Île Plate
Île Plate, also known as Flat Island, is a small island in the Indian Ocean off the north coast of Mauritius.
Geography
Île Plate is located north of Cap Malheureux, the main island's northernmost point. It is part of the administrative area of Rivière du Rempart District. The small nature reserve of Coin de Mire lies between the two islands.As its name suggests, Île Plate is low-lying, apart from a bluff, and is in danger of possible submersion due to the historical rise in the sea-level. It covers an area of. Two small islets, Îlot Gabriel and Pigeon Rock, lie close to the shore of Île Plate. The three sites are national protected areas.
Île Plate is uninhabited, though there is a small army base on the island.
Flora and fauna
A census conducted in 2007/2008 by the University of Mauritius classified 121 species of vascular plants, many of which are non-native. Among the indigenous plants present, the Latania loddigesii, Pandanus vandermeeschii, Psiadia arguta, as well as the reintroduced Dracaena concinna and Aloe tormentorii, imported from the island of Coin de Mire.The only mammals on the island are three species of bats: the Mauritian flying fox, the Mauritius tomb bat and the Natal free-tailed bat.
Three species of seabirds nest on the island: the Wedge-tailed shearwater, the Red-tailed Tropicbird and the White-tailed Tropicbird. The rich vegetation of the interior of the island combined with the presence of wetlands also favor the nesting of the striated heron and occasionally also attract the Whimbrel, the plover and the Ruddy turnstone. Some exotic species such as the common myna, the red-whiskered bulbul and the House sparrow are present.
The island was once home to the largest population of Bojer's skink, once very common on the island of Mauritius, and now considered critically endangered. The population was decimated following the arrival of the Asian house shrew on the island. Other reptiles present are the Snake-eyed skink, the Ornate day gecko and the Lesser night gecko. Three exotic species have also been introduced to the island: the geckos Hemidactylus frenatus, Gehyra mutilata and the fossorial snake Indotyphlops braminus.
The black rat population of Gabriel and Flat Island was eradicated in 1995 and 1998, respectively.
History
Île Plate was approached during the Baudin expedition to Australia on March 15, 1801. Jean-Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent described it from aboard the Naturaliste: she is "much lower than the others; a beach of limestone makes it remarkable from afar, and appears with a dazzling white hue; the rest of its rocks are reddish or black". To explain these last colors, he refers to a certain Lilet, an engineer officer, who would have visited the reef and who told him he had found the debris of an ancient crater of volcano.One of Mauritius's few operating lighthouses, built in 1855, is found on the southwest side of the island.
Flat Island was used as a quarantine station from the mid-19th century to the 1930s. It was reserved for immigrants to Mauritius, mostly indentured labourers, undergoing quarantine for cholera, although it was sometimes used during other epidemic outbreaks such as smallpox and malaria. Infrastructure was built between 1856 and 1870 and included stone and wooden buildings. These buildings comprised living quarters and offices for medical, police, and immigration officials in charge of the quarantine station and barracks for migrants placed in quarantine. Kitchens, stores, toilets, privies, two hospitals, and a distillation plant used for water supply were also constructed. Many of these structures are still preserved, though overgrown.
A cemetery located on the southern side of the island is still recognizable for the presence of basalt structures and cairns on the top of some graves.