Isola delle Correnti
| Isola delle Correnti | ||
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| Waters | Libyan sea | |
| Geographical location | 36 ° 38 '44 " N , 15 ° 4' 39" E | |
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| length | 290 m | |
| width | 140 m | |
| surface | 1 ha | |
| Highest elevation | 4 m | |
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The Isola delle Correnti ( ital. 'Island of the rivers', from lat. Currentium insula ) is a small, now uninhabited island in the southeast of Sicily on the territory of the municipality of Portopalo di Capo Passero . It is located 90 meters from a small, sandy peninsula, the southernmost point of the island of Sicily. A breakwater that connects the island to the peninsula is currently damaged and interrupted over a length of 30 meters. The rocky, oval island is 290 meters long and up to 140 meters wide, covers an area of around 10,000 m² and rises to a height of 4 m slm . The island lies in the open Mediterranean Sea, here called the Libyan Sea . The divide to the Ionian Sea is about four kilometers further northeast on Capo Passero . The temperatures are quite high: in summer the thermometer often rises above 37 ° C, in winter it rarely falls below 5 ° C.
On the island there are the ruins of some abandoned houses and a lighthouse. The house of the lighthouse keeper's family, which used to be permanently inhabited and has been abandoned for years, is also falling into decay. Today the island is only visited by bathing tourists, the surrounding waters are used by windsurfers.
The island is only sparsely overgrown with macchia , the species that occur include wild leek and caper bushes . Land animals are hedgehogs and rabbits , there are some species of gulls and albatrosses on the island. It also serves as a resting place for migratory birds on their way to and from Africa. Biologists from the University of Catania have been researching the reproduction of some insect species for several years . Together with an approximately 5 hectare coastal strip, the island was placed under nature protection.