Grand Bahama's existence for almost two centuries was largely governed by the nature of these "great shallows" - the coral reefs surrounding the island were treacherous, and repelled its Spanish claimants (who largely left it alone apart from infrequent en route stops by ships for provisions) while attracting pirates, who would lure ships onto the reefs where they would run aground and be plundered.
A existencia de Gran Bahama durante case dous séculos foi determinada en gran parte pola natureza destes "grandes baixios", os arrecifes coralinos que rodeaban a illa eran traizoeiros, e rexeitaron aos seus demandantes españois (que a deixaron aparte agás frecuentes paradas en ruta dos buques para aprovisionarse), mentres chegaron os piratas, que atraían os buques aos arrecifes onde encallaban para ser saqueados.