Suheli Par is a

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical parts of the oceans and seas where corals can develop. Most ...

in the

Union Territory Among the states and union territories of India, a Union Territory (UT) is a region that is directly governed by the Government of India, central government of India, as opposed to the states, which have their own State governments of India, s ...

Lakshadweep Lakshadweep () is a union territory of India. It is an archipelago of 36 islands divided into three island subgroups: the Amindivi Islands in the north, the Laccadive Islands (separated from Amindivi roughly by the 11th parallel north), and th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is an oval-shaped 17 km long atoll surrounded by a zone of rich marine fauna.

Geography

Suheli Par is located at , 52 km to the SW of

Kavaratti Kavaratti (, ) is the capital of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep in India. Kavaratti is a census town as well as the name of the atoll upon which the town stands. It is well known for its pristine white sand beaches and calm lagoons, which m ...

, 76 km to the south of Agatti, 139 km to the west of Kalpeni and 205 km to the NNW of

Minicoy Minicoy, locally known as Maliku (), is an island in Lakshadweep, India. Along with Viringili, it is on Maliku atoll, the southernmost atoll of Lakshadweep archipelago. Administratively, it is a census town in the Indian States and territories ...

, with the broad Nine Degree Channel between them. The Lagoon area is .

Islands

There are three islands on the reef encircling the lagoon. *Valiyakara Located at the northern end of the lagoon. This island has retained most of its original vegetation. It has also some largely stunted, unkempt coconut trees and is visited occasionally by workers who collect the coconuts.

Hermit crab Hermit crabs are anomuran Decapoda, decapod crustaceans of the superfamily (taxonomy), superfamily Paguroidea that have adapted to occupy empty scavenged mollusc shells to protect their fragile exoskeletons. There are over 800 species of hermit c ...

s are found in abundance. There is a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

on this island. Light ARLHS LAK-015. It has a size of . *Cheriyakara Located on the southeastern side of the lagoon and slightly smaller than Valiyakara. This island has a large coconut plantation. Between mid-October and mid-April, fishermen of Agatti and Kavaratti stay in temporary settlements on this island (average yearly population of 10) They catch tuna in the surrounding waters of the atoll and process it on the island. Its size is . *Indira-Shastri Dweep is a long sandbank located between the two islands. It was used as a breeding ground by

tern Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae, subfamily Sterninae, that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated in eleven genera in a subgroup of the family Laridae, which also ...

s. Its size is .

Ecology

Both islands have coconut trees, as well as ''

Pandanus ''Pandanus'' is a genus of monocots with about 578 accepted species. They are palm-like, dioecious trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. Common names include pandan, screw palm and screw pine. The genus is classified ...

'', '' Scaevola taccada'', '' Tournefortia argentea'' and '' Pemphis acidula'' bushes. The

grey heron The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia, and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more norther ...

and the

black-capped kingfisher The black-capped kingfisher (''Halcyon pileata'') is a tree kingfisher which is widely distributed in tropical Asia from India east to China, Korea and Southeast Asia. This most northerly of the tree kingfishers is resident over much of its ra ...

have been observed in this atoll. Owing to the rich marine life there was a proposal to declare Suheli Par a marine national park. In 2006 a ship from

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...

ran aground on this atoll, but there was no

oil spill An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into th ...

reported.Vessel gets stuck off Lakshadweep, no oil spill reported

References

External links

Suheli Par -MapcartaBirds of Lakshadweep IslandsList of Atolls

An ornithological expedition to the Lakshadweep archipelagoSources towards a history of the Laccadive Islands
{{Lakshadweep Islands of Lakshadweep Atolls of India Islands of India Populated places in India