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 The adjacent islands of Yasat al-Ulya and Yasat Sufla, together with the smaller island of Judayrah, are in the far west of the UAE, lying in the centre of the bay that extends from the headland of Jebel Dhanna, in the east, to the Sila'a peninsula, in the west.
Yasat al-Ulya has an important breeding colony of Socotra cormorants (Phalacrocorax nigrogularis), one of less than 15 extant colonies in the world, the majority of which are on islands in UAE waters, while other breeding bird species include bridled tern (Sterna anaethetus) and Saunder's little tern (Sterna saundersi). On Judayrah, the southernmost of the three islands, western reef herons (Egretta gularis) nest on the ground and among bushes, in the absence of the trees, usually mangrove (Avicennia marina), which are their preferred nest sites.
The surrounding waters are important for their fish stocks and for areas of coral reef.
Surveys by the Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey, ADIAS, have shown that the Yasat islands were the site of human settlement in the late pre-Islamic period (first to sixth centuries AD), while there is also extensive evidence of occupation during the Late Islamic period, including coastal shell middens, water catchment systems and the remains of shelters.
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