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Ulenge Island
Ulenge Island officially, Ulenge Island Marine Reserve (''Kisiwa cha Hifadhi Akiba cha Ulenge'', in Swahili) is a protected, seasonally habited island in the Tanga Bay of Pemba Channel under the Tanga Marine Reserves (TMRS) with the IUCN category II located within Tanga City Council of Tanga Region in Tanzania. Kwale Island and Ulenge Island are the only islands in the marine reserve that are seasonally inhabited. Of Tanga's whole marine reserves system, Ulenge Island is the most degraded. Ulenge's reefs had the lowest fish numbers and the lowest coral cover and species diversity (5-7%, 16 coral genera). This is mostly because Tanga Bay and Tanga City Council are nearby, which has a greater negative human impact. Ulenge Island is nicknamed by English speakers as ''Bird Island'' due to its importance as a seabird sanctuary. History The Swahili people from the north, led by Chief Mwinyi Ulenge, are said to have been the initial inhabitants of Ulenge Island. They were compell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tanga Region
Tanga Region (''Mkoa wa Tanga'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of Burundi. The regional capital is the municipality of Tanga city. Located in northeast Tanzania, the region is bordered by Kenya and Kilimanjaro Region to the north; Manyara Region to the west; and Morogoro and Pwani Regions to the south. It has a coastline to the east with the Indian Ocean. According to the 2012 national census, the region had a population of 2,045,205. History The region was previously known as Tanga Province and included Same and Mwanga Districts that are at present in Kilimanjaro Region. Geography Geology and terrain Tanga Region is the 15th largest region by size with an area of , after Songwe Region at . An area occupying 3% of the country. In comparison Tanga is larger than the African nation of Burundi at 25,680 square kilometers. The Tanga Reg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ulenge Island Front Range Lighthouse
The Ulenge Island Front Range Lighthouse is a historic lighthouse on Ulenge Island in the Pemba Channel under the Tanga Marine Reserves (TMRS) with the IUCN protected area categories, IUCN category II located within Tanga City Council, Tanga, Tanga City Council of Tanga Region in Tanzania. See also * List of lighthouses in Tanzania References Tanga District Islands of Tanzania Coastal islands of Tanzania Uninhabited islands of Tanzania External links Tanzania Ports Authority Lighthouses in Tanzania Buildings and structures in Tanga, Tanzania Lighthouses completed in 1929 {{Tanzania-struct-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Towboard
A towboard is a piece of aquatic survey equipment consisting of a board attached to a rope that is towed by a surface vessel. It is used to tow one or more divers underwater at a constant depth to survey bottom features such as coral reefs. The diver may use a scuba set, or if only a snorkel, may remain at the surface, or travel underwater for around two minutes. The towing vessel travels at approximately 1 to 2 miles per hour and may tow two divers, one with a camera pointing down, and other with a camera facing forward. The boat follows a depth contour to keep the towboard over a specific depth. The divers can also maneuver the board to maintain a more precise depth and avoid obstacles. A survey may cover up to nearly 2 miles over a period of around 50 minutes. This type of surveying method is called a towboard survey, towed-diver survey, and the manta tow technique, the latter named after the Manta Board, an oval towboard marketed for recreational use. A variant is the SAM or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coral Reef
A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Coral belongs to the class Anthozoa in the animal phylum Cnidaria, which includes sea anemones and jellyfish. Unlike sea anemones, corals secrete hard carbonate exoskeletons that support and protect the coral. Most reefs grow best in warm, shallow, clear, sunny and agitated water. Coral reefs first appeared 485 million years ago, at the dawn of the Early Ordovician, displacing the microbial and sponge reefs of the Cambrian. Sometimes called ''rainforests of the sea'', shallow coral reefs form some of Earth's most diverse ecosystems. They occupy less than 0.1% of the world's ocean area, about half the area of France, yet they provide a home for at least 25% of all marine species, including fish, mollusks, worms, crustaceans, echinoderms, sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seagrass
Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the order Alismatales (in the clade of monocotyledons). Seagrasses evolved from terrestrial plants which recolonised the ocean 70 to 100 million years ago. The name ''seagrass'' stems from the many species with long and narrow leaves, which grow by rhizome extension and often spread across large "meadows" resembling grassland; many species superficially resemble terrestrial grasses of the family Poaceae. Like all autotrophic plants, seagrasses photosynthesize, in the submerged photic zone, and most occur in shallow and sheltered coastal waters anchored in sand or mud bottoms. Most species undergo submarine pollination and complete their life cycle underwater. While it was previously believed this pollination was carried out without pollinators ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Intertidal Zone
The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species of life, such as seastars, sea urchins, and many species of coral with regional differences in biodiversity. Sometimes it is referred to as the ''littoral zone'' or '' seashore'', although those can be defined as a wider region. The well-known area also includes steep rocky cliffs, sandy beaches, bogs or wetlands (e.g., vast mudflats). The area can be a narrow strip, as in Pacific islands that have only a narrow tidal range, or can include many meters of shoreline where shallow beach slopes interact with high tidal excursion. The peritidal zone is similar but somewhat wider, extending from above the highest tide level to below the lowest. Organisms in the intertidal zone are adapted to an environment of harsh extremes, living in water pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crab-plover
The crab-plover or crab plover (''Dromas ardeola)'' is a bird related to the waders, but sufficiently distinctive to merit its own family Dromadidae. Its relationship within the Charadriiformes is unclear, some have considered it to be closely related to the thick-knees, or the pratincoles, while others have considered it closer to the auks and gulls. It is the only member of the genus ''Dromas'' and is unique among waders in making use of ground warmth to aid incubation of the eggs. Description This bird resembles a plover, but has very long grey legs and a strong heavy black bill similar to a tern. Its black-and-white plumage and long-necked upright posture with heavy bill makes it distinctive and unmistakable. Its bill is unique among waders, and specialised for eating crabs. It has partially webbed toes. The plumage is white except for black on its back and in the primary feathers of the wings. They are noisy birds, calling frequently on their breeding sites and in their w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curlew Sandpiper
The curlew sandpiper (''Calidris ferruginea'') is a small wader that breeds on the tundra of Arctic Siberia. It is strongly migratory, wintering mainly in Africa, but also in south and southeast Asia and in Australia and New Zealand. It is a vagrant to North America. Taxonomy The curlew sandpiper was formally described in 1763 by the Danish author Erik Pontoppidan under the binomial name ''Tringa ferrugineus''. It is now placed with 23 other sandpipers in the genus ''Calidris'' that was introduced in 1804 by the German naturalist Blasius Merrem. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific ''ferruginea'' is from Latin ''ferrugo, ferruginis'', "iron rust" referring to its colour in breeding plumage. The curlew sandpiper is treated as monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. Within the genus ''Calidris'' the curlew sandpiper is most closely related to the stilt sandpiper (''Calidr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greater Sand Plover
The greater sand plover (''Charadrius leschenaultii'') is a small wader in the plover family of birds. The spelling is commonly given as "greater sandplover" or "greater sand-plover", but the official British Ornithologists' Union spelling is "Greater Sand Plover". The genus name ''Charadrius'' is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. It derives from Ancient Greek ''kharadrios'' a bird found in ravines and river valleys (''kharadra'', "ravine"). The specific ''leschenaultii'' commemorates the French botanist Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour. Distribution It breeds in the semi-deserts of Turkey and eastwards through Central Asia. It nests in a bare ground scrape. This species is strongly migratory, wintering on sandy beaches in East Africa, South Asia and Australasia. It is a rare vagrant in western Europe, where it has been recorded as far west as Iceland. It has been spotted twice in North America, the most recent being on May 14, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding important sites for birds, maintaining and restoring key bird habitats, and empowering conservationists worldwide. It has a membership of more than 2.5 million people across 116 country partner organizations, including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Wild Bird Society of Japan, the National Audubon Society and American Bird Conservancy. BirdLife International has identified 13,000 Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas and is the official International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List authority for birds. As of 2015, BirdLife International has established that 1,375 bird species (13% of the total) are threatened with extinction ( critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable). BirdLife International p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sonneratia Alba
''Sonneratia alba'' is a mangrove tree in the family Lythraceae. The specific epithet ' is from the Latin meaning "white", referring to the flowers. Description ''S. alba'' grows up to tall with a trunk diameter up to . The cracked to fissured bark is brownish, turning grey below the tidal mark. The flowers are white, with pink at their base. The dark green fruits measure up to long. Distribution and habitat ''S. alba'' grows naturally in many tropical and subtropical areas from East Africa to the Indian subcontinent, southern China, the Ryukyu Islands, Indochina, Malesia, Papuasia, Australia, and the Western Pacific region. Its habitat is sheltered, sandy seashores and tidal creeks. Uses In Borneo, ''S. alba'' is used as firewood. In Sulawesi, the wood is used in the construction of houses and ships. In Malaysia and Indonesia, the sour fruits are used to flavor fish, and are sometimes eaten raw. The leaves are also eaten raw or cooked. References alba ''Alba'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhizophora Mucronata
''Rhizophora mucronata'' (loop-root mangrove, red mangrove or Asiatic mangrove) is a species of mangrove found on coasts and river banks in East Africa and the Indo-Pacific region. Description ''Rhizophora mucronata'' is a small to medium size evergreen tree growing to a height of about on the banks of rivers. On the fringes of the sea is a more typical height. The tallest trees are closest to the water and shorter trees are further inland. The tree has a large number of aerial stilt roots buttressing the trunk. The leaves are elliptical and usually about long and wide. They have elongated tips but these often break off. There are corky warts on the pale undersides of the leaves. The flowers develop in axillary clusters on the twigs. Each has a hard cream-coloured calyx with four sepals and four white, hairy petals. The seeds are viviparous and start to develop whilst still attached to the tree. The root begins to elongate and may reach a length of a metre (yard) or more. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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