“This little piggy went to market,

This little piggy stayed home,

This little piggy had roast beef,

This little piggy had none,

And this little piggy went wee wee wee all the way home”

English Nursery Rhyme

Most cruisers have heard of the swimming pigs of Staniel Cay in the Exumas, but have you heard of Piggyville on No Name Cay, Abaco? We hadn’t either. No Name Cay is south of Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos. We are anchored just off of No Name with Green Turtle directly to our north.

The pigs have learned that approaching boats have food for them and they will swim out to the boats.

There was a mother and some of her piglets on the beach.

The motorboat day trippers have added No Name Cay as a stop on their agendas to observe the swimming pigs and to feed them. Children are delighted to see them and go crazy when the pigs come into the water.

The story as we have heard it told, is that a local guy put a mating pair of pigs on the island. Then they had piglets so now there is a drove of pigs. I am told there are 6 or 7, but we only saw 4.

There is infrastructure at Piggyville to keep things organized and somewhat clean. There is a FOOD area where those visiting the island can drop off their leftovers and scraps.

There is a WATER area as well. There are bathtubs that have been dug into the sand that catch rainwater and provide the pigs with fresh water. Some people are kind enough to bring a gallon or two with them and add to the tubs.

A broader view of Piggyville’s beach. These pigs have some prime real estate.

We continued to walk the beaches of the island and found a few sea stars. The first was dainty. It fit in the palm of your hand. While it lacked the vibrant colors we see with other sea stars here, he was small and leggy and very interesting to observe.

The second one was the larger vibrant red that we have been accustomed to.

I then found a pile of conch shells that someone had cored out the top point of the shell trying to make a conch horn.

We found this one beautiful little conch in his perfect little shell that I would have loved to have taken home with me. However, this guy was just way too little to cook up into conch fritters and I would not kill him just for his shell.

We found this one beautiful little conch in his perfect little shell that I would have loved to have taken home with me. However, this guy was just way too little to cook up into conch fritters and I would not kill him just for his shell…

Alex was determined to find some conch and to make some conch salad and/or conch fritters. So it was on with the fins and snorkel for him. Sadly, the area around this side of the island was void of conch. Either that or the word was out to run and hide because Alex was a-comin’ for them.