User:CareAhLine/Great Pond (Saint Croix)

Great Pond is a salt pond located in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The pond is part of St Croix East End Marine Park. It the second largest salt pond in the Virgin Islands, and is one of the largest remaining mangrove tracts in St. Croix.

History
Great Pond and its surrounding mudflats were historically used by Crucians (the people of St. Croix) to fish, crab and gather salt. The area has had human inhabitants in the area for centuries. Excavations have uncovered human remains in the Great Pond area from 300-700 A.D. as well as 700-900 A.D. In the 18th century, a 430-acre plantation called Great Pond plantation occupied the area around the Great Pond. A map from 1920 indicates a fan mill (labeled "Great Pond Bay Mill") located just north of Great Pond. The name of the fan mill suggests it was associated with the Great Pond plantation.

Beginning in the 1990s, the mangroves in the pond began expanding coverage, adding small islands of mangrove trees within the pond. The pond transitioned from aan open-water system to a closed salt pond. In 2015, mangroves in the interior of the pond died off. This resulted in a grey-colored landscape within the pond. The channel that once supplied the pond with its saltwater closed up, due to sand accumulation and buildup of organic debris.