The islets are the exposed remains of a Surtseyan cone composed of volcanic tuff rock, heavily eroded by the ocean and seismic activity.

It measures 9 hectares (22 acres) or 0.09 square kilometres (0.035 sq mi) in area, with a highest point of 74 metres (243 ft) above sea level.

[1] Thanks to limited human access and a lack of predatory mammals such as cats, rats, and ferrets, the islet shelters a variety of marine birds.

[1][2][4] This biodiversity and abundance of endemic species led to the creation of a conservation area around the islet called the Zona Especial de Conservação do Ilhéu de Baixo e Ponta da Restinga (Baixo Islet and Restinga Point Special Conservation Zone).

According to Azorean chronicler Gaspar Frutuoso in his publication Saudades da Terra, the moniker derived from a possibly apocryphal 1541 occurrence.