Mauritius Island

[BW]

Thanks Erik! The only thing not so great with the mating turtles was the sound by the male. A growl that took me by suprise and made my hair stand up. The male made this sound repeatedly during the act and it didnt make me want to befriend him

[Akira]

Both the boys are my kids Frank, 8 and 11 years old with a skin tone made for something else than the sun under the ecvator. I probably didn't write much about that subject Akira. But the culture of Mauritius is a mix of indian and african. The influences come from both west and east and the language is creole french. The main religions are hinduism and tamil hinduism. The tamil temples are multicolored and hindu temples, white colored. There is also a lot catholics on the island as well as, muslims and buddhists, with their own religious practice. Next month there is a hindu pilgrimage where up to 500 000 hindus walk to the Grand Basin to fetch holy water to bring to their temples. That would be a photographic opportunity.

Børge, thanks for the additional info!  When I interviewed a bass player from Mauritius (Reunion island), I became more interested in this country on the solitary island.

Anirban, I was expecting that you would chime in.  Thanks!

[chris dees]

Have you been on the Ile aux Aigrettes. It's a small island at the East coast. A nature reserve managed by the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation.
That's where I saw the Turtles, Pink Doves and Olive White-eye for example.

[BW]

Thats where the pictures are taken Chris. The text say so

[chris dees]

Thats where the pictures are taken Chris. The text say so

I was looking too much to the pics. 

[Jakov Minić]

I am certainly one of the few at NG who would like to go to Mauritius after enjoying your images

[BW]

Thanks Jakov! The island is more than worth a visit.

[BW]

I don't know how interested the forum people would be in some more pictures? As I said the island is heavily dependent of three things; Sugar production, tourism and fishing. The marine environment are heavily affected by a increase in acidity because of the uptake of CO2. The acidity breaks down the calcium skeleton of corals and other marine fauna with calcified exoskeletons. These corals are home of an enormous diversity of fish species (and other species). If corals disappear all of these species disappear. Hopefully Mauritius will be able to protect the marine environment  in the coming year. Today a russian diver approached me while I was photographing and tried to get me to follow him. He probably wanted to show me something, but while signaling me, he trampled on the corals and broke several of them Luckily, it seems like Mauritius has plenty of areas where corals thrive and I hope it will be like this for hundreds of years.

Guess how many species of fish are within the first frame?

[BW]

Here are some bird shots as well. The first one is a breeding bird in my parts of the world and spend the summer in norway, Steinvender, Arenaria interpres. I don't know the english name . No wonder they migrate down her for the winter The second one is a Village weaver. I found their nest building technique fascinating. The third one I don't know the name of but I found the colors pleasing and it reminded me of home, sitting in a fir tree eating seeds from the cones. Maybe someone can enlighten me regarding the species name?