Cayo Santiago
 Census Bureau map |
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 Cayo Santiago (Puerto Rico)
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| Geography | |
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| Location | Humacao, Puerto Rico |
| Coordinates | 18°9′23″N 65°44′3″W / 18.15639°N 65.73417°W |
| Area | 0.139179 km2 (0.0537373 sq mi) |
| Length | 0.6 km (0.37 mi) |
| Width | 0.4 km (0.25 mi) |
| Highest elevation | 34.9 m (114.5 ft) |
| Highest point | El Morrillo |
| Country | |
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United States
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| Commonwealth |  Puerto Rico |
| Municipality | Humacao |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 |
| Density | 0 /km2 (0 /sq mi) |
Cayo Santiago, also known as Isla de los monos (or Monkey Island), is an uninhabited island, located at 18°09′23″N 65°44′03″W / 18.15639°N 65.73417°W, 950 m (0.6 mi) southeast of Punta Santiago, Humacao, Puerto Rico.
[edit] Geography
It extends 600 m (656 yd) north-south and 400 m (437 yd) east-west, including the flat northeastern peninsula which is connected to the main part only by a narrow sandy isthmus. 600 meters west of the southermost point is a shoal, Bajo Evelyn, which has a least depth of 8 fathoms. While the island is flat in the north, it reaches a height of 34.9 m (104.5 ft) 2.9 km (1.8 mi) southwest of the port, in a small rocky hill called El Morrillo, which rises abruptly from the water and the lowland around it. The area of the island is 0.14 km² (139,179 m²: Block 2000, Census Block Group 2, Census tract 1801, Humacao Municipio, Puerto Rico), of which the northwestern peninsula accounts for about 0.02 km². The island is part of Punta Santiago barrio of Humacao.
[edit] Fauna
The island has a free-ranging population of about 950 Rhesus monkeys. The monkeys are offspring of an original group of 409 monkeys imported from India that were used for scientific research in 1938. Today, the island serves as a research center for the University of Puerto Rico (Caribbean Primate Research Center), the National Institutes of Health, Yale University, and Harvard University. The station accommodates 11 researchers and technicians who take the short boat trip from Humacao on a daily basis and normally don't stay on the island.
Cayo Batata, the second island belonging to Humacao, is located 5.7 km to the southwest.
