The Rosais Islets ( pt, Ilhéus dos Rosais; literally, ''Islets of the

Rosaries The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or b ...

'') are two uninhabited rocky islets located just off the extreme northwestern coast of the island of São Jorge in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores.

Geography

The Rosais Islets are two small, basaltic volcanic stacks located immediately off

Ponta dos Rosais Ponta dos Rosais (''Rosais Point'', or literally, ''Point of the Rosaries'') is a promontory located along the northwestern coast of the parish of Rosais, municipality of Velas, on the island of São Jorge in the Portuguese archipelago of the Az ...

, the extreme northwestern point of São Jorge. The islets arise from an

oceanic plateau An oceanic or submarine plateau is a large, relatively flat elevation that is higher than the surrounding relief with one or more relatively steep sides. There are 184 oceanic plateaus in the world, covering an area of or about 5.11% of the ...

called

Baixa da Ponta dos Rosais The Baixa da Ponta dos Rosais is an oceanic plateau located north-northwest off the coast of Ponta dos Rosais, a promontory in the municipality of Velas on the island of São Jorge in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. It is located appro ...

, which itself is part of the

Terceira Rift The Terceira Rift is a geological rift located amidst the Azores islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It runs between the Azores Triple Junction to the west and the Azores–Gibraltar Transform Fault to the southeast. It separates the Eurasian Plate ...

Rosais Rosais (literally, archaic Portuguese for "rosaries") is a civil parish in the municipality of Velas in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The population in 2011 was 743, in an area of 24.23 km². History Although Rosais was first me ...

, a civil parish within the larger municipality of

Velas Velas may refer to: Places * Velas, Azores, Portugal * Velas, Maharashtra, India * Cabo Velas, Costa Rica People * Sara Velas Sara Velas is an artist, graphic designer, gardener, curator and Artistic Director of the Velaslavasay Panorama in Lo ...

, is the settlement nearest the islets.

Biome

The waters around the Rosais Islets and Baixa da Ponta dos Rosais are biodiverse. They are home to various fish including anchovy, Atlantic bonito, Atlantic goliath grouper, bluefish,

European hake ''Merluccius merluccius'', the European hake, is a merluccid hake of the genus ''Merluccius''. Other vernacular names include Cornish salmon and herring hake. It is a predatory species which was often netted alongside one of its favoured prey, th ...

frigate tuna The frigate tuna, frigate mackerel or alagaduwa (''Auxis thazard'') is a species of tuna, in the family Scombridae, found around the world in tropical oceans. The eastern Pacific population is now regarded as a separate species by some authoritie ...

longfin yellowtail The longfin yellowtail (''Seriola rivoliana''), also known as the almaco or silvercoat jack, deep-water, falcate, European or highfin amberjack, rock salmon, longfin or yellow kingfish, is a game fish of the family Carangidae; they are in the sam ...

needlefish Needlefish (family Belonidae) or long toms are piscivorous fishes primarily associated with very shallow marine habitats or the surface of the open sea. Some genera include species found in marine, brackish, and freshwater environments (e.g., ' ...

, red scorpionfish, sawfish,

skipjack tuna The skipjack tuna (''Katsuwonus pelamis'') is a medium-sized perciform fish in the tuna family, Scombridae. It is otherwise known as the balaya (Sri Lanka), bakulan/kayu (North Borneo), tongkol/aya (Malay Peninsula/Indonesia), aku (Hawaii), cakal ...

, vadigo, and yellowmouth barracuda. Common bottlenose dolphins and loggerhead sea turtles also habitate the area. Aquatic plants growing around the Baixa include the brown alga ''

Stypopodium zonale ''Stypopodium zonale'' is a species of thalloid brown alga in the family Dictyotaceae. It is found in shallow waters in the Caribbean Sea and in various other tropical and sub-tropical seas around the world. Description ''Stypopodium zonale'' is ...

'' and the red alga ''

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 ...

''. Marine birds including black-headed gull, common tern, Cory's shearwater,

Eurasian whimbrel The Eurasian whimbrel or common whimbrel (''Numenius phaeopus'') is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across much of subarctic Asia and Europe as far south as Scotland. This specie ...

, great black-backed gull, Kentish plover,

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 ...

, ruddy turnstone, and sanderling frequent the Ponta dos Rosais area and islets. The rocky islets are not completely bare above the water's surface, hosting terrestrial vegetation including the endemic flowering plants Azorean forget-me-not ('' Myosotis azorica'') and Azorean heather ('' Erica azorica''). In recognition of their biodiversity, the islets and surrounding waters are part of the ''Monumento Natural da Ponta dos Rosais'' (Ponta dos Rosais Natural Monument), a nature reserve within the Nature Park of São Jorge, one of the locally

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 ...

. Since June 1995 the islets—as part of the overall Ponta dos Rosais area—have 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 under the Habitats Directive.

References

{{Azores Islands São Jorge Island Islets of the Azores Uninhabited islands of Portugal