Praia Islet ( pt, Ilhéu da Praia; literally, '' Beach Islet'') is a highly vegetated uninhabited islet located approximately away from the town of

Praia Praia (, Portuguese language, Portuguese for "beach") is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde.

off the eastern coast of the island of Graciosa in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. Along with Baixo Islet to its south, Praia Islet is one of two main breeding places of Monteiro's storm petrel, an endemic marine bird of the Azores.

History

On 7 February 2022 at 23:30—about half an hour after leaving the Port of

Praia da Graciosa Praia (, Portuguese for "beach") is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde.fuel tanker ship ''São Jorge'', which distributes liquid fuel throughout the Azores,

ran aground Ship grounding or ship stranding is the impact of a ship on seabed or waterway side. It may be intentional, as in beaching to land crew or cargo, and careening, for maintenance or repair, or unintentional, as in a marine accident. In accidenta ...

off the coast of Praia Islet, causing severe damage to the ship's

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

and

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

s. Portos dos Açores, S.A. (the Azorean interisland

port authority In Canada and the United States, a port authority (less commonly a port district) is a governmental or quasi-governmental public authority for a special-purpose district usually formed by a legislative body (or bodies) to operate ports and other t ...

) stated that the ship's cargo of gasoline and diesel fuel did not leak as a result of the incident.

Geography

Praia Islet is a basaltic, palagonite islet formed by

pyroclastic Pyroclastic rocks (derived from the el, πῦρ, links=no, meaning fire; and , meaning broken) are clastic rocks composed of rock fragments produced and ejected by explosive volcanic eruptions. The individual rock fragments are known as pyroc ...

lava flows during the Graciosa

Caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...

's last eruption. It measures about , or , in area and approximately in perimeter. The islet's highest altitude is above sea level. The ocean is not very deep around the islet: its depth does not exceed within a radius around the islet. The ocean floor near Praia Islet consists of lava flows covered in

boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

s—much like the islet itself—with some small sandy patches in the deeper zones.

Biome

Praia Islet boasts deep soil and is highly vegetated, in contrast to some of the smaller Azorean islets. It is home to endemic Azorean flowering plants including Azorean carrot ('' Daucus carota azoricus''), Azorean heather ('' Erica azorica''), ''

Festuca petraea ''Festuca petraea'' is a species of grass endemic to the Azores, Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwes ...

'', ''

Carex vulcani ''Carex vulcani'' is a species of Carex, sedge native to the Azores generally found above altitude. References

Carex, vulcani Endemic flora of the Azores {{Carex-stub ...

'', ''

Spergularia azorica Spergularia is a genus in the family Caryophyllaceae, containing salt-tolerant plants known as sandspurrys and sea-spurreys. There are about 60 species. Selected species * '' Spergularia azorica'' – endemic to the archipelago of the AzoresSecr ...

'', ''

Tolpis succulenta ''Tolpis succulenta'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to the Portuguese archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem ...

'', and Azores bellflower (''

Azorina vidalii ''Azorina'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants within the family Campanulaceae, whose sole species, ''Azorina vidalii'', the Azores Bellflower, is endemic to the Azores. Its fragmented population is made up of fewer than 1000 mature plants ...

''). These plants had to be reintroduced to the islet in the late 19th century, after extirpation of

invasive Invasive may refer to: *Invasive (medical) procedure *Invasive species *Invasive observation, especially in reference to surveillance *Invasively progressive spread of disease from one organ in the body to another, especially in reference to cancer ...

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

s. The islet also serves as a marine bird sanctuary and breeding ground. Along with Baixo Islet to its south, Praia Islet is one of two main breeding places of Monteiro's storm petrel, an endemic marine bird of the Azores. Of the estimated 250 to 300 total breeding pairs of Monteiro's storm petrel, 71 nested on Praia Islet in 2009—up from 13 in 2001 when researchers first installed 151 artificial nests on the islet. Other seabirds breeding on the islet include

band-rumped storm petrel The band-rumped storm petrel, Madeiran storm petrel, or Harcourt's storm petrel (''Hydrobates castro'') is of the storm petrel family Hydrobatidae. Description The band-rumped storm petrel is 19–21 cm in length with a 43–46 cm wi ...

Barolo shearwater The Barolo shearwater (''Puffinus baroli''), also known as the North Atlantic little shearwater or Macaronesian shearwater, is a small shearwater which breeds in the Azores and Canary Islands, Canaries of Macaronesia in the North Atlantic Ocean. ...

, Cory's shearwater, common tern,

roseate tern The roseate tern (''Sterna dougallii'') is a species of tern in the family Laridae. The genus name ''Sterna'' is derived from Old English "stearn", "tern", and the specific ''dougallii'' refers to Scottish physician and collector Dr Peter McDoug ...

, 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 ...

. Terrestrial birds sometimes alight on Praia Islet. Researchers have observed Madeiran wall lizard—an introduced species endemic to

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

—on the islet, which is of particular concern because the lizards occasionally predate on Monteiro's storm petrel chicks. The waters around the islet are also biodiverse. They are home to

barred hogfish The barred hogfish (''Bodianus scrofa'') is a species of wrasse native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean, where it occurs around the Macaronesian island groups of the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands and Cape Verde. This species occurs on rocky ...

(''Bodianus scrofa''), bluetail parrotfish (''

Sparisoma chrysopterum ''Sparisoma chrysopterum'' (common names: redtail parrotfish, blue parrotfish, kwab, pink kwab, pink parrot, blisterside, and blue black-finned chub) is a species of parrotfish. Description The upper end of the pectoral fin base shows black sad ...

''), bogue ('' Boops boops''), and European spider crab ('' Maja squinado''). Aquatic plants present in the area include the brown algae '' Cystoseira'' and ''Dictyota dichotoma'', and the

red algae Red algae, or Rhodophyta (, ; ), are one of the oldest groups of eukaryotic algae. The Rhodophyta also comprises one of the largest phyla of algae, containing over 7,000 currently recognized species with taxonomic revisions ongoing. The majority ...

Asparagopsis armata ''Asparagopsis armata'' is a species of marine red algae, in the family Bonnemaisoniaceae. English name(s) include red harpoon weed. They are multicellular eukaryotic organisms. This species was first described in 1855 by Harvey, an Irish botani ...

'' and '' Corallina officinalis''. Because the islet hosts endemic birds and plants, it is a protected natural area with restricted human access. Since March 1990 the islet has been protected through the

European Environment Agency The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides independent information on the environment. Definition The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides i ...

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectively ...

initiative and recognized 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 ...

. In 2008 the islet was protected locally as part of the Nature Park of Graciosa, one of the

protected areas of the Azores The Protected Areas of the Azores ( pt, Rede Regional de Áreas Protegidas) are the basic administrative-territorial and conservation structures in the archipelago of the Azores and the surrounding oceans. The areas integrate the entirety of the Azo ...

. When ornithologists and other scientific researchers need to access Praia Islet, they do so easily by sea, as the islet has a small natural harbor.

References

{{Azores Islands Graciosa Island (Azores) Islets of the Azores Uninhabited islands of Portugal