Écréhous

The Écréhous are a group of granite islets in the Channel Islands, part of the same island chain as Les Dirouilles and Pierres de Lecq, lying about 9.7 kilometers northeast of Jersey and 13 kilometers from the French coast within the Parish of St Martin in the Bailiwick of Jersey. The largest islet, Maîtr'Île, is about 300 meters long, while most of the group's smaller rocks and islets are submerged at high tide, and none of the islands has any fresh water. The reef of three main islets, Maîtr'Île, La Marmotchiéthe and Lé Bliantch'Île, takes its name from Old Norse words for reef and island, and it was designated a Ramsar wetland site in 2005 for its importance to breeding seabirds such as terns and cormorants, with bird protection zones added in 2022. A scatter of small fishermen's huts and a customs house stand on the rocks, but the group has no permanent residents.