color of the sand underneath the water is a "fearful sight". The cape had a fearsome reputation among mariners even prior to the wreck of the Commerce, as there had been at least thirty known shipwrecks between 1790 and 1806. Sailors' fears were founded in what they saw, and the phenomena witnessed by the sailors of those days can be seen today. Any ship that has to pass those places makes sure to give a wide berth in order to avoid accidents. The reason for all this display is because Cape Bojador and its surrounding coast extends into the sea in the form of an underwater reef, and, when the waves break after crashing into unseen gullies, the water spouts furiously into high foamy clouds that look like steam, even on calm days. The sea in front to the Cape, and for approximately three miles from the coast and into the sea, is no more than six feet deep. Fish are abundant in the place, and shoals of sardines rise to the surface during the feeding times of larger fish. When this happens, the sea seems to bubble violently as if boiling, and, observed from a distance, the hissing sound produced by the fish flicking their tails on the water's surface adds to the impression that the water is boiling. The tremendous heat wafted westerly on lazy breezes from the desert heightens the impression of extreme temperature, to which the desert dust helps to create a mysterious darkness. even the ferrous rocks make compass needles whirl erratically. Carlos B. Carreiro (author), Portugal's Golden Years, The Life and Times of Prince Henry "The Navigator", (Dorrance Publishing Co, Inc), p. 64 ISBN 0-8059-6854-7 As recently as 2004, the British Royal Navy's publication Africa Pilot warns that nautical charts of the coastline in the area of Cape Bojador are "reported to be inaccurate". Ecological significance The Spanish interest in the desert coast of Western Africa was the result of fishing activities carried out from the Canary Islands by Spanish fishermen. Spanish fishers were seal fur traders and hunters, fishers and whalers off the Sahara coast with several enclaves in Cabo Bojador, Dakhla and Ras Nouadhibou from 1500 to present, extending from the west coast of Africa to hunting humpback whales and whale calves, mostly in Cape Verde, and the Gulf of Guinea in Annobón, São Tomé and Príncipe islands just to 1940. These