There was once a coconut plantation in Ile Aigle, as well as a small settlement of
Chagossian plantation workers. But at the time of Commander
Robert Moresby's survey of the Chagos in 1838, this island was populated only occasionally. Not long after the settlement of the Chagos group by the French planters at the end of the 18th century, the tendency was to concentrate the workers on only a few islands from which the plantations were run, like Ile Boddam in the
Salomon Atoll. In 1975 during the
Joint Services Expedition to
Danger Island (JSDI), the expedition members were taken by
RFA Resurgent to Eagle Islands and then by
ketch and inflatable craft to Danger Island and onward to
Three Brothers. The expedition made a topographical survey of the coral reefs, an ecological survey of the corals on it and a study on the metabolism of the reef. A reference collection of samples of the flora and fauna of the area was also undertaken. Since 1998 the islands are part of the
Chagos Archipelago Strict Nature Reserve; it is forbidden to land on the islands or to anchor a boat nearby. The islands have large populations of nesting seabirds. ==References==