The bank is located 43 kilometres (27 mi) northeast of Santa Maria and southeast of São Miguel, covering a surface area of approximately 9,000 square metres (97,000 sq ft).

[2] Nearly ninety years later on 16 June 1921, the Greek cargo ship Olympia ran aground and wrecked at Formigas; the crew survived.

Prince Albert I of Monaco's Princess Alice expedition also visited the islets in 1895 to investigate the marine life, for both scientific and commercial fishery purposes.

The habitats protected by the Azorean decree include the area from the emerged islets to depths of more than 1,700 metres (5,600 ft), yet this has not stopped incidents of commercial fishing.

As early as 1883 the Portuguese government formally recognized the dangers posed by the Formigas to navigation and proposed building a lighthouse on the islets, but nothing was constructed at the time.

In 1962, the Portuguese Navy's lightship NRP Almirante Schultz anchored at the Formigas and was used as a work base for renovating and modernizing the lighthouse.

In the succeeding years the lighthouse was further modernized; the beacon now runs on solar power and its old acetylene lamp has been replaced with a newer model.

Generally the islets are useful for navigation and visible up to 19 kilometres (12 mi) away on clear days, but during inclement weather a ship can run aground on the rocks without even seeing the lighthouse.

[4] Alongside these are African threadfish and longbill spearfish, pelagic predators that also reside in the bank, and migratory species like manta ray and whale shark.