Île Platte

Platte Island
Nickname: Île Platte
Platte Island
Geography
Location Indian Ocean
Coordinates 05°52′S 55°24′E / 5.867°S 55.400°E / -5.867; 55.400Coordinates: 05°52′S 55°24′E / 5.867°S 55.400°E / -5.867; 55.400
Archipelago Seychelles
Adjacent bodies of water Indian Ocean
Total islands 1
Major islands
  • Platte     
Area 0.578 km2 (0.223 sq mi)
Length 1.3 km (0.81 mi)
Width 0.55 km (0.342 mi)
Coastline 3.3 km (2.05 mi)
Administration
Group Outer Islands
Sub-Group Southern Coral Group
Districts Outer Islands District
Largest settlement
Platte
(population 3)
Demographics
Demonym Creole
Population 3 (2014)
Pop. density 5.2 /km2 (13.5 /sq mi)
Ethnic groups Creole, French, East Africans, Indians.
Additional information
Time zone
Official website www.seychelles.travel/en/discover/the-islands/outer-islands
ISO Code = SC-26

Platte Island or Île Platte is part of the Southern Coral Group of islands in the Seychelles that are part of the Outer Islands.

Geography

At 05°52′S 55°24′E / 5.867°S 55.400°E / -5.867; 55.400, it is south of the Seychelles Bank. Coëtivy Island, 171 kilometres (106 mi) further southeast, is also of the Southern Coral Group. Platte Island is located 130 kilometres (81 mi) south of Mahé, the main island of the Seychelles. The island, a low and wooded sand cay, is about 1,300 metres (4,300 ft) long north-south, with a width from 250 metres (820 ft) in the south to 550 metres (1,800 ft) in the north, with a land area of 0.578 square kilometres (0.223 sq mi).

History

Platte lies 140 km south of Victoria. It is a small island of just 54 hectares. with a height of 3mtr above the see level

Platte was discovered and named in 1769 for its low topography by Lieutenant de Lampériaire of La Curieuse. And it also known as it Nickname "ill Pllate".[1]

In the 1840s there was sufficient guano on the island to make it worthwhile excavating, and they were still taking guano in the 20th century. A visitor in 1905 stated that 1500 tons had been taken off the island the month before he arrived. He also reported on the island’s “beautiful plantation of cocoanuts which yields about 20,000 a month,” the fine condition of the palms presumably due to the guano rich soil. The island was not always so productive. In 1864 the British Civil Commissioner complained that “despite 18 years’ occupation only 17 coconut trees have been planted”.

In 1828 Platte was proposed as a suitable location for an isolation camp for leprosy sufferers, but in 1838 the island was taken over by the British administration for use as a quarantine station for visiting ships instead. It did not prove entirely satisfactory. Being at some distance from authority, the crews of the ships, in particular the whalers, tended to run amok, causing “depredations”. By 1864 the Civil Commissioner had further complaints about the use of Platte as a quarantine island. He did not think it ”of much potential utility because it is 71 miles from Mahé and vessels of 500 tons burden cannot approach nearer than 5 miles because of the dangerous reef. Also during the SE monsoon it is almost inaccessible to any vessel”. He was dubious as to the possibility of building any infrastructure on the island because “an erection on Flat Island would be…expensive – it is entirely coral with no timber, trees having been removed to plant coconuts…The only house is a hut constructed of leaves. No provisions except for fish are available. There is sufficient dead wood to burn lime and there is coral for building but all labourers and rations would have to come from Mahé at great expense”. He noted that the last time a ship was put in quarantine, Long Island was actually used, but his preference was to use Moyenne as the quarantine station.


Coral reefs

Barrier reefs, over which the sea breaks heavily, extend 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north, 0.8 kilometres (0.50 mi) east, and 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi) south of the island, making it a pseudo-atoll. Within the barrier reefs, the lagoon is quite smooth, and landing is safe and easy.

A submerged coral reef rim extends 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) west and 18 kilometres (11 mi) south of the island, obviously the remnants of a sunken atoll, creating a complex of almost 25 kilometres (16 mi) in length north-south and 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) in width east-west and covering an area of roughly 270 km2.

There are two tricky passages through the reef on the northwest side, available only for small vessels with local knowledge only. La Perle Reef lies at the southwestern end of the reef rim, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) southwest of Platte Island. Depths of less than 4 metres (13 ft) can exist on this reef where breakers have been observed.

Demographics

There is a small settlement on the western shore with the manager's house and a few guest cottages to the northwest. There is also an abandoned Church and abandoned hospital. the IDC plans to build a hotel instead of the guesthouses[2][3]

Administration

The Platte island Administered by the Island Development company. It An island with a small population, there are not any government buildings or services. For many services, people have to go to Victoria which is a difficult task. Then Before the people went to the Island for work they has to do a medical test, which will prove they are fit for a long rage working area without much medical equipment. IDC replenish all consumption needed by the platte island in every three month. In Example Food, fuel, medicine, and any other equipment that will be necessary on the Island to get a job done.

Transport

The Platte island is bisected by a 1000 mtr Airfield that follows the long north-south axis, 23mtr wide East-west, and 3m Above the sea level. The island is occasionally serviced by an Island Development Company (IDC) aircraft from Mahé.

The Platte Island does also have a jetty 3mtr deep that a landing craft 400-500 ton can beach with a tide of 1.5mtr minimum. The Landing Craft Name which came at the platte Jetty in 2016 are as follows: Spirit of ton Joe, enterprise ii, little boy.

Economics

The inhabitants on the island are engaged in very small scale farming and fishing which are mainly for the island consumption during 2004. And IDC Proposed plan for Platte developments in the future are mixed tourism, fisheries, agriculture, villa developments + conservation.

Flora and Fauna

The island is known for its rich fish life. And Red-footed booby and sooty tern used to breed but are now extinct. Brown noddy and white-tailed tropicbird still breed while hundreds of lesser noddy and bridled tern roost at night. Barn owls were introduced in 1949 but died out in 1951-1952. Madagascar fody also breed. A year-long turtle study conducted in 1998 demonstrated Platte to have significant populations of some 40 female hawksbills nesting annually

References

Media related to Platte Island (Île Platte) at Wikimedia Commons

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Platte Island.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/29/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.