Island groups Antilles, Lesser Antilles | ||
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Petit Nevis is a tiny, privately owned island in the Grenadines, off the coast of Bequia. The island is uninhabited, but has been used by whalers to flense their catches to the current day, although this practice is now limited both by season and by law to conserve the whale population as an endangered species. Whaling by early settlers to Bequia was undertaken to help feed their isolated community. Hunting was and still is carried out in small boats using a hand-held harpoon, a skill passed down through generations, and made newsworthy by world-renowned local legend and whale boat captain, Athneal Ollivierre (died 2000), and who was also part-owner of Petit Nevis.
Map of Petit Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines
Eileen Corea, the last surviving, direct, legal owner of the island, died in July (2011). The island is now owned by the descendants of the previous owners.
A small isolationist community called Moonhole on nearby Bequia scavenges whale bones from the island for building materials.