The African Banks are the uninhabited northernmost islands of the

Amirante Islands The Amirante Islands (''Les Amirantes'') are a group of coral islands and atolls that belong to the Outer Islands of the Seychelles. They stretch about 155 km from the African Banks (African Islands) in the north to Desnœufs (Isle des N ...

, of the Outer Islands of the

Republic of Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

, in the western

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

History

The islands were discovered in 1797 and named Îlots Africains by Admiral Willaumez commanding the frigate '' La Régénérée''. Atoll Research Bulletin
/ref> North Island had for a couple of months a guano mining camp.

Geography

The African Banks lie about 230 km west of the city of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

on the main Seychelles island of Mahé, close to the edge of the Amirantes Bank. The nearest island is

Remire Island Remire or Rémire may refer to: * Remire-Montjoly, a commune of French Guiana * Remire Island Remire or Rémire may refer to: * Remire-Montjoly Remire-Montjoly (often unofficially spelled Rémire-Montjoly) is a commune of French Guiana, an ove ...

, lying 27 km south. The group is a

pseudo-atoll A pseudo-atoll, like an atoll, is an island that encircles a lagoon, either partially or completely. A pseudo-atoll differs from an atoll as established by several authorities, such as how it is formed (not by subsidence, nor by coral). It is consi ...

, has two small islands, which are gradually undergoing

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landward ...

, and appear as just small sandstone ridges exposed only at low tide. The underwater banks extend over north-south and east-west and occupy a total area of about . With a shallow coral ring, it appears as an incomplete atoll. To the west of the coral ring, however, it is deep.

North Island

North Island ( fr. Île du Nord ) is small and flat with an area of . It has a derelict automatic

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

on the north point. and is occasionally visited by tourists in charter yachts. It was formed from sandstone, is almost treeless (one coconut tree in 1995), and covered by

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

and low-growing vegetation (

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

). It is significant as a nesting site for

tern Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated as a subgroup of the family Laridae which includes gulls and skimmers and consists of e ...

s, the

colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

of which are subject to frequent exploitation and disturbance by

poachers Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...

South Island

South Island ( fr. Île du Sud ) is a small and flat island with an area of . It lies south of North Island. It has a small ruin of a

hut. HMS ''Spitfire'' was wrecked on South Island on August 1801.

Flora & Fauna

The islands, with an associated tract of coastal marine habitat, form a

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA), identified as such by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

because it supports populations of black-naped (10 breeding pairs) and

sooty tern The sooty tern (''Onychoprion fuscatus'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. It is a bird of the tropical oceans, returning to land only to breed on islands throughout the equatorial zone. Taxonomy The sooty tern was described by Carl Linnaeu ...

s (5000–10,000 pairs), and

brown noddies The brown noddy or common noddy (''Anous stolidus'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. The largest of the noddies, it can be told from the closely related black noddy by its larger size and plumage, which is dark brown rather than black. The b ...

(2000–5900 pairs).

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

and

hawksbill The hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Eretmochelys''. The species has a global distribution, that is large ...

sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, ...

s nest there. African Banks are surrounded by coral rim (the eastern side) and waters rich in fish, especially

mackerel Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment. ...

tuna A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: ...

and

sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorp ...

References

Archipelagoes of Seychelles Outer Islands (Seychelles) Important Bird Areas of Seychelles Seabird colonies {{Seychelles-geo-stub