Baixo Islet (; ''Lower Islet'' in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

), also known locally as ''Ilhéu do Carapacho'' (''

Carapace A carapace is a dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the unde ...

Islet'') and historically as ''Ilhéu dos Homiziados'' (''Islet of the Fugitives''), is a small uninhabited

islet An islet ( ) is generally a small island. Definitions vary, and are not precise, but some suggest that an islet is a very small, often unnamed, island with little or no vegetation to support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/ ...

group located off the southeast coast of the island of

Graciosa Graciosa Island () (literally "graceful" or "enchanting" in Portuguese), also referred to as the ''White Island'', is a volcanic island in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the northernmost of the Central Group of islands in the Azores archipelago. The o ...

in the Portuguese archipelago of the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

. Along with

Praia Islet Praia Islet (; literally, ''Beach Islet'') is a highly vegetated uninhabited islet located approximately away from the town of Praia off the eastern coast of the island of Graciosa in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. Along with Baixo ...

to its north, Baixo Islet is one of two main breeding places of

Monteiro's storm petrel Monteiro's storm petrel (''Hydrobates monteiroi'') is a seabird species from the storm petrel family, Hydrobatidae. The cryptic species was once considered to be conspecific with the band-rumped storm petrel.M. Bolton, A.L. Smith, E. Gomez-Diaz, ...

, an endemic marine bird of the Azores.

Geography

Baixo Islet is in fact two

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

ic islets, one much larger than the other. The islets are the exposed remains of a Surtseyan

cone In geometry, a cone is a three-dimensional figure that tapers smoothly from a flat base (typically a circle) to a point not contained in the base, called the '' apex'' or '' vertex''. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines ...

composed of volcanic

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...

rock, heavily eroded by the ocean and seismic activity. The larger main islet is located about southeastof ''Ponta da Restinga'' (''Restinga Point''), which is a small peninsula of Graciosa. It measures or in area, with a highest point of above sea level.

Biome

The islet and its exposed sea cliffs provide a habitat for flowering coastal plants endemic to the Azores, some of which are endangered, including Azorean forget-me-not ('' Myosotis azorica''), Azorean spurge or ''erva-leiteira'' ('' Euphorbia azorica''), ''bracel-da-rocha'' fescue grass ('' Festuca petraea''), ''

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

'', and ''vidália'' ('' Azorina vidalii''). Thanks to limited human access and a lack of predatory mammals such as

cat The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include '' Neotoma'' (pack rats), '' Bandicota'' (bandicoo ...

s, and

ferret The ferret (''Mustela furo'') is a small, domesticated species belonging to the family Mustelidae. The ferret is most likely a domesticated form of the wild European polecat (''Mustela putorius''), as evidenced by the ferret's ability to inter ...

s, the islet shelters a variety of marine birds. Along with

to its north, Baixo Islet is one of two main breeding places of

, an endemic marine bird of the Azores. Other marine birds present on the islet include band-rumped storm petrel,

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 Canaries of Macaronesia in the North Atlantic Ocean. The English na ...

black-headed gull The black-headed gull (''Chroicocephalus ridibundus'') is a small gull that breeds in much of the Palearctic in Europe and Asia, and also locally in smaller numbers in coastal eastern Canada. Most of the population is migratory and winters fu ...

Bulwer's petrel Bulwer's petrel (''Bulweria bulwerii'') is a small petrel in the family Procellariidae that is found in tropical and subtropical regions of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is named after the English naturalist James Bulwer. Taxonomy ...

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 Temperateness, temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is stron ...

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

Eurasian whimbrel The Eurasian or common whimbrel (''Numenius phaeopus''), also known as the white-rumped whimbrel in North America, is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across much of subarctic Pal ...

, Fea's petrel,

great black-backed gull The great black-backed gull (''Larus marinus'') is the largest member of the gull family. It is a very aggressive hunter, pirate, and scavenger which breeds on the coasts and islands of the North Atlantic in northern Europe and northeastern Nort ...

grey heron The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia, and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more norther ...

Kentish plover The Kentish plover (''Anarhynchus alexandrinus'') is a small wader () of the family Charadriidae that breeds on the shores of saline lakes, lagoons, and coasts, populating sand dunes, marshes, semi-arid desert, and tundra.Székely, T., A. Argüel ...

little egret The little egret (''Egretta garzetta'') is a species of small heron in the family Ardeidae. It is a white bird with a slender black beak, long black legs and, in the western race, yellow feet. As an aquatic bird, it feeds in shallow water and on ...

ruddy turnstone The ruddy turnstone (''Arenaria interpres'') is a small Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan wader, wading bird, one of two species of turnstone in the genus ''Arenaria''. It is now classified in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae but was form ...

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-colour ...

, and

yellow-legged gull The yellow-legged gull (''Larus michahellis'') is a large gull found in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, which has only recently achieved wide recognition as a distinct species. It was formerly treated as a subspecies of either the Cas ...

. This

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

and abundance of endemic species led to the creation of a conservation area around the islet called the ''Zona Especial de Conservação do Ilhéu de Baixo e Ponta da Restinga'' (''Baixo Islet and Restinga Point Special Conservation Zone''). The conservation zone is part of the Nature Park of Graciosa, one of the locally

protected areas of the Azores The Protected Areas of the Azores () 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 Azores within its Exclusive Economic Zone, ...

. 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 ...

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, respectiv ...

initiative under the

Habitats Directive The Habitats Directive (more formally known as Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora) is a directive adopted by the European Community in 1992 as a response to the Berne Convention. The ...

and

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 Dir ...

History

Human access to the islet is infrequent and only possible by small boat. Historically the islet was known as ''Ilhéu dos Homiziados'' (''Islet of the Fugitives''). According to Azorean chronicler

Gaspar Frutuoso Gaspar Frutuoso ( 1522 – 1591) was a Portuguese priest, historian and humanist from the island of São Miguel, in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. His major contribution to Portuguese history was his detailed descriptions of the histo ...

in his publication ''

Saudades da Terra ''Saudades da Terra'' is a manuscript, was published by father Gaspar Frutuoso, which forms a reference work on Macaronesia in the late 16th century. The manuscript was written between 1586 and 1590, divided into two volumes, based on the auth ...

'', the moniker derived from a possibly

apocrypha Apocrypha () are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture, some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. In Christianity, the word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to ...

l 1541 occurrence. Seven young men landed on the island for recreational purposes and were trapped overnight by rough seas. Five of their friends jocularly referred to them as ''os homiziados'' (''the fugitives'') and endeavored to rescue them. Unfortunately, en route to the islet the rescuers' boat capsized, killing four of them.

References

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