Mona, Puerto Rico

Mona (a.k.a. Isla de Mona) is an island located between the east coast of the Dominican Republic and west coast of Puerto Rico. The island, west of Mayagüez is part of Puerto Rico. Unlike Vieques or Culebra, the island has not received city status. Nevertheless, it is considered a part of Puerto Rico because it is in United States waters. It is part of the municipality (city) of Mayagüez.

Mona is uninhabited and it is used as an ecological park. The island, which is in the Antilles, has an area of 40 km² and is 80 km away from Puerto Rico.

The island is generally flat. It is composed of dolomite and limestone. Various caves are found in the limestone. Its climate is arid. Many endemic species live on the island. The island has been used for guano mining.

Contents

1 History 2 Isla Mona currently 3 Modern tragedies 4 Topography

History

During the middle 1980s, archeologists visiting Isla Mona discovered some pre-ceramic objects at the island; this may signify that the Arawak Indians, from the Hispaniola, might have inhabited the island before anyone else did.

When Christopher Columbus discovered Puerto Rico in 1493, a small number of Tainos occupied the island. Columbus' ship almost sank as he passed close to the area on his way to discovering other Caribbean islands. Some Tainos who were traveling back to the Puerto Rican mainland saw the troubled ship and helped rescue Columbus and the rest of his group of travelers. With Columbus' arrival to Isla Mona, the Europeans had discovered the island. The Tainos call the Island "Ámona" who means " between two waters".

In 1502, fray Nicolas de Ovando brought over 2,000 men from Spain to settle in the island. At that time, Araucos shared the island with Tainos. Food became scarce, as Isla Mona is a very small island. Because Hispaniola was in the middle of a civil war, the main sources of food for Isla Mona were Spain and the Canary Islands, but it would take very long for food to get to Isla Mona from these places, so the Spaniards also made food suppliers out of their new possessions of San Juan De Borinquen (which later became Puerto Rico), St. Croix, Mona, Saona and Catalina.

de Ovando and his men had been sent to Isla Mona to keep an eye on the situation in Hispaniola from a safe distance.

Puerto Rico's first governor, Juan Ponce de Leon, later overtook control of the food supplying to the area.

In 1508, as de Leon launched his campaign to conquer Puerto Rico, he traveled to Isla Mona several times, to get bread and clothing made by the Indians. Later on, he would send more Tainos to be established there, and ask the governor to send him more food to Puerto Rico.

Isla Mona was a place rich in food, textures and other items, so, when Diego Colon arrived in 1509, he became interested in possession of the island. This caused a bitter rivalry between him and king Fernando of Spain. By then, Isla Mona was an important point of trade between Spain and the rest of Latin America, as well as a rest stop for boat crews carrying slaves.

By 1514, king Fernando wanted Isla Mona to become his private vacation home. From there, he supposed, he could send goods to Puerto Rican Indians. Finally, he was able to overtake the island from Diego Colon, and, by 1515, Isla Mona was his.

King Fernando gave the resident Indians two options;: they could either work fishing, making hammocks and cultivating plants, or they could be miners. Most Indians chose the former. That way, they were exempt from tax paying, and they avoided that hard labor miners suffered. Indians from various other Spanish possessions were brought over to bring help.

When king Fernando died in 1516, ownership of the island passed on to Cardenal Cisneros, and, in 1520, to Francisco de Barrionuevo.

By 1524, Alonso Manso, bishop of Puerto Rico, had become interest in gaining personal wealth, and he accused Barrionuevo, among others, of various criminal charges before the Spanish justice system of the time. Because of this situation, Barrionuevo took off to South America, taking many Indians with him, and leaving the island almost deserted.

By 1522, ships from other countries began to arrive at Isla Mona to replenish supplies for their travels. They also attacked Spanish ships, and by 1543, Spaniards had been run out of the island.

In 1561, during an audience held at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, it was recommended that Isla Mona become a part of the Dominican Republic. Their reasoning was that, actually, the island is far closer to the Dominican Republic than it is of Puerto Rico, it had a small population, and it could help the Republic's economy with its yearly numbers of produce.

In 1567, a French ship arrived, burning part of the island's population. The Indians fought back, killing eight Frenchmen and sinking a ship, but the loss of Indians was so vast that the Dominican Republic eventually lost its interest in the island, because humans had all but disappeared from the island after the battle with the French, which would have resulted in the Republic having a harder time in making the area economically viable.

In 1583, the Spanish archbishop who was established in Puerto Rico got royal permission to bring Christianity to Isla Mona. In 1595, the famed Englishman, James Lancaster, stopped by the island for rest.

By the 1600s, most Indians remaining in the island had fled to mainland Puerto Rico.

With the 1898 treaty of Paris, Isla Mona and the rest of Puerto Rico were handed by Spain to the United States.

In December 22 1919 it was declared Insular Forest of Puerto Rico, under the authority of the Forest Law (law #22). During 1945 to 1955 Mona island was leased to the US Air Force as military exercise area. After 1941 the island has been used for hunting and for camping.

from 1960 to the present, the island have a small ranger post from the Puerto Rico Deparment Of Natural Resources.

In recent years, the island has become a major drop-off point for many Dominicans, Cubans, Chinese and even North Koreans trying to reach Puerto Rico. As a U.S. Commonwealth, Puerto Rico is a stepping stone to the United States for many of these immigrants. With the exceptions of Cubans who are allowed to stay in the United States due to that country's wet feet/dry feet policy all other illegal immigrants are usually deported immediately.

Isla Mona currently

Currently, the island serves as vacation spot and natural ecological laboratory for various prestigious universities around the world. various endangered species like the "Iguana de Mona" (Cyclura cornuta stejnegeri) offers a unique experience to visitors.

An airport that accepts small aircraft was built By Puerto Rico Goverment; the airport is certified by the FAA. The Coast Guard provides with helicopters flights from Eugenio Maria de Hostos Airport in Mayaguez, to help with medicines and first aid equipment; they also fly whenever an emergency requiring hospitalization occurs. Private and comercial planes need special permit to use the airport facilities. 

The most common way of transportation is private yachts, however commercial transportation is aviable from the Mayaguez bay for small groups (10-12 persons).

The island are under protection of the Puerto Rico Natural Resources Deparment (DNRA). A permanet ranger post are located on Playa Pajaros area. Camping, hunting and ecological trips are permited on the island priod written permit and a small fee from the DNRA Forest Division.

Hunting are allowed one time a year to control non-endemic species (goats, pigs and wild cats) because represent a threat to various endangered species.

The island has the hunting season begin in December and ending in April. Camping are allowed from May thru November. It is also a popular spot to visit for Puerto Rican boy and girl scouts.

Modern tragedies

Many modern time tragedies involving travelers, both legal and illegal, have happened in, or close to, Isla Mona. Here is a partial list of some of the most famous modern tragedies there:

• In 1985, a teenager was lost during a boys scouts trip there. Days later, his body was found.

• In 1989, a ship carrying more than 300 illegal immigrants sank near Isla Mona. When the Coast Guard helicopters over-flew the area where the tragedy happened, all they could find was parts of the ship and blood, leading the soldiers and both the government of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic to think that most victims had been eaten by sharks.

• In January, 2004, a psychologist became disoriented and got lost during a sightseeing trip to the south part of the island. His body was recovered days later.

Topography

Isla Mona consists mostly of dry forest with areas of cactus scrub. Isla Mona is one of the hottest places in the western hemisphere, and temperatures of 130 degrees F have been reported there, also no sources of superficial water are found on the island, reason why it has been widely recommended to anyone traveling there to bring large personal quantities of water and ice.