barrio of Juana Díaz municipality. The climate is dry and the island supports dry forest. A still-functioning lighthouse, Caja de Muertos Light, established in 1887 and automated in 1945, sits atop the highest hill on the island. This 170 foot high hill is located at the southwest extreme of the island. Features The island has four beaches: Pelicano, Playa Larga, Carrucho, and Coast Guard. The island also possesses fauna and flora not found anywhere else in the world. The island has no permanent residents, but the Government of Puerto Rico maintains Department of Natural Resources staff and security personnel there. In 1899, it registered a permanent population of 64 residents, but it since declined to zero. Etymology Since 1511, the island has been called by different names including Isla Abeiranas, Abairianay, Antías, Jutías, Yautías, Utías, Abeianay, Angulo, Isla Bestia, and Isla del Tesoro, in addition to the translations as Coffre A’morr, Deadman’s Chest, and Coffin Island. Caja de Muertos can be translated into English as "Coffin" or "Dead Man's Chest", there is no consensus on how the island got its current name. The official version of the origin of the name, as given by the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources, and under whose care the island is currently entrusted, is as follows: "Its name is attributed to the 18th-century French writer Jean-Baptiste Labat who called it Coffre à mort (Caja de Muertos) or Bomba d'Infierno, making reference to the fact that when the island is seen from certain places in southern Puerto Rico, it gives the impression of seeing a dead person laying on a plateau." Etymological theories Maritime fiction In 1901, it was suggested by one A. W. Van Buren of Yale University that the island's name may be related to the sea shanty "Dead Man's Chest", first written by Robert Louis Stevenson for his novel Treasure Island''; However, no scholar since Van Buren has made this connection nor is there any evidence to support such a claim. Further, Van Buren says that Stevenson did not write the song "Dead man's chest" himself, that he "picked it up somewhere", which is another baseless claim (see "Dead Man's Chest" for more information on the fakelore surrounding this song). José Joaquim Almeida One story given by Kurt Pitzer and Tara Stevens is that of a Portuguese pirate, José Almeida. A former merchant sailor, Almeida fell in love with a Basque