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On the shores and in the air

D’Arros Island and St Joseph Atoll lie in the remote Western India Ocean about 250 kilometres from Mahé, the most populous island in the Seychelles. D’Arros and St Joseph are separated by a narrow, 70-metre-deep channel. Photo by Michael Scholl | © Save Our Seas Foundation
D’Arros and St Joseph support one of the largest nesting sea turtle populations in the Seychelles. Hundreds of endangered green and hawksbill turtles migrate annually from their distant foraging grounds to nest on the islands’ pristine beaches. Nesting activity has been monitored on a daily basis since 2004 and, encouragingly, numbers appear to be on the rise. Photo by Rainer von Brandis | © Save Our Seas Foundation
Beaches fringed with coconut palms may be beautiful, but the terrestrial ecosystems at D’Arros and St Joseph have suffered significantly at the hand of man. By the early 1800s, native vegetation had been almost entirely replaced with coconut plantations and nearly all mangroves had been cut down for timber. The SOSF–DRC currently manages an ambitious forest rehabilitation project in which abandoned coconut plantations are systematically replaced with indigenous forest. Photo by Rainer von Brandis | © Save Our Seas Foundation
St Joseph Atoll is the second largest breeding site for roseate terns Sterna dougallii in the Seychelles, hosting up to 500 pairs annually. The terns’ diet consists mainly of small fish, which they catch by plunge-diving. The species is widespread and will often migrate between Africa and England. Photo by Rainer von Brandis | © Save Our Seas Foundation
A juvenile sooty tern sits on the mooring buoys in the channel at the entrance to St Joseph’s Atoll, waiting for its parents to bring its next meal. These birds only come to land to breed and can stay out at sea for years at a time. Photo by Philippa Ehrlich | © Save Our Seas Foundation
Two centuries ago the D’Arros Island group was dominated by native broad-leaf forests that supported a diverse community of insect, plant, reptile and bird species, including fairy terns, like the chick pictured. Photo by Rainer von Brandis | © Save Our Seas Foundation
The Aldabra giant tortoise Petit Four (non-French speakers on the island call him P-2-4) is a special part of the D’Arros team. Weighing more than 150 kilograms, he originally came from Aldabra Island and is thought to be 100 years old. Aldabra giant tortoises are endemic to the islands of Aldabra and the Seychelles. Photo by Philippa Ehrlich | © Save Our Seas Foundation
Seychelles small day geckos are commonly seen scuttling up tree trunks and through the undergrowth on D’Arros Island. These small, luminous green reptiles are endemic to the Seychelles. Photo by Philippa Ehrlich | © Save Our Seas Foundation
Despite its common name, the hermit crab is more closely related to lobsters than to crabs. An individual does not have its own shell and takes over the empty shell of a mollusc, swapping it for a larger one as it grows. If seen out of its shell, a hermit crab has a bizarre appearance: the soft abdomen is twisted, which enables it to fit into the coils of a gastropod shell. Photo by Rainer von Brandis | © Save Our Seas Foundation
A ghost crab looks out from a small sand heap. These semi-terrestrial crabs are common in tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world, inhabiting deep burrows in the intertidal zone. The name ‘ghost crab’ comes from their nocturnal behaviour and generally pale coloration. Photo by Rainer von Brandis | © Save Our Seas Foundation
A one-eyed land crab Cardisoma carnifex points to the sky at low tide. Thousands of these large crustaceans scuttle across the islands surrounding St Joseph lagoon. Photo by Rainer von Brandis | © Save Our Seas Foundation