Category: Seychelles

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Seychelles

Indian Ocean Explorer hijacked by Somali pirates

The last journey to Seyshelles was exceptional for several resons. First of all, my dream came true – I had a dream to get to Aldabra for 13 years. We sailed a quite long way – over 1500 km during 12 days. Second – I was able to explore unique places: Desroches (an island, on which I had been 3 months beforehand as well), Alphonse, Astove, Cosmoledo, Assumtion, and Aldabra of course.

We were very lucky too. Our vessel, Indian Ocean Explorer, was captured by Somali pirates around 2 weeks after our trip. It happenned near the coast of the Assumption island, between the 28th and 30th of March 2009. The crew was held hostage for 79 days. Fortunately, thanks to the Seychelles authorities, they were released on June 22, 2009. However, Seyshelles government representatives neither did release Somali pirates they had captured nor did pay any ransom for the crew. This is why the vessel still remains in pirate hands, anchored off the coast of Central Somalia.

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Seychelles

Assumption

Assumption Island is a small island located at 9°45′S 46°29′E in the Indian Ocean north of Madagascar and is part of the country of the Seychelles. It is located about 30 km southeast of the Aldabra Atoll and is part of the Aldabra Group. It is a single coral island which measures 11.07 km² in area and which has a small settlement on the sheltered western side, surrounded by Casuarina trees. An abandoned coconut palm plantation is just south of it. There is a concrete runway that runs from between the two sand dunes on the southeast to the settlement. The western shore features an almost uninterruptend sandy beach of 5 km. Two large sand dunes are prominent on the southeastern coast of the island, one of them 32 m high.

Due to the devastating effect of guano mining which lasted until 1983, the island is dominated by expanses of bare rock and caves, and is sparsely covered with low-growing vegetation.

A notable feature of this island is the Assumption Island day gecko, a subspecies of gecko found only on this island.

The documentary The Silent World was partially shot on Assumption.

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)

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Seychelles

Aldabra Atoll

Aldabra is a raised coral atoll in the Aldabra Group of islands in the Indian Ocean that form part of the Seychelles. The island is more than 700 miles from Mahé and is closer to the coast of Africa and Madagascar. Virtually untouched by humans, with distinctive island fauna, including the Aldabra Giant Tortoise, the island is designated a World Heritage Site. The atoll is home to the world’s largest population of giant tortoises, numbering some 100,000 individuals. They are also known for their green turtles, hawksbill turtles, hammerhead sharks, mantarays, barracuda, and birds, including the Aldabra rail, the last surviving flightless bird of the Indian Ocean region. The Aldabra Group includes the island of Assumption and the atolls of Astove and Cosmoledo.

Aladabra was designated a World Heritage Site on November 19, 1982, and is administered by the Seychelles Island Foundation based on Mahé. An environmental disaster for the island was averted in the 1960s when the British nearly entered into negotiations with the United States to turn the island into a military air base. The proposal created an international protest by ecologists and their lobbying resulted in military plans abandoned and the wildlife habitat receiving full protection.

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)

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Seychelles

L’Ilot

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Seychelles

Cosmoledo Atoll

Cosmoledo is an atoll of the Aldabra Group and belongs to the Outer Islands of the Seychelles. The atoll is 14.5 km long east-west, and 11.5 km north-south. The total land area is about 5.2 km², while the lagoon measures 145 km² in area (total 152 km²). It is located at 9°42’S 47°36’E. The closest island is Astove Island, 38 km farther south. Cosmoledo Atoll and Astove Island are together sometimes known as Cosmoledo Group, which is part of the larger Aldabra Group.

There are 16 individual islets and cays along the rim of the atoll, with Menai (in the west) and Wizard Island (Grande Île, in the southeast) being the largest.

Cosmoledo holds Seychelles’ largest colonies of all three species of booby that breed in Seychelles. The atoll holds the last viable population of Brown Booby, breeding mainly on Ile du Sud Ouest, with a few on Ile du Nord. It also has the Indian Ocean’s larget population of Red-footed Booby censused by the Island Conservation Society as about 15,000 pairs.

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)