Topo Islet ( pt, Ilhéu do Topo) is a vegetated uninhabited

islet An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanent ...

just off the extreme southeastern tip of the island of São Jorge in the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

archipelago of the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

Geography

Topo Islet is approximately in area. It is about off the southeasternmost tip of São Jorge, adjacent the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Topo Topo or TOPO may refer to: * Topo (Calheta), a civil parish in the municipality of Calheta, in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores * Topo (climbing), in climbing, a guide for a crag or climbing area * Topo (robot), a robot aimed at the consu ...

in the Calheta municipality. Waters around the islet range from deep. The area is suitable for more experienced

divers Diver or divers may refer to: *Diving (sport), the sport of performing acrobatics while jumping or falling into water *Practitioner of underwater diving, including: **scuba diving, **freediving, **surface-supplied diving, **saturation diving, a ...

due to strong currents. Though the islet is just off the coast, most diving expeditions leave from the port of Velas, about 75 minutes away by boat. The islet has no permanent human population or structures. However, prior to Topo Islet's local protection as a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

, people visited the islet and its waters to

camp Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

and

spearfish Spearfish may refer to: Places *Spearfish, South Dakota, United States * North Spearfish, South Dakota, United States * Spearfish Formation, a geologic formation in the United States Biology * ''Tetrapturus'', a genus of marlin containing spe ...

Biome

The islet serves as a marine bird sanctuary. Marine birds inhabiting or visiting the islet include

black-headed gull The black-headed gull (''Chroicocephalus ridibundus'') is a small gull that breeds in much of the Palearctic including Europe and also in coastal eastern Canada. Most of the population is migratory and winters further south, but some birds res ...

common tern The common tern (''Sterna hirundo'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly migratory ...

Cory's shearwater Cory's shearwater (''Calonectris borealis'') is a large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It breeds colonially of rocky islands in the eastern Atlantic. Outside the breeding season it ranges widely in the Atlantic. It was formerly ...

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 The great black-backed gull (''Larus marinus'') is the largest member of the gull family. Described by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as "the king of the Atlantic waterfront", it is a very aggressive hunter, pirate, and scavenger. It breeds on t ...

, little egret,

little shearwater The little shearwater (''Puffinus assimilis'') is a small shearwater in the petrel family Procellariidae. Despite the generic name, it is unrelated to the puffins, which are auks, the only similarity being that they are both burrow-nesting seab ...

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 The ruddy turnstone (''Arenaria interpres'') is a small cosmopolitan wading bird, one of two species of turnstone in the genus ''Arenaria''. It is now classified in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae but was formerly sometimes placed in the plov ...

, and

sanderling The sanderling (''Calidris alba'') is a small wading bird. The name derives from Old English ''sand-yrðling'', "sand-ploughman". The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloure ...

. In recognition of the islet's role as a marine bird habitat, in 1984 the regional

Legislative Assembly of the Azores The Legislative Assembly of the Azores ( pt, Assembleia Legislativa dos Açores) is the regional assembly/legislature of the Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal. History The regional legislative assembly, since it was first instituted, ha ...

decreed the islet a "partial" nature reserve. Since March 1990 the islet and adjacent coastline on the main island of São Jorge 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

Birds Directive The Birds Directive (formally known as Council Directive 2009/147/EC on the conservation of wild birds) is the oldest piece of EU legislation on the environment and one of its cornerstones which was unanimously adopted in April 1979 as the Dire ...

. In 2011 the original Topo Islet reserve and adjacent coastline was named ''Área Protegida para a Gestão de Habitats ou Espécies do Ilhéu do Topo'' (Topo Islet Protected Area for Habitat and Species Restoration) and integrated into the newly established 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 ...

. The entire terrestrial area of the islet is protected. As sheep and cattle

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...

on the islet—damaging the natural habitat—its plant diversity is low. However, researchers have found exemplars of the endemic Azorean ''bracel-da-rocha'' fescue grass (''

Festuca ''Festuca'' (fescue) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the grass family Poaceae (subfamily Pooideae). They are evergreen or herbaceous perennial tufted grasses with a height range of and a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on every ...

petraea'') on Topo Islet. The waters around Topo Islet are

biodiverse Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity'') ...

. Fish observed in the area include

Atlantic bonito The Atlantic bonito (''Sarda sarda'') is a large mackerel-like fish of the family Scombridae. It is common in shallow waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea, where it is an important commercial and game fish. De ...

, Azores chromis, barred hogfish,

bluefish The bluefish (''Pomatomus saltatrix'') is the only extant species of the family Pomatomidae. It is a marine pelagic fish found around the world in temperate and subtropical waters, except for the northern Pacific Ocean. Bluefish are known as ta ...

Canary damsel The Canary damsel (''Similiparma lurida'') is a species of marine fish of the family Pomacentridae. It lives primary in shallow, subtropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean, and is sometimes also known as the Cape Verde gregory, which is also a co ...

dusky grouper ''Epinephelus marginatus'' (), the dusky grouper, yellowbelly rock cod or yellowbelly grouper, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae which is part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the an ...

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 ...

, Mediterranean rainbow wrasse,

moray eel Moray eels, or Muraenidae (), are a family of eels whose members are found worldwide. There are approximately 200 species in 15 genera which are almost exclusively marine, but several species are regularly seen in brackish water, and a few are f ...

s of various species, ornate wrasse,

white trevally The white trevally (''Pseudocaranx dentex''), also known as striped jack,) is a jack of the family Carangidae widespread in tropical and warm temperate areas between 40°N and 47°S, in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. It h ...

, and yellowmouth barracuda. The

common octopus The common octopus (''Octopus vulgaris'') is a mollusc belonging to the class Cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda (Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. The ...

also habitates the area.

References

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