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This is one of the Salomon Islands an atoll is a type of low, coral island found in tropical oceans and consisting of a coral-algal reef surrounding a central depression the Lagoon. The Photos below are from the Lagoon side of the Island and the individual islets of the atoll are, 1. Ile de la Passe2. Ile Mapou3. Ile Tatamaka4. Ile Fouquet5. Ile Sepulture6. Ile Jacobin7. Ile Charles8. Ile Poule9. Ile Boddam10. Ile Diable11. Ile Anglaise
Coconut crabs grow very slowly and must reach an age of 4-8 years before they can reproduce. An adult may weigh up to 4kg and live for over 30 years. Coconut crabs are not like humans, they have their skeleton on the outside (carapace). As they grow they must shed this hard carapace and grow a new, bigger one. They hide away in shallow hole for about a month to moult and grow a new carapace.Mating occurs from May to September, with a peak in July to August. The females will come out of their burrows several months later in October or November to release the eggs which they have stored under their tails (abdomen). The female moves to the shore and releases the eggs into the sea. After hatching, the tiny baby crabs float around in the water for four to five weeks before settling. For about nine months they will use an old seashell to live in. They stay close to the water, and gradually...
This archipelago is roughly 300km south of the THE Maldives it is in fact more than Crabs but also the hime of the crucial US base on the British Indian Ocean territory at Diego Garcia. It is about 600 Km from the tip of of India. Through its three main channels more than $300bn worth of oil is shipped annually. The islands were and still are a British protectorate, not least because of their strategic position.
Coconut crabs on these BIOT islands were everywhere once found widely throughout the Indian and Pacific. They have now disappeared over much of their previous range because they are so big and taste. But no people lots of Crabs so I guess the Coconut crabs are very pleased with the American and Brits giving the poor Islanders the boot. During the day they hide in holes in the sand or under coconut trees and shrubs. At night they forage along beaches and over coral rocks looking for food. In areas where there are a lot of coconut crabs they will also forage during the day. They eat fruit, rotting leaves and animals. With their massive claws they can open and eat fallen coconuts. This crab is the largest crab found in the world and spends most of its life out of the water, although they do need to drink seawater from time to time to keep up their salt levels. If you leave an adult coconut...
The town and copra plantation houseThis is a very sad place but belive it or not it is quite often visited by the yachting crow of the world, the time I was there it had three large yachts in and around the Island. A Danish couple with two small children had been around for many months just haging out eating fish and coconuts and staying out of sight of the American planes that would time to time fly in to check it all out. The little town had streets Church, graveyard and abandon homes very ghost town like because the homes were like the were going to be reoccupied. The little town also has all the equipment for the coconut oil industry that use to be the economy. Simon Winchester the author was there “illegally” about 5 years befor my trip and he wrote a book about it. See the link on tip before this one -- he does a much better job of telling the story than I can. I can confirm what...
Families forced off a group of Indian Ocean islands to make way for a US military base have won the right to return home.In a harshly-worded verdict, two High Court judges condemned as "repugnant" the British government's decision to "exile a whole population" from the idyllic Chagos Islands on the grounds of ensuring "peace, order and good government".About 2,000 were shifted to nearby Mauritius and the Seychelles in the 1960s and early 1970s with little support or compensation where many struggled to make a living.The decision in London was hailed by the leader of the Chagos Refugee Group, Olivier Bancoult, who said the Chagos families now hoped to go home soon after spending decades in exile, many of them in poverty."This is a very big historic moment," Mr Bancoult said.The displacement allowed Britain to lease the largest island, Diego Garcia, to Washington for 50 years.
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Q: I am passing the chagos archipeligo in december in a sports fisher does anyone know if it is possible to refuel diesel there? If...
A: Diego Garcia is the only island that has any development or inhabitants. It is a large Naval Base owned by the British and run jointly by the UK and US. The lagoon...
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