Eagle Island, Chagos
| Eagle Island | |
 NASA picture of Eagle Islands | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Location: | -6.191832, 71.325172 |
| Area: | 605 acres |
| Data | |
| Population: | 0 |
Eagle Island, also known in the French patois of its former inhabitants as Île Aigle, is an island of the Chagos Archipelago which forms the British Indian Ocean Territory. The island is one of two known as the 'Eagle Islands', which islands are located on the central-western rim of the Great Chagos Bank, the world's largest coral atoll structure.
Its smaller neighbour is Sea Cow Island (Île Vache Marine).
History
There was once a coconut plantation on Eagle Island, as well as a small settlement of Chagossian plantation workers. However at the time of Commander Robert Moresby's survey of the Chagos, in 1838, this island was populated only occasionally. Not long after the settlement of the Chagos group by the French planters at the end of the 18th century, the tendency was to concentrate the workers on only a few islands from which the plantations were run, like Île Boddam in the Salomon Atoll.
In 1975 during the Joint Services Expedition to Danger Island, the expedition members were taken by RFA Resurgent to Eagle Islands and then by ketch and inflatable craft to Danger Island and onward to Three Brothers. The expedition made a topographical survey of the coral reefs, an ecological survey of the corals on it and a study on the metabolism of the reef.[1] A reference collection of samples of the flora and fauna of the area was also undertaken.[2]
Since 1998 the islands are part of the Chagos Archipelago Strict Nature Reserve and it is forbidden to land on the islands or anchor a boat nearby. The islands have large populations of nesting seabirds.[3]
Outside links
- Joint Services Expedition To Danger Island - (1975) commemorative postcard
- Chagos research papers and books
References
- ↑ Baldwin, EA (ed.) (1975), A report on the Joint Services Expedition to Danger Island in the central Indian Ocean, December 1974 to April 1975 Ministry of Defence Publication, London
- ↑ Chagos Islands coral collections
- ↑ 6: British Indian Ocean Territory