidata, display=title Abaco Islands