Cocos Island (Guam)
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2008-05-22T04:00:03Z
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{{other|Coconut Island (disambiguation)}}
:''Not to be confused with [[Isla del Coco]] or [[Cocos Keeling Islands]].''
[[Image:Cocos Lagoon.png|thumb|300px|right|[[NOAA]] nautical chart of Cocos Lagoon,</br>with Cocos Island in the southwest (lower left)]]
'''Cocos Island''' is an island one mile (1.6 km) off the southern tip of [[Guam]], located within the [[Merizo Barrier Reef]], part of the [[municipality]] of [[Merizo, Guam|Merizo]]. The island is uninhabited, 1600 meters long in a southwest-northeast direction, but only between 200 and 300 meters wide, and has an area of 386,303 [[square meter|m²]] or 95.5 [[acre]]s [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-context=dt&-ds_name=DEC_2000_IAGU&-CONTEXT=dt&-mt_name=DEC_2000_IAGU_P001&-mt_name=DEC_2000_IAGU_H001&-tree_id=405&-transpose=N&-redoLog=false&-all_geo_types=N&-geo_id=100$10000US660109553001028&-geo_id=100$10000US660109553001029&-search_results=15000US660109553001&-_showChild=Y&-format=&-_lang=en&-show_geoid=Y&-search_map_config=|b=50|l=en|t=405|zf=0.0|ms=sel_00dec|dw=1.9557697048764706E7|dh=1.4455689123E7|dt=gov.census.aff.domain.map.LSRMapExtent|if=gif|cx=-1159354.4783500005|cy=7122022.5|zl=10|pz=10|bo=318:317:316:314:313:323:319|bl=362:393:358:357:356:355:354|ft=350:349:335:389:388:332:331|fl=403:381:204:380:369:379:368|g=01000US&-SubjectID=14846885]. It sits atop the southwestern [[coral]] [[reef]] rim of Cocos [[Lagoon]].
The west coast of the island is a resort hotel complex. The east side is public land part of the Territorial park system. Ferries run to [[Merizo, Guam]].
A [[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]] long-range navigation station operated on Cocos Island from 1944-1963.
Military tests on soil from Cocos Island in late 2005 showed levels of [[polychlorinated biphenyl]]s (PCBs) contamination 4,900 times higher than the federally recommended level. Tests on 12 species of fish in the lagoon showed all but one of those species had high levels of PCBs. One had 265 times the acceptable level. The contamination most likely originated from transformers and other electrical equipment at the Coast Guard station, but was not tested for earlier.
Officials from the Guam Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Public Health and Social Services and the Coast Guard announced their findings on [[20 February]] [[2006]] and warned people not to eat fish caught in the lagoon.
==See also==
*[[Polychlorinated_biphenyl#Health_effects|Health effects of PCBs]]
==References==
*[http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060221/NEWS01/602210302/1002 Pacific Daily News article]
*Bendure, G. & Friary, N. (1988) ''Micronesia:A travel survival kit.'' South Yarra, VIC: Lonely Planet.
{{coor title dms|13|14|10|N|144|38|56|E|type:island_region:US-GU}}
{{Guam-geo-stub}}
{{Guam}}
[[Category:Geography of Guam]]
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[[Category:Guam]]
[[ja:ココス島 (太平洋)]]
[[pl:Cocos Island]]