Pedro Bank

Pedro Bank is a large bank of sand and coral, partially covered with seagrass, about 80 km south and southwest of Jamaica, rising steeply from a seabed of 800 metres depth. It slopes gently from Pedro Cays to the west and north with depths from 13 to 30 metres. The total area of the bank within the 100 metre isobath measures 8 040 km². The area of a depth to 40 metres is triangular, 70 km long east-west, and 43 km wide. 2 400 km² are less than 20 m deep. With its islets, cays and rocks, a total land area of 270,000 m², it is the location of one of the two offshore island groups of Jamaica, the other one being the Morant Cays (Jamaica also has nearshore islands like the Port Royal Cays). The bank is centered at 17°06′N 78°20′W / 17.100°N 78.333°W / 17.100; -78.333 (Pedro Bank)Coordinates: 17°06′N 78°20′W / 17.100°N 78.333°W / 17.100; -78.333 (Pedro Bank).

Pedro Bank is a part of submarine Nicaragua Rise, which stretches from Cabo Gracias a Dios through Rosalind Bank to Jamaica.

Pedro Bank was annexed by the United Kingdom in 1863 and added to Jamaica in 1882.

Pedro Bank was originally named La Vibora (the Viper) by Spanish mariners because its shallow reefs, rocks and shoals are laid out in the shape of a gigantic serpent. It was once a busy and treacherous shipping passage used by seafaring Europeans in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; archaeologists estimate there are over 300 shipwrecks on the Bank.

Today the Bank is known for its economic and cultural importance; it is the main harvesting ground for Queen Conch in the Caribbean and is highly valued by Jamaica’s fishing community who have been operating on the Bank and using its small Cays as a base since the 1920s.