The archipelago is located off the coast of Morocco. Deserta Grande Island is located about 25 kilometres (16 mi) southeast of the eastern tip of Madeira Island, Ponta de São Lourenço.
Aerial view of the Desertas Islands (Ilhas Desertas)
The archipelago of the Desertas Islands is a chain of three long and narrow islands that stretch over a north/south distance of 22.3 kilometres (13.9 mi). The Desertas Islands, from north to south with approximate area figures, are:
Though near the main island of Madeira, where the islands can often be seen on the horizon, the geology of the Ilhas Desertas is starkly different. The high, long, and rocky islands of the group are barren of topsoil, and the only wildlife consists of about sixteen species of birds, including eight species of seabirds, and a scarce population of feralgoats, rabbits, and rodents, brought from Portugal by the mariners who first reached the rocky shores. The Deserta Grande wolf spider and Madeiran wall lizard also exist in the fragile and aridecosystem.
The only inhabitable island, with its own water source, is Deserta Grande. This water is murky and scarce, and historic attempts to colonise the island failed due to the impracticability of agriculture.
A tiny colony of Mediterranean monk seals inhabits the beaches, and since 1990 the islands have been constituted as a nature reserve for their protection. In 1998, the colony numbered only eight; now the population is approximately forty seals. The only humans on the islands are the permanent wardens, geologists, occasional boaters, and those who work at the few research stations.
desertas, islands, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, january,. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Desertas Islands news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2021 Learn how and when to remove this message The Desertas Islands Portuguese Ilhas Desertas IPA ˈiʎɐʒ dɨˈzɛɾtɐʃ Deserted Islands are a small archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean part of the larger Portuguese Madeira Archipelago Desertas IslandsNative name Ilhas DesertasVisiting sailboat at the bay of the Ilhas Desertas Nature Reserve The islands are uninhabited Location of the Desertas Islands archipelago in the Madeira Islands Archipelago Macaronesia Desertas IslandsLocation in the Atlantic OceanGeographyLocationAtlantic OceanArea14 21 km2 5 49 sq mi Length22 34 km 13 881 mi Width1 34 km 0 833 mi AdministrationPortugalAutonomous RegionMadeira The archipelago is located off the coast of Morocco Deserta Grande Island is located about 25 kilometres 16 mi southeast of the eastern tip of Madeira Island Ponta de Sao Lourenco Contents 1 Geography 1 1 Administration 2 Natural history 2 1 Important Bird Area 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksGeography edit nbsp Aerial view of the Desertas Islands Ilhas Desertas The archipelago of the Desertas Islands is a chain of three long and narrow islands that stretch over a north south distance of 22 3 kilometres 13 9 mi The Desertas Islands from north to south with approximate area figures are Island Area km2 Height m Chao Islet 1 98 Deserta Grande 10 442 Bugio 3 348 TOTAL 14 21 442 Administration edit Administratively the islands are part of the Municipality of Santa Cruz in Madeira and in the Santa Cruz civil parish The islands are a designated Portuguese nature reserve A licence is needed to land there Natural history edit nbsp Nature reserve warden s house on Deserta Grande Island nbsp Paul Alexander Zino Though near the main island of Madeira where the islands can often be seen on the horizon the geology of the Ilhas Desertas is starkly different The high long and rocky islands of the group are barren of topsoil and the only wildlife consists of about sixteen species of birds including eight species of seabirds and a scarce population of feral goats rabbits and rodents brought from Portugal by the mariners who first reached the rocky shores The Deserta Grande wolf spider and Madeiran wall lizard also exist in the fragile and arid ecosystem The only inhabitable island with its own water source is Deserta Grande This water is murky and scarce and historic attempts to colonise the island failed due to the impracticability of agriculture A tiny colony of Mediterranean monk seals inhabits the beaches and since 1990 the islands have been constituted as a nature reserve for their protection In 1998 the colony numbered only eight now the population is approximately forty seals The only humans on the islands are the permanent wardens geologists occasional boaters and those who work at the few research stations Important Bird Area edit The Desertas archipelago has been recognised as an Important Bird Area IBA by BirdLife International because of its seabird colonies These include Fea s and Bulwer s petrels Cory s and Barolo shearwaters band rumped storm petrels common terns and Caspian gulls 1 See also editIslands of the Autonomous Region of Madeira List of islands of PortugalReferences edit Ilhas Desertas BirdLife Data Zone BirdLife International 2021 Retrieved 19 January 2021 External links edit nbsp Media related to Desertas Islands at Wikimedia Commons Topographic map of the Desertas Islands 1 250 000 Portals nbsp Islands nbsp Portugal Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Desertas Islands amp oldid 1163386860, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
