Terrestrial and marine ecology of Marie-Louise, Amirantes, Seychelles

The Amirantes group, Seychelles, comprises 24 islands and islets lying between 5 and 6 south of the equator on the Amirantes Bank, western Indian Ocean. The islands were discovered by the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama on his second voyage to India in 1502, soon after acceding to the rank of Admiral, and the islands were subsequently named Ilhas do Almirante or Admiral's Islands (Lionnet, 1970). The group extends over a distance of 138 km, from African Banks in the north to Desnoeufs in the south. Marie-Louise lies at the southern end of the Amirantes group at 610'S, 5308'E, approximately 13 km from Desnoeufs and 280 km south-west of the granitic island of Mahe (Wilson, 1983).