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Alphonse Island
Alphonse Atoll is one of two atolls of the Alphonse Group, the other being St. François Atoll — both in the Outer Islands (Coralline Seychelles) coral archipelago of the Seychelles. Geography Alphonse Atoll lies south of the main Amirantes bank, from which it is separated by deep water. It has a distance of south of Victoria, Seychelles. Alphonse lies just north of St. François Atoll, separated from it by a deep channel. The atoll has just one island, Alphonse Island, with a population of 108 people who work in the Alphonse hotel or maintain the runway and island for the IDC. The area of the island is . The total area of the atoll, with in diameter, is , including reef flat and lagoon. History In 1562 the whole of the Alphonse Group (Alphonse, St. François and Bijoutier) are collectively named on Portuguese charts as San Francisco. Chevalier Alphonse de Pontevez commanding the French frigate '' Le Lys'' visited on 27 June 1730 and gave the islands his own name. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by the Southern Ocean or Antarctica, depending on the definition in use. Along its core, the Indian Ocean has some large marginal or regional seas such as the Arabian Sea, Laccadive Sea, Bay of Bengal, and Andaman Sea. Etymology The Indian Ocean has been known by its present name since at least 1515 when the Latin form ''Oceanus Orientalis Indicus'' ("Indian Eastern Ocean") is attested, named after Indian subcontinent, India, which projects into it. It was earlier known as the ''Eastern Ocean'', a term that was still in use during the mid-18th century (see map), as opposed to the ''Western Ocean'' (Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic) before the Pacific Ocean, Pacific was surmised. Conversely, Ming treasure voyages, Chinese explorers in the Indian Oce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Le Lys (ship)
''Le Lys'' (''The Lily''), also known as ''Liliya'', is a ballet in 3 acts/4 scenes, with choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon and music by Ludwig Minkus. The ballet was first presented by the Imperial Ballet on , at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. Principal dancers at the première included Adèle Grantzow Adele (born 1988) is an English singer-songwriter. Adele may also refer to: People * Adele (given name), a common female given name * Jan Adele (1936–2000), Australian actor * Adele, a character in the operetta ''Die Fledermaus'' Places * Ade .... Notes * For this ballet Minkus reused and adapted much of the music he had composed for Saint-Léon's 1866 '' La Source''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lys, Le Ballet Ballets by Ludwig Minkus Ballets by Arthur Saint-Léon 1869 ballet premieres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Knot
The red knot or just knot (''Calidris canutus'') is a medium-sized shorebird which breeds in tundra and the Arctic Cordillera in the far north of Canada, Europe, and Russia. It is a large member of the ''Calidris'' sandpipers, second only to the great knot. Six subspecies are recognised. Their diet varies according to season; arthropods and larvae are the preferred food items at the breeding grounds, while various hard-shelled molluscs are consumed at other feeding sites at other times. North American breeders migrate to coastal areas in Europe and South America, while the Eurasian populations winter in Africa, Papua New Guinea, Australia, and New Zealand. This species forms enormous flocks when not breeding. Taxonomy, systematics, and evolution The red knot was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' as ''Tringa canutus''. One theory is that it gets its name and species epithet from King Cnut; the name would refer to the kn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sociable Lapwing
The sociable lapwing (''Vanellus gregarius''), historically referred to as the sociable plover, is a wader in the plover family. It is a fully migratory bird, breeding in Kazakhstan and wintering in the Middle East, Indian Subcontinent, and Sudan. Historical literature referred to this bird as the Black-bellied lapwing. Taxonomy Along with other lapwings, it is placed in the genus ''Vanellus''. The genus name is Medieval Latin for a lapwing and derives from ''vannus'' a winnowing fan. The specific ''gregarius'' is Latin for "sociable" from ''grex, gregis'', "flock" referring to its tendency to be present alongside conspecifics and other closely related birds. The sociable lapwing is one of many birds described by Pallas during his trip through the Russian landscape. It is a monotypic species - no subspecies are recognised. Description This medium-sized lapwing has longish black legs and a short black bill. Non breeding individuals in winter have light brown wings with a st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aldabra
Aldabra is the world's second-largest coral atoll, lying south-east of the continent of Africa. It is part of the Aldabra Group of islands in the Indian Ocean that are part of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles, with a distance of 1,120 km (700 mi) southwest of the capital, Victoria on Mahé Island. History The name Aldabra, originally Al-Hadra or Al-Khadra (with several variants), was given by Arab seafarers for "the atoll’s harsh, sun-baked environment"; this name was included in the Portuguese maps of the 16th century. The islands were already known to the Persians and Arabs, from whom they got their name. They had named the Indian Ocean as Bahr-el zanj. It was visited by Portuguese navigators in 1511. In the middle of the 18th century, the atoll became a dependency of the French colony of Réunion, from where expeditions were made for the capture of the Aldabra giant tortoises. As there are no surface freshwater sources on Aldabra, the interests of the explor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Sparrow
The house sparrow (''Passer domesticus'') is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world. It is a small bird that has a typical length of and a mass of . Females and young birds are coloured pale brown and grey, and males have brighter black, white, and brown markings. One of about 25 species in the genus ''Passer'', the house sparrow is native to most of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin, and a large part of Asia. Its intentional or accidental introductions to many regions, including parts of Australasia, Africa, and the Americas, make it the most widely distributed wild bird. The house sparrow is strongly associated with human habitation, and can live in urban or rural settings. Though found in widely varied habitats and climates, it typically avoids extensive woodlands, grasslands, and deserts away from human development. It feeds mostly on the seeds of grains and weeds, but it is an opportunistic eater and commonly eats insects and many o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Digue
La Digue is the third most populated island of the Seychelles, and fourth largest by land area, lying east of Praslin and west of Felicite Island. In size, it is the fourth-largest granitic island of Seychelles after Mahé, Praslin and Silhouette Island. It has a population of 2,800 people. Most of the inhabitants live in the west coast villages of La Passe (linked by ferry to Praslin and Mahé) and Anse Réunion. There is no airport on La Digue, so to get there from a foreign country, one must fly to Victoria and continue by ferry, usually via Praslin. It has an area of 10.08 km2, which makes it relatively easy to travel around by bike or on foot. La Digue was named after a ship in the fleet of French explorer Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, who visited the Seychelles in 1768. History According to modern historians, La Digue was first sighted by the French navigator Lazare Picault in 1742, but it was not named until 1768. The first people settled on the island in 1789, whe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mahé, Seychelles
Mahé is the largest island of Seychelles, with an area of , lying in the northeast of the Seychellean nation in the Somali Sea part of the Indian Ocean. The population of Mahé was 77,000, as of the 2010 census. It contains the capital city of Victoria and accommodates 86% of the country's total population. The island was named after Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais, a French governor of Isle de France (modern-day Mauritius). History Mahé was first visited by the British in 1609 and not visited by Europeans again until Lazare Picault's expedition of 1742. The French navy frégate '' Le Cerf'' (English: The Deer) arrived at Port Victoria on 1 November 1756. On board was Corneille Nicholas Morphey, leader of the French expedition, which claimed the island for the King of France by laying a Stone of Possession on Mahé, Seychelles’ oldest monument, now on display in the National Museum, Victoria. In August 1801 a Royal Navy frigate HMS ''Sibylle'' captured t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Introduced Species
An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there by human activity, directly or indirectly, and either deliberately or accidentally. Non-native species can have various effects on the local ecosystem. Introduced species that become established and spread beyond the place of introduction are considered naturalized. The process of human-caused introduction is distinguished from biological colonization, in which species spread to new areas through "natural" (non-human) means such as storms and rafting. The Latin expression neobiota captures the characteristic that these species are ''new'' biota to their environment in terms of established biological network (e.g. food web) relationships. Neobiota can further be divided into neozoa (also: neozoons, sing. neozoon, i.e. animals) and neophyt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Waxbill
The common waxbill (''Estrilda astrild''), also known as the St Helena waxbill, is a small passerine bird belonging to the estrildid finch family. It is native to sub-Saharan Africa but has been introduced to many other regions of the world and now has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 10,000,000 km2. It is popular and easy to keep in captivity. Taxonomy The common waxbill was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Loxia astrild''. The etymology of ''astrild'' is uncertain. It may either be from a German or Dutch avicultural term for a waxbill or alternatively it may be a misprint for ''Estrilda''. Linnaeus based his description on the "Wax Bill" that had been described and illustrated in 1751 by the English naturalist George Edwards in his ''A Natural History of Uncommon Birds''. Linnaeus specified the locality as "Canaries, America, Africa" but this was restric ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wedge-tailed Shearwater
The wedge-tailed shearwater (''Ardenna pacifica'') is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It is one of the shearwater species that is sometimes referred to as a muttonbird, like the sooty shearwater of New Zealand and the short-tailed shearwater of Australia. It ranges throughout the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans, roughly between latitudes 35°N and 35°S. It breeds on islands off Japan, on the Islas Revillagigedo, the Hawaiian Islands, the Seychelles, the Northern Mariana Islands, and off Eastern and Western Australia. Taxonomy The wedge-tailed shearwater was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's ''Systema Naturae''. He placed it with the petrels in the genus ''Procellaria'' and coined the binomial name ''Procellaria pacifica''. Gmelin based his description on the "Pacific petrel" that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Island Conservation Society
The Island Conservation Society (ICS) was registered as an NGO in Seychelles on 25 March 2001. The Head Office, known as The Island Conservation Centre, is situated at Pointe Larue, Mahé. ICS focusses on protection and rehabilitation of the small islands of Seychelles, particularly the outer islands. Most of the outer islands of Seychelles are Government owned and managed by the parastal company Islands Development Company (IDC). In 2007, ICS signed an agreement with IDC for conservation management on these islands. ICS now employs full-time scientists and rangers at conservation centres on four IDC islands, Silhouette Island, Alphonse Atoll, Desroches Island and Farquhar Atoll. ICS has also managed Aride Island Nature Reserve since October 2003. Aride was previously owned and managed by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT) of UK. In October 2003, the reserve was leased to ICS and a series of conservation targets were set by RSWT. In 2006, upon satisfactory completion of a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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