Oil Pirates, Nigeria

• The Jolly Roger flag, with its black background and white skull and crossbones, was designed to be scary. This flag was not used by all pirates, usually it was only flown by those sailing in the Spanish Main.
• Pirates believed that wearing pierced earrings would improve their eyesight.
• Pirates believed that having women on board their ship was bad luck. They also believed that whistling on a ship would cause the weather to turn stormy (as in ‘to whistle up a storm’).
• Pirates would take over island ports and make them a safe haven for pirates.