Assumption Island is a small island located at 9°45S, 46°29E 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.
Wikipedia - Assumption Island
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Seychelles - Cosmoledo Atoll - Astove Island
Astove Island is 38 km SSE of Cosmoledo Atoll, located at (10°06S, 47°45E). It is a raised atoll with just one island forming a nearly closed ring of land around a shallow lagoon with a maximum depth of 3 meters, leaving a passage only in the southwest. The atoll measures 4.5 km north to south and is 2 km wide. The land area is 4.96 km2, and the total area including the lagoon 9,5 km2. The only settlement, on the western coast, has been abandoned since the 1980s. There is a grass airstrip on the north east point of the island. There are remnants of a former plantation of coconuts and sisal. In places, it is difficult to penetrate to the lagoon through the mass of pemphis and bwa matlo scrub. Dunes of up to 18 metres line the windswept eastern rim of the atoll, also covered mainly in bwa matlo. Mangroves line much of the southern half of the lagoon rim. The lagoon is extremely shallow. The near-vertical drop-off from the outer reef edge is excellent for diving.
The atoll hosts four species of landbirds: Madagascar White-eye, Souimanga Sunbird race buchenorum, Madagascar Cisticola and Pied Crow. There are few seabirds, probably due to the presence of rats and feral pigs, left behind when the settlement was abandoned.
Also, unlike the other two atolls of the group, Aldabra and Cosmoledo, there are no predator-free islets (except for a few small sandbanks close to the lagoon entrance). At the lagoon, Caspian Tern will often be seen but it is not known whether or not they ever breed on the sandbanks, where Sooty Terns and Black-naped Terns have also been reported. Green turtles remain very common here despite years of exploitation and remarkably high numbers will be seen on dives or from tender trips to the lagoon entrance close to high tide.
Wikipedia - Astove Island
The atoll hosts four species of landbirds: Madagascar White-eye, Souimanga Sunbird race buchenorum, Madagascar Cisticola and Pied Crow. There are few seabirds, probably due to the presence of rats and feral pigs, left behind when the settlement was abandoned.
Also, unlike the other two atolls of the group, Aldabra and Cosmoledo, there are no predator-free islets (except for a few small sandbanks close to the lagoon entrance). At the lagoon, Caspian Tern will often be seen but it is not known whether or not they ever breed on the sandbanks, where Sooty Terns and Black-naped Terns have also been reported. Green turtles remain very common here despite years of exploitation and remarkably high numbers will be seen on dives or from tender trips to the lagoon entrance close to high tide.
Wikipedia - Astove Island
Seychelles - Cosmoledo Atoll - Ilot la Croix Island
Ilot la Croix Island is an island in the Cosmoledo Atoll located in the Seychelles Archipelago, Africa. Seychelles is off the east coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean.
Seychelles - Cosmoledo Atoll - Ile Sud-Est Island
Ile Sud-Est Island is an island in the Cosmoledo Atoll located in the Seychelles Archipelago, Africa. Seychelles is off the east coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean.
Seychelles - Cosmoledo Atoll - Ile Observation Island
Ile Observation Island is an island in the Cosmoledo Atoll located in the Seychelles Archipelago, Africa. Seychelles is off the east coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean.
Seychelles - Cosmoledo Atoll - Ile du Nord-Ouest Island
Ile du Nord-Ouest Island is an island in the Cosmoledo Atoll located in the Seychelles Archipelago, Africa. Seychelles is off the east coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean.
Seychelles - Cosmoledo Atoll - Ile aux Rats Island
Ile aux Rats Island is an island in the Cosmoledo Atoll located in the Seychelles Archipelago, Africa. Seychelles is off the east coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)