The Morant Cays is an offshore island group 51 km SSE off Morant Point, Jamaica. It is one of two offshore island groups belonging to Jamaica, the other one is the Pedro Cays.

History

The cays were annexed in 1862 by the United Kingdom and added to Jamaica in 1882.

Geography

The cays are located at 17.4°N, -75.98333°W and consist of four small islets grouped closely together along the south-eastern rim of Morant Bank, an extensive crescent-shaped bank of coral, over 7 km long, rising from a depth of 1,000 m. The area of Morant Bank is about 100 km2. The aggregate land area of the four cays is only 16 ha. The Morant Cays are low-lying, mostly uninhabited, seasonally visited by fishermen, and fronted by highly exposed reefs over which the sea constantly breaks.

Flora and fauna

The islands have sparse vegetation and are a seabird rookery and turtle nesting area. Seabird eggs and guano are collected periodically. A 15,000 ha site, comprising the cays and surrounding waters, has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports significant breeding populations of seabirds, including brown noddies as well as sooty, bridled and royal terns.

Islets