George Dog Island

Island in the Caribbean

AST (UTC-4)

ISO codeVG

George Dog is an uninhabited island of the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. It is located in a smaller sub-group of islands referred to as "The Dogs" (which include Little Seal Dog Island and West Dog Island) to the northwest of Virgin Gorda.

On the northwest side of the island is a popular diving site is known as "Bronco Billy", so named because of the surge which carries divers through a box canyon is thought to be similar to riding a bucking Bronco (it is believed that the name pre-dated the 1980 film of the same name). The site achieved a degree of fame when Jacques Cousteau declared it to be his favourite site in the Territory, ahead of more famous dive sites like the Wreck of the Rhone and The Indians.

The island provides habitat for the crested anole (Anolis cristatellus wileyae),^[1] Puerto Rican ground lizard (Ameiva exsul) and the big-scaled least gecko (Sphaerodactylus macrolepis macrolepis).^[2] The island's flora includes copperwood (Bursera simarouba) and seagrape (Coccoloba uvifera).^[2]

References

^ Schwartz, Albert; Thomas, Richard; Ober, Lewis D. (1975). First supplement to a check-list of West Indian amphibians and reptiles. Pittsburgh: Carnegie Museum of Natural History. pp. 12-13. ISSN 0145-9031. OCLC 886468503.
^ ^a ^b Heatwole, Harold; Levins, Richard; Byer, Michael D. (July 1981). Atoll research bulletin - Biogeography of the Puerto Rican bank. Vol. 251. Washington D.C.: The Smithsonian Institution. pp. 27, 33–4, 36, 46. OCLC 45726059.