Pure Force: COW & BULL

Catching a photo of the last remnants of the ‘Rage’ wave action near the Cow and Bull during March 2018.

Atlantic reaches up!

Just south of the famed Glass Window Bridge, where the powerful forces of the Atlantic Ocean are held at bay by a veritable sliver of land characterized by undulating cliffs rising out of the depths forming time tested barriers to the vast expanse of deep blue. sits two unique rock formations called the Cow and Bull.

These two giant boulders have been viewed by tourists and locals visiting the Glass Window Bridge area for the longest time, and have fostered the question: How did they get there? Various geologists have taken up the challenge to crack the mystery of their origin. Some have suggested the gradual weathering and erosion of the rock surface, while others venture upon giant wave action.

In 2015, two scientists, James Hansen and Paul Hearty put forth a provocative theory, reported on in a Washington Post article written by Chris Mooney. The two men claimed the boulders, perched so beautifully, were prime evidence of ongoing climate change, and clear tell-tale signs of what disasters may lie in store for the earth, if climate change were to continue.

Their theory was: approximately ten millennia ago, climate change, similar to that of our present global warming, occurred. The major contrast in temperatures then created ‘massively powerful superstorms’, which in turn caused vicious waves, which quite easily propelled the boulders to where they lie today.

Some geologists and critics don’t quite agree with this interpretation of the geological features and evidence.

More recently in 2018, Dr. John Mylroie, Professor Emeritus of Geology in the Department of Geosciences at Mississippi State University, lectured on his theories about the origins of the unique Cow and Bull rock formations near the Glass Window bridge, taking a much less sensational approach, at the Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve to an avid audience.

He opined that the boulders could be the erosional remnant of larger boulders displaced as a result of cliff rollback during coastal bank margin failure - taking into account the presence of caves within the boulders, the significant change in coastline over time, as well as the change in the size of the boulders during that time, due to thousands of years of destructive dissolution.

With many questions still unanswered, further work is being called for in the study of the offshore bank margins in this area of Eleuthera. So for now, the ‘Cow and Bull’ remain as one of the island’s awe inspiring attractions, yet to be fully explained, near the world renowned Glass Window Bridge.