corals and soft corals is typical of many very sedimented areas and shallow lagoons in the Indian Ocean. The islands are home to a total of 26 species of seabirds such as blue-faced boobies, sooty terns, and white terns. Green turtles and hawksbill turtles are also found on the islands. History The atoll was probably discovered in 975 A.D. by Arabian sailors along with Dina Arobi ("Abandoned Island"), now known as the island of Mauritius. It can also be found listed as on the 1502 Cantino Planisphere map. It was named in 1506 by Portuguese sailors who went ashore for provisioning on their way to India. Pirates and French corsairs have also used the islands as a refuge. In 1598, the Dutch occupied the islands. On 12 February 1662, the East India Ship Arnhem ran aground on the Saint Brandon Rocks. Volkert Evertsz, the captain, and other survivors of the wreck survived by piloting a small boat to Mauritius, and are thought to have been the last humans to see living dodos. They survived the three months until their rescue by hunting "goats, birds, tortoises and pigs". Evertsz was rescued by the English ship Truroe in May 1662. Seven of the survivors chose not to return with the first rescue ship. Mauritius and its associated islands were colonised by the French some time around 1715, granted by the King of France to the in 1726 but retroceded to the French Crown in 1765. Saint Brandon was referred to as Cargados in Samuel Dunn's world map of 1794. On 9 June 1806, the French general Charles Decaen ordered the corsair Charles Nicolas Mariette to send a spying mission to Saint Brandon and to leave six men on the most prominent island and, on his return trip to Mauritius, to ascertain once and for all that Cargados Carajos and St. Brandon were the same shoal. The frigate Piemontaise under the command of Louis Jacques Eperon le Jeune departed on 11 June 1806. In 1810, the islands were taken by force by Britain, becoming a British crown colony. From October to November 1917, the St. Brandon Islands and, in particular, the lagoon of L'Île Coco, were used as a base by the German raiding vessel , commanded by Karl August Nerger. On the island, transferred stoking coal and stores from the captured Japanese ship which took three weeks. The coal was necessary for