Elbow Cays

The compact cluster of islets, rocks and reefs formed by Elbow Cays, Crenula Cay, Double Headed Shot Cays, Water Cays and Marion Rock, among other unnamed features, was named by the Spanish as Los Roques. These northwestern cays gave their name to the whole bank, which is known as Placer de los Roques, in the Spanish language. Adjacent islands and rocks • Crenula Cay • Double Headed Shot Cays, , a group of elongated cays that extend northeastward from the Elbow Cays, incorporating the Water Cays and all islets and reefs up to the Deadman Cays in the east. They are in a position on the northwest side of Cay Sal Bank where the Florida Current, in its course east and north through the Straits of Florida, usually sets close offshore at full strength. • Water Cays () (West Water Cay and East Water Cay), . Located towards the northeastern end these cays were mentioned by Alexander Von Humboldt: • Marion Rock, , a submerged rock Located off the northern coast of the 'Los Roques' reef. ==History==

Spanish navigators visited the island, plotting it for the first time on a map in 1511 as Los Roques. The island and its atoll were subsequently claimed for the Spanish crown by Juan Ponce de León. It marked the southern entrance to the Florida Straits from the Gulf of Mexico and was active until the 1940s. The abandoned lighthouse was briefly reactivated during the 1970s, when Bahamas police set up a post on nearby Cay Sal Island to watch for drug smugglers. Cartography In ancient maps and nautical charts the size of these cays was often exaggerated. ==See also==