The pole is some sort of signal beacon for a the rather close port (don't know what they're called), and the people monkey craftily made visible are the rest of the small group I was at the beach with. Okay, the island is not totally deserted.
I thought it'd sound more dramatic that way, and I didn't want to do a MI nod.
The island is Texel, and those who know it will agree that it defaults to "almost deserted" even on a busy day.
We did a horse wagon trip there, and the driver spent almost twenty minutes to tell us about the famous
ANTHILLS.