Scuba Diving Seychelles

Aldabra

Aldabra is the world's second largest coral atoll. It is situated in the Aldabra Group of islands in the Indian Ocean that are part of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles.

Uninhabited and extremely isolated, Aldabra is virtually untouched by humans. It has distinctive island fauna including the Aldabra giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea). It consists of four islands around a large shallow lagoon, encircled by fringing coral reef. The atoll reflects both fossil and geomorphological features, the former is the source of the biodiversity seen today. The atoll has the largest population of Giant Tortoises in the world (about 100,000 animals). Sir David Attenborough called Aldabra "One of the wonders of the world", and it is also known as one of "crown jewels" of the Indian Ocean. Aside from its vast population of tortoises, it is also the largest raised coral reef in the world with an elevation of 26 feet (7.9 m); and the second largest atoll in the world after Kiritimati Atoll. Aldabra has a large population of the World's largest terrestrial arthropod, the coconut crab; and hosts the Aldabra rail, the only surviving flightless rail species in the Indian Ocean.

Designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1982, it is one of the two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Seychelles ; both are administered by the Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF). BirdLife International declared Aldabra as an Important Endemic Bird Area in 2001 on account of its large seabird colonies. Aldabra became a Ramsar Wetland Site of International Importance in 2010. In 2014 Aldabra was designated as a site under the Indian Ocean South East Asia (IOSEA) turtle network.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia