Nelsons Island or Nelson Island or Isle Legour is a small uninhabited island in the

Great Chagos Bank The Great Chagos Bank, in the Chagos Archipelago, about south of Maldives, is the largest atoll structure in the world, with a total area of . The atoll is administered by the United Kingdom through the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) ...

, of the

Chagos Archipelago The Chagos Archipelago () or Chagos Islands (formerly the Bassas de Chagas, and later the Oil Islands) is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean about 500 kilometres (310 mi) south of the Maldives archi ...

in the

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 ...

. As a protected nature reserve, access to the island is strictly restricted. The island is administered by the

British Indian Ocean Territory The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) is an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Tanzania and Indonesia. The territory comprises the seven atolls of the Chagos Archipelago with over 1,000 ...

, an

overseas territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, but sovereignty is disputed by

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

Geography

The island is the northernmost and the easternmost island of the

, which is the world's largest coral atoll structure. The nearest neighbouring island is Île Boddam in the

Salomon Islands The Salomon Islands or Salomon Atoll is a small atoll of the Chagos Archipelago, British Indian Ocean Territory. Description The atoll is located in the northeast of the Chagos Archipelago, between Blenheim Reef and Peros Banhos. The main isla ...

, north-northwest from Nelsons Island. The island is 11 miles SSE of the wholly submerged Victory Bank atoll. Nelsons Island occupies the only emerging reef structure in the northern fringe of the Great Chagos Bank. The island stretches in an East-West direction, with a length of and wide in its broadest area. There is a small, low-lying islet to the east called Îlot Legour. In terms of its geology, detailed photographic images shows evidence of a coral limestone core that has been overlaid by sandy loam.

History

The first recorded discovery of the island was by a Mr Legour from

Port Louis Port Louis (french: Port-Louis; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Polwi or , ) is the capital city of Mauritius. It is mainly located in the Port Louis District, with a small western part in the Black River District. Port Louis is the country's ec ...

, Mauritius in 1820, with the island initially being called ''Isle Legour''. There are no records of the island being inhabited, even between the 17th and the 20th century when there were

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s on other islands of the Chagos Archipelago.

Wildlife

Atoll research bulletin (2007) (19724804313)

Nelsons Island has been identified as an

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 ...

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 ...

, and is legally protected as a Strict Nature Reserve – making it an offence to visit the island without the written permission of the BIOT Administration. An expedition in 2018 estimated the island was home to as many as 3000 roosting

red-footed boobies The red-footed booby (''Sula sula'') is a large seabird of the booby family, Sulidae. Adults always have red feet, but the colour of the plumage varies. They are powerful and agile fliers, but they are clumsy in takeoffs and landings. They are f ...

, a population of

brown boobies The brown booby (''Sula leucogaster'') is a large seabird of the booby family Sulidae, of which it is perhaps the most common and widespread species. It has a pantropical range, which overlaps with that of other booby species. The gregarious brow ...

, a significant colony of wedge tailed shearwaters, as well as around 6500 nesting pairs of lesser noddies. Birds benefit from the island being free from rats. The island also has a population of Meadow Argus butterflies. Owing to its remoteness there has always been a population of nesting

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. The island is unique for the Chagos for having only two species of tree,

Coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

and

Pisonia ''Pisonia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the four o'clock flower family, Nyctaginaceae. It was named for Dutch physician and naturalist Willem Piso (1611–1678). Certain species in this genus are known as catchbirdtrees, birdcatcher trees o ...

, which both appear to have arrived naturally. The island is otherwise covered by the shrubs Scaveola and

Argusia ''Tournefortia'', commonly known as soldierbush, is a genus of flowering plants in the borage family, Boraginaceae. It was first published under the name ''Pittonia'' by Charles Plumier in 1703, in honour of Joseph Pitton de Tournefort. Later, ...

. One of the major problems affecting the native wildlife is the significant accumulation of plastic bottles and other assorted debris such as damaged fishnets, shoes as well as an assortment of plastic and polystyrene materials that are washed up by localised ocean currents, winds and sea-storms. Such debris was captured in images during the Catlin Seaview Survey in 2015.

References

{{reflist *Griffiths, J.D. ed. ''1978-9 Joint Services Expedition to the Chagos Archipelago''. MOD Publication, London 1979

External links

Chagos research papers and books

Google Street View Feb 2015
Chagos Archipelago Nature reserves Important Bird Areas of the British Indian Ocean Territory Seabird colonies