Roe dear (Capreolus capreolus) hidden below ferns
Tag: Nature
Palau: Snorkeling in the Jellyfish Lake
The Palau archipelago is located in West Pacific Ocean, east of Philippines. The archipelago is composed of more than 250 islands. Those islands are for most of them inhabited and they are mainly covered with tropical forest and mangrove. This short presentation is by itself forewarning nice adventures. But adding to that a lake full of jellyfish makes Palau become an even more extraordinary region.
Brazil: The Boto, pink dolphin of Amazonia
23 to 7 millions of years ago, during the Miocene era, Amazonia was partially covered by seawater. Cetaceans were living in this area. When seawater has been definitely out of Amazonia ground, a species would have adapted to continue living in rivers, drawing the Amazonian landscape. This species became the Boto, known also as the biggest pink dolphin of Amazonia.
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Mongolia: The Khövsgöl lake
Called the « Blue Pearl » because of its water purity, the Khövsgöl lake (in mongolian : ᠺᠥᠪᠰᠦᠭᠦᠯ) is a sacred place for the local people, which they call « Mother ». The below pictures were taken at summer time, during a several weeks horse ride on the lakeside. More than a view on the lake, these photos show also the local inhabitants met during this trip.
Philippines: The Marine Park of Tubbataha
Located in the Philippines, Sulu Sea, the Tubbataha Reef has became a protected marine park on August 11th, 1988.
This marine park, with an area of 968 km2 was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in December 1993.
In Sama language, Tubbataha means “a long reef emerged at low tide.” Indeed, this reef is composed of two parts, and each part has a small island on its center. However, the islands are very small and located far from the coast (the reef is located 181km from Puerto Princesa, the nearest city port), which make them difficult to reach for fishermen and population. If you want to imagine the Tubbataha Reef, try to picture yourself two tiny islands of maximum 2 meters, in the middle of Sulu Sea
This isolation has allowed the Tubbataha reef to maintain a high level of biodiversity along an abundance of incredible life.
Underwater, it is possible to encounter more than one thousand different species of fish, from the tiny anthias to the gigantic whale shark. All of them floating beyond the incredible coral which is composing the seabed.
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Ethiopia: The Simien Mountains
The Simien Mountains are located in the northern Ethiopian Highlands. Since 1978 they are a UNESCO World Heritage Site (with the world heritage status in danger since 1996).
Compared to the surrounding area the weather is more cool and wet because of the highlands altitude. Consequently, it is more easy to grow crops, and the most of the Simien inhabitants are farmers. It is also possible to produce coffee beans.
The Simien Mountain is home of number of endangered species, including the Ethiopian Wolf (Only 500 wolves live in the wild). More common, the gelada baboon is easy to get encountered within the Simien Mountains.