Pig Island

If you have a family pig out in the pen,

you may want to cover her ears.

glitterati_literati-pig_island1

Photo by Alan Fryer via Wikimedia Commons

Here’s the problem:

Should farm pigs catch wind of the news I’m about to tell you,

the mud wallows of America won’t seem so satisfying anymore.

glitterati_literati-pig_island2

Photo by Mark Peters via Wikimedia Commons

And don’t put it past your pastoral piggy

to swim for fairer shores …

glitterati_literati-pig_island3

Photo by Stanley Marsh 3 via Wikimedia Commons

Welcome to Pig Island.

glitterati_literati-pig_island4

Photo by cdorobek via Wikipedia

Officially, this tropical paradise in the Bahamas is known as Big Major Cay Island, but in its residents’ native tongue, it sounds more like,

“Oink, oink, snuffle, snort.”

Yup, the island is populated by pigs.

glitterati_literati-pig_island5

Photo bycdorobek via News.com.au

While no one knows exactly how these pigs laid claim to their own private piece of hog heaven, legend has it that sailors left them on the uninhabited island as food security for future stopovers. Perhaps they were forgotten or too clever to be caught? Either way, there are now about 20 pigs on Big Major Cay, living high on the hog.

The pigs were discovered in 2007 by boat captain Jim Abernathy and his passenger, photographer Eric Cheng.

“We were in the southern Bahamas to photograph oceanic white-tip sharks,” recalls Cheng. “Our captain, Jim Abernethy, heard there were pigs on Big Major, so we decided to go and check it out.”

Sure enough, there were pigs a-plenty.

Upon approaching the white sandy beach, Cheng says it’s easy to spot the pigs—both pink and dark brown—lying in the sand,

and they are pleased as punch to plunge into the sea.

glitterati_literati-pig_island6

Photo by cdorobek via Treehugger.com

“Because locals bring food, the pigs will run into the water and actually swim out to the oncoming boats, as if to greet them individually,” Cheng explains. “It is strange enough to see pigs laying around on tropical beaches of white sand, but to see them then charge into the water to greet oncoming boats is just bizarre.”

glitterati_literati-pig_island7

Photo by cdorobek via News.com.au

In 2010, Captain Jim Abernethy collaborated with author Jennifer Nolan to publish a children’s book about the pigs called The Secret of Pig Island.

glitterati_literati-pig_island8

Want a live peek at the piscine piggies in action? Take a look:

  1. Terry Steinmetz says:

    Oh my! I love pigs & this article was fun to read. I now want to get that children’s book for my library & grandgirls! 🙂

  2. Winnie Nielsen says:

    This is amazing about pigs! I would have never guessed they would take to the ocean so favorably. But that water is so beautiful and calm, it is easy to understand the ease of enjoying a swim and the occasional treat!

  3. Laurie Dimno says:

    My whole family was amazed at this video and story. Thank you for sharing the story with us!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *