|
Three Brothers, Chagos
The Three Brothers are a group of three small coral islands east of Eagle Islands along the central western rim of the Great Chagos Bank, which is the world's largest coral atoll structure, located in the Chagos Archipelago. Islands The individual islands are, from north-west to south-east: * North Brother or Île du Nord (6 ha; 15 acres) * Middle Brother or Île du Milieu (8 ha; 20 acres) * Resurgent Island (1 ha; 2½ acres) * South Brother or Île du Sud (23 ha; 57 acres) * Pangus Island (55 ha; 90 acres) History Discovered by the Portuguese, by Vasco da Gama, the islands were known as Bassas de Chagos. In 1975 during the Joint Services Expedition to Danger Island (JSDI), the expedition members were taken by RFA Resurgent to Eagle Islands, then by ketch and inflatable craft to Danger Island, and then to Three Brothers. The expedition made a topographical survey of the coral reefs, an ecological survey of the Pangus corals on it, and a study on the metabolism of the ree ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seabirds Nesting On South Brother Island In The Chagos Archipelago
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding ecological niche, niches have resulted in similar adaptations. The first seabirds evolved in the Cretaceous geological period, period, while modern seabird families emerged in the Paleogene. Seabirds generally live longer, Reproduction, breed later and have fewer young than other birds, but they invest a great deal of time in their young. Most species nest in Bird colony, colonies, varying in size from a few dozen birds to millions. Many species are famous for undertaking long annual bird migration, migrations, crossing the equator or circumnavigating the Earth in some cases. They feed both at the ocean's surface and below it, and even on each other. Seabirds can be highly pelagic, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ketch
A ketch is a two- masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast), and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post. The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes the ketch from a yawl, which has its mizzen mast stepped aft of its rudder post. In the 19th and 20th centuries, ketch rigs were often employed on larger yachts and working watercraft, but ketches are also used as smaller working watercraft as short as 15 feet, or as small cruising boats, such as Bill Hanna's Tahiti ketches or L. Francis Herreshoff's Rozinante and H-28. History The name ketch is derived from ''catch''. The ketch's main mast is usually stepped further forward than the position found on a sloop. The sail plan of a ketch is similar to that of a yawl, on which the mizzen mast is smaller and set further back. There are versions of the ketch rig that only have a mainsail and a mizzen, in which case they are referred to as ''cat ketch' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nature Reserves
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for purposes of conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research. They may be designated by government institutions in some countries, or by private landowners, such as charities and research institutions. Nature reserves fall into different IUCN categories depending on the level of protection afforded by local laws. Normally it is more strictly protected than a nature park. Various jurisdictions may use other terminology, such as ecological protection area or private protected area in legislation and in official titles of the reserves. History Cultural practices that roughly equate to the establishment and maintenance of reserved areas for animals d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tropical Shearwater
The tropical shearwater (''Puffinus bailloni'') is a seabird in the family Procellariidae formerly considered conspecific with Audubon's shearwater (''Puffinus lherminieri''). Subspecies There are five listed subspecies of the tropical shearwater: * ''Puffinus bailloni nicolae'' – ( Jouanin, 1971): breeds on islands in the northwest Indian Ocean. * ''Puffinus bailloni colstoni'' – ( Shirihai & Christie, 1996): breeds in the Aldabra Islands in the Seychelles. * ''Puffinus bailloni bailloni'' – ( Bonaparte, 1857): Mauritius, Réunion & Europa Island. * ''Puffinus bailloni dichrous'' – ( Finsch & Hartlaub, 1867): Central Pacific islands. * ''Puffinus bailloni gunax'' – ( Mathews, 1930): Vanuatu. Range The tropical shearwater is found in the tropical parts of the western Indian Ocean from East Africa to southern India and in similar regions of the Pacific from just to the southeast of Japan to French Polynesia. Population The total population has not been definitiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sooty Tern
The sooty tern (''Onychoprion fuscatus'') is a tern in the family Laridae. It is a seabird of the tropical oceans, and remarkably, has evolved the ability to fly for years at a time, skimming the sea surface for food, and returning to land only to breed, on islands throughout the equatorial zone. Taxonomy The sooty tern was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1766 as ''Sterna fuscata'', bearing this name for many years until the genus ''Sterna'' was split up; it is now classified in the genus ''Onychoprion'' as ''Onychoprion fuscatus''. The genus name is from ancient Greek , "claw" or "nail", and , "saw". The species name ''fuscatus'' is Latin for "dark". The sooty tern has little interspecific variation, but it is usually divided into six to eight allopatric subspecies. Some recent authors further subdivide the Indopacific population into up to eight subspecies altogether, but much of the variation is clinal. The affinities of eastern Pacific birds (including ''O. f. manutarus'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lesser Noddy
The lesser noddy (''Anous tenuirostris''), also known as the sooty noddy, is a seabird in the family Laridae. It is found near the coastlines of Comoros, Kenya, India, Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, Somalia, Sri Lanka and United Arab Emirates. The lesser noddy was at one time considered as a subspecies of the black noddy (''Anous minutus''). The close relationship between the two species was confirmed by a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2016. Taxonomy The first formal description of the lesser noddy was by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1823 under the binomial name ''Sterna tenuirostris''. The genus ''Anous'' was introduced by the English naturalist James Francis Stephens in 1826. ''Anous'' is Ancient Greek for "stupid" or "foolish". The specific name ''tenuirostris'' is from the Latin ''tenuis'' for "slender" and ''-rostris'' "-billed". There are two subspecies: *''A. t. tenuirostris'' (Temminck, 1823) - islands of the west & north Indian Ocean *'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brown Noddy
The brown noddy or common noddy (''Anous stolidus'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. The largest of the noddies, it can be told from the closely related black noddy by its larger size and plumage, which is dark brown rather than black. The brown noddy is a tropical seabird with a worldwide distribution, ranging from Hawaii to the Tuamotu Archipelago and Australia in the Pacific Ocean, from the Red Sea to the Seychelles and Australia in the Indian Ocean and in the Caribbean to Tristan da Cunha in the Atlantic Ocean. The brown noddy is colonial, usually nesting on elevated situations on cliffs or in short trees or shrubs. It only occasionally nests on the ground. A single egg is laid by the female of a pair each breeding season. In India, the brown noddy is protected in the PM Sayeed Marine Birds Conservation Reserve. Taxonomy The first formal description of the brown noddy was by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strict Nature Reserve
A strict nature reserve (IUCN category Ia) or wilderness area (IUCN category Ib) is the highest category of protected area recognised by the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), a body which is part of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). These category I areas are the most stringently protected natural landscapes. Purpose Strict nature reserves and wilderness areas are protected areas that are created and managed mainly for the purposes of research or for the protection of large, unspoiled areas of wilderness. Their primary purpose is the preservation of biodiversity and as essential reference areas for scientific work and environmental monitoring. * IUCN category Ia strict nature reserves are generally established exclusively for scientific field work. * IUCN category Ib wilderness areas are defined as "large unmodified or slightly modified areas, retaining their natural character and influence, without permanent or significant human ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RFA Resurgent
RFA ''Resurgent'' (A280) was an armament support ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA). Built by Scotts of Greenock as ''Changchow'', a cargo/passenger liner for the China Navigation Co. Made redundant by the Communist victory in 1949, ''Changchow'' and her sistership ''Chungking'' (later ) were chartered to the French « Messageries Maritimes », for the Marseilles-Sydney line, via Panama. Purchased by the Admiralty and chartered out to British India until 1957. In 1956-1957, under the name Resurgent, she was again chartered to the « Messageries Maritimes », making trips to New Caledonia and Australia. After that, she was converted to an armament store issuing ship and entered RFA service. In 1975 she took part in the Joint Services Expedition to Danger Island (JSDI). Small, rocky, Resurgent Island, which had emerged after the naming of the Three Brothers in the 18th century, was named after the RFA ''Resurgent'' which supported the scuba diving scientific research ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Island
An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been part of a continent. Oceanic islands can be formed from volcano, volcanic activity, grow into atolls from coral reefs, and form from sediment along shorelines, creating barrier islands. River islands can also form from sediment and debris in rivers. Artificial islands are those made by humans, including small rocky outcroppings built out of lagoons and large-scale land reclamation projects used for development. Islands are host to diverse plant and animal life. Oceanic islands have the sea as a natural barrier to the introduction of new species, causing the species that do reach the island to evolve in isolation. Continental islands share animal and plant life with the continent they split from. Depending on how long ago the continental is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Danger Island, Great Chagos Bank
Danger Island is the westernmost and the southernmost island of the Great Chagos Bank, which is the world's largest coral atoll structure, located in the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. Description It is a 2 km (1.24 miles) long flat island with a maximum width of , covered with tall coconut trees. Its name may derive from the lack of a safe anchorage, which rendered every visit to this island dangerous for the visiting ship and crew. A dangerous reef also extends about two to three miles south by west of the island, which at times the sea breaks on. The closest land is Sea Cow Island, the southernmost of the Eagle Islands which lies to the NNE. History Danger Island was sighted by the French ship in 1777. It was given its name by lieutenant Archibald Blair during his 1786 survey of the Chagos archipelago. Blair described the island at the time: "At dawn of day saw ''Breakers'' bearing NE, distant about ½ Mile, which I found at daylight to extend from ''Danger Isla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joint Services
The British Armed Forces are the unified military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, support international peacekeeping efforts and provide humanitarian aid. The force is also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces. Since the formation of the united Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 (later succeeded by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and finally by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), the British Armed Forces have seen action in most major wars involving the world's great powers, including the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence, the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, the First World War and the Second World War. Britain's victories in most of these wars allowed it to influence world events and establish itself as one of the world's leading military and economic powers. The British Armed Forces consist of: the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
