St. Martin's Island is a small island in the northeast part of the Bay of Bengal. At high tide the island is about 3 miles around, and pinched in the middle. The surrounding coral reef of the island has an extension named Chera Dwip. The island ex...
(more)St. Martin's Island is a small island in the northeast part of the Bay of Bengal. At high tide the island is about 3 miles around, and pinched in the middle. The surrounding coral reef of the island has an extension named Chera Dwip. The island exists only because of its coral base, so removal of that coral risks erosion of the beaches. St. Martins has lost roughly 25% of its coral reef in the past 7 years. Pieces of the coral reef are being removed in order to be sold to tourists. Most of the island's 7000 inhabitants live primarily from fishing, and between October and April fishermen from neighboring areas bring their catch to the island's temporary wholesale market. Rice and coconuts are the other staple crops, and algae is collected and dried from the sea rocks and sold for consumption to Myanmar.