Floating land mass disappears

The mass of land complete with wildlife seen floating off Icacos last week and which left residents in awe has completely disappeared from sight. Speaking with Newsday yesterday, Cedros Councillor Shankar Teelucksingh who was among those monitoring the movement of the floating mass, estimated to be about two to three acres of heavily vegetated land, said it has not been spotted since Friday when it was observed to be slowly floating further and further away from land.

On Friday it was already six to seven miles outside Icacos.

Teelucksingh said when first seen in the south-western peninsula, it was at a distance of about two miles from shore. He added: “But we haven’t seen it since Friday so the place is back to normal.”

The last report he said he received was Friday and at the time the mass was floating in a north westerly direction and heading towards one of the Venezuelan oil rigs. He said the rural community of Icacos has since settled back down.

The “floating island” was first spotted on Monday by fishermen off Galfa Point in Chatham. By Thursday it had drifted to Columbus Bay off Icacos where it was visible from the shoreline . Both the Coast Guard and the Environmental Management Authority had issued warnings to the public not to venture out to the “island”.