Grand-Îlet (; officially in French: Grand-Îlet des Saintes) is an island in the

Îles des Saintes The Îles des Saintes (; ), also known as Les Saintes (, ), is a group of small islands in the archipelago of Guadeloupe, an overseas department of France. It is part of the Canton of Trois-Rivières and is divided into two communes: Terre- ...

archipelago, in the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea, forming part of the West Indies in Caribbean, Caribbean region of the Americas. They are distinguished from the larger islands of the Greater Antilles to the west. They form an arc w ...

. It belongs to the commune (municipality) of

Terre-de-Haut Terre-de-Haut (; ) is a commune in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe, including Terre-de-Haut Island and a few other small uninhabited islands of the archipelago (''les Roches Percées''; '' Îlet à Cabrit''; '' Grand-Îlet''; ''la Red ...

into the French department of

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

Geography

Grand-Îlet is located, south of

Terre-de-Haut Island Terre-de-Haut Island (; ; also formerly known as ''Petite Martinique'') is the easternmost island in the Îles des Saintes, part of the archipelago of Guadeloupe. Like name of neighboring Terre-de-Bas Island, name Terre-de-Haut comes from the m ...

. Of triangular shape, It ends by three headlands: Grosse Pointe in the east is an abrupt cliff which plunges into Dominica Passage, Basse Pointe in the north of the island overlooking la Redonde, in front of which is located a series of sharpened rocks called les Quilles and Pointe des Colibris on the west, forming with the eastern headland of la Coche, the dangerous passage called Passe des Dames. The island is about from east to west and from north to south. The official size is 84 hectares (although some mistakes appear with a calculated 48 hectares) . Its highest mount, Morne Grosse Pointe hill culminates at . It contain two coves: Anse du Grand Etang, a rocky inlet characterized by its large pond and Anse des Colibris, on the west side of the island. Grand-Îlet Passage is formed by Basse Pointe headland and la Redonde.

Fauna

The island is frequented by

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, loggerh ...

s, which come to reproduce there, but it is the home of the seabirds:

magnificent frigatebird The magnificent frigatebird (''Fregata magnificens''), frigate petrel or man o' war is a seabird of the frigatebird family Fregatidae. With a length of and wingspan of , it is the largest species of frigatebird. It occurs over tropical and subtr ...

(''Fregata magnificens''),

brown booby 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 bro ...

masked booby The masked booby (''Sula dactylatra''), also called the masked gannet or the blue-faced booby, is a large seabird of the booby and gannet family, Sulidae. First described by the French naturalist René-Primevère Lesson in 1831, the masked boob ...

, terns,

double-crested cormorant The double-crested cormorant (''Nannopterum auritum'') is a member of the cormorant family of water birds. It is found near rivers and lakes and in coastal areas and is widely distributed across North America, from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska ...

(''Phalacrocorax auritus''),

pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before ...

petrel Petrels are tube-nosed seabirds in the phylogenetic order Procellariiformes. Description Petrels are a monophyletic group of marine seabirds, sharing a characteristic of a nostril arrangement that results in the name "tubenoses". Petrels enco ...

s nest on the cliff of the island.

Red-footed booby 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 ...

(''Sula sula'') and

blue-footed booby The blue-footed booby (''Sula nebouxii'') is a marine bird native to subtropical and tropical regions of the eastern Pacific Ocean. It is one of six species of the genus ''booby, Sula'' – known as boobies. It is easily recognizable by its dis ...

(''Sula nebouxii'') are only observable on Grand-Îlet, among the islands of

department. The waste of these birds results in a strong concentration of

guano Guano (Spanish from ) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. Guano is a highly effective fertiliser due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. Guano was also, to a le ...

on the rocks and beaches. The beaches of the island are rich in crabs, in particular the blue land crabs, the blackback land crabs and the sand fiddler crab. The wading birds of

live in the large pond of the island.

Natural reserve and diving

Since 1994, the island is the property of

Conservatoire du littoral The ''Conservatoire du littoral'' ("Coastal protection agency") (official name: ''Conservatoire de l'espace littoral et des rivages lacustres'') is a French public organisation created in 1975 to ensure the protection of outstanding natural areas o ...

and is placed under the protection of the agency even if the municipality of

and the National Forests Office of

stay the administrators. It is a space protected and classified category IV

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

. The xerophile forest of all the islands of the archipelago of les Saintes is also protected, in particular woodlands of '' Eugenia axillaris'', an important species among the

. Grand Îlet is included in the area of the natural reserve of the islands of les Saintes. It is a remarkable site of submarine observation, due to the presence of a diving ''sec'' in full swell. It is a submarine mountain which the base is at less and the top at less below sea level. The place abounds in an incredible variety of sponges, gorgonians, corals and fishes of the Antilles, attracting the divers.

Notes and references

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grand-Ilet Uninhabited islands of Îles des Saintes