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Pelican IslandPelican Island, despite its name, was a key site for the nesting turtle. Quite ironic indeed.
This island was once an island located just off Fontabelle in Barbados. It is no longer visible as it was connected to Barbados when the Deep Water Harbour was opened in 1961. The main purpose of this connection was to house the Bridgetown Port which falls under the ambit of the Barbados Port Inc. This well-organised and well-run port of authority operates from the Deep Water Harbour in the parish of St. Michael, just on the outskirts of Barbados' capital city, Bridgetown.
At low tide one could easily walk through the waters and reach this island. There was a pair of jetties on this island that made it accessible for small boats to stop off.
Pelican Island housed a quarantine facility that became the ideal place for sick passengers and crew members from ships. With this being a stop off point, it meant better control of transmissible diseases before they had a chance of reaching Barbados' mainland. Facilities were also in place for patients to be accommodated while unwell, a morgue was on island, a caretaker's house and a large cauldron where the clothes of those under quarantine were boiled.
A stone's throw away from where Pelican Island once stood, one can find the Pelican Village and Cratt Center. Opened to the public in 1999, Pelican Village consists of clusters of chattel houses, brightly painted in which several small business persons and entrepreneurs have taken store space to display and sell their creations
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