St. Joseph Atoll

St. Joseph Atoll
	Map of D'Arros Island and neighboring St. Joseph Atoll, part of the Amirante Islands group
	St. Joseph Atoll
Geography
Location	Indian Ocean
Coordinates	05°24′S 53°18′E / 5.400°S 53.300°ECoordinates: 05°24′S 53°18′E / 5.400°S 53.300°E
Type	Atoll
Archipelago	Seychelles
Adjacent bodies of water	Indian Ocean
Total islands	13
Major islands	St. Joseph; Fouquet; Benjamin; Paul; Ressource;
Area	1.632 km2 (0.630 sq mi)
Highest elevation	3 m (10 ft)
Administration
	Seychelles
Group	Outer Islands
Sub-Group	Amirante Islands
Sub-Group
Districts	Outer Islands District
Largest settlement	St. Joseph (pop. 0)
Demographics
Population	0 (2014)
Pop. density	0/km2 (0/sq mi)
Ethnic groups	Creole, French, East Africans, Indians.
Additional information
Time zone	SCT (UTC+4);
ISO code	SC-26
Official website	www.seychelles.travel/en/discover/the-islands/outer-islands

Saint Joseph Atoll is part of the Amirante Islands group, which are in the Outer Islands (Coralline Seychelles) coral archipelago of the Seychelles islands and nation. The atoll is located southwest of the granitic Inner Seychelles archipelago, with a distance of 248 km south of Victoria, Seychelles.

History[]

The atoll was discovered in 1770 by European sailors.^[2]

Private atoll

In 1960, The island became the property of a Seychellois family, who built a coconut plantation on the bigger St. Joseph island.

Nature preserve

In August 2012 it was revealed that the atoll was sold, together with D'Arros Island, for US$60 million, to be managed by the Foundation.^[3]^[4]

Geography[]

Saint Joseph Atoll is located only 2.3 kilometres (1.4 mi) east of the eastern part of D'Arros Island, but it is a separate geographical unit, separated by 60–62 metres (197–203 ft) deep water of a 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) wide channel, which is deeper than much of the Amirantes Bank. The land area of the Atoll occupies 1.21 square kilometres (0.47 sq mi). The main Saint Joseph island is of crescent shaped, flat coral sand cay, 2.2 kilometres (1.4 mi) long and with average 0.4 kilometres (0.25 mi) wide, and nowhere higher than 3 metres (9.8 ft). The tree tops are about 24 m high.

Coral reefs[]

The Atoll stands on a detached patch coral reef similarly orientated, with maximum dimensions of 6.6 kilometres (4.1 mi) and 4.4 kilometres (2.7 mi). Its total area is 22.53 km², of which 11.74 km² comprises the peripheral reef flat, 4.8 km² the interior lagoon, and only 1.39 km² the land area of all islets. Depths of 500 m are found only 1.5 km east of the reef edge, and of 1000 m one kilometer further east.

Lagoon[]

The lagoon is completely enclosed by the surrounding reef. At low water it drains over a narrow sill, Passe Lerein Fin, at its western end. The lagoon has a maximum depth of 6.4 m. Other soundings range from 2.1 to 3.7 m. The peripheral reefs, in addition to being exceptionally wide, are covered (except on the west side) with mobile sand. Inter-tidal sand sheets are encroaching on the margins of the lagoon on its windward side, which is marked for much of its extent by a discontinuous linear sandbar. There are no growing reefs in the lagoon.

List of islets[]

The atoll has 13 sandy islets: the three larger ones along the northeast and east shore, which are covered by coconut plantations, and the remaining ones in the south:

	Island	type	Area (hectares)	Location
1	Vars	sand cay	0.21	05°24′22″S 53°19′34″E / 5.40611°S 53.32611°E / -5.40611; 53.32611
2	Ressource	island	12.10	05°24′34″S 53°19′36″E / 5.40944°S 53.32667°E / -5.40944; 53.32667
3	Fouquet Island (ÎIe aux Fouquets)	island	16.70	05°25′23″S 53°20′24″E / 5.42306°S 53.34000°E / -5.42306; 53.34000
4	Pelican Cay (Pélicans)	sand cay	6.00	05°26′10″S 53°20′56″E / 5.43611°S 53.34889°E / -5.43611; 53.34889
5	Saint Joseph Island	island	108.40	05°26′28″S 53°21′35″E / 5.44111°S 53.35972°E / -5.44111; 53.35972
6	Carcassaye Island	sand cay	2.72	05°24′22″S 53°21′23″E / 5.40611°S 53.35639°E / -5.40611; 53.35639
7	Sable Islet	sand cay	0.12	05°26′52″S 53°21′28″E / 5.44778°S 53.35778°E / -5.44778; 53.35778
8	Benjamen Island	sand cay	6.80	05°26′28″S 53°20′47″E / 5.44111°S 53.34639°E / -5.44111; 53.34639
9	Ferrari Island	sand cay	1.02	05°26′47″S 53°20′56″E / 5.44639°S 53.34889°E / -5.44639; 53.34889
10	Chien Island	sand cay	3.25	05°27′00″S 53°20′50″E / 5.45000°S 53.34722°E / -5.45000; 53.34722
11	Paul Island (ÎIe aux Poules)	island	4.58	05°26′44″S 53°20′28″E / 5.44556°S 53.34111°E / -5.44556; 53.34111
12	Banc aux Cocos east	sand cay	0.70	05°26′12″S 53°19′36″E / 5.43667°S 53.32667°E / -5.43667; 53.32667
13	Banc aux Cocos west	sand cay	0.60	05°26′04″S 53°19′21″E / 5.43444°S 53.32250°E / -5.43444; 53.32250
	St. Joseph Atoll	Atoll	163.2	05°26′S 53°21′E / 5.433°S 53.350°E / -5.433; 53.350

Administration[]

The island belongs to Outer Islands District.^[5]

Demographics[]

The atoll is currently uninhabited. it hosted a small population of 10, which now moved to D'Arros Island. There are several ruined buildings on the main island of St. Joseph, near the cultivated area at the western end.