The underwater world in la Reunion: snorkelling in the Indian ocean, part 3

 

As promised finally some videos from the long snorkeling hours in the warm water of the Indian ocean. Next to the colourful trigger fishes and the quick butterfly fishes I had the honour to swim with a huge family of squids (over 20) and one let me (very kindly) film him/her from very close! Doenjoy the video and those fantastic colours. The squids are extremely incredible to watch in therei element (water) as they move with their wings and change colours almost all the time!

The second video shows the huge variety of different fishes in the bay of St Leu after one local crushed a sea urchin and let the passing by fishes have a feast:



And some more pictures from the underwater inhabitants and the snorkeling tourists:-)

The underwater world in la Reunion: snorkeling in the Indian ocean, part 2

 

...some more great snorkelling experience the last two days in the lagoon of St Leu...I was so lucky to swim with two squids, such amazing creatures, I have also a lovely video, which I would upload a bit later...

The underwater world in la Reunion: snorkeling in the Indian ocean

 

Today some pleasant snorkeling in not even 2 meters water, on the beach of St-Leu.
The water warm as it should be (may be 27 degrees:-) and simply amazing colours and abundance of fishes...

 
As you can see there is a lot of dead coral (all the white looking pieces like small stones). For some years a protected area has been created on the west coast of the island with three different access rights: the strongest protection does not allow any activities in it...However unfortunately the rules are not always followed by the people.

 
The scene below pictures the fishes eating a sea urchin crushed in pieces by one snorkler.

Marine mammals of Mayotte...

Mayotte is famous for being dolphins as well as humpback whales paradise(to be seen from August till October every year). While enjoying a day out in the ocean (one day for fishing, one day just for real sea sightseeing) we were lucky to encounter different dolphin species. Once you are in the water (and your ears too), the amazing dolphin language sounds like a melody in an unknown language! Some of the dolphins made their jumps just in front of the boat.

The whales were a bit lazier, not real show from them. Just one baby whale jumped out of the blue and we were so surprised that the record is just in our heads:)

I would like to present to you our (sea) guide Georges and (one of the four) fishes he got during the fishing day:

Next to the beautiful nature the only thing that disturbs here is the way the garbage is everywhere...Definitely a point to be improved!

Amazing clams in Mayotte...

I have never seen so impressive and different shells underwater as in Mayotte. Here I would like to share with you my best of selection. For sure one of the most interesting (and at the same time the most difficult to photographe) is the thorny oyster, on the first picture. It is big around 30 cm and close itself when you approach it.

A bit smaller but not at all less magnificent is the shell on the second picture. The colours of the coral oyster look almost surreal and they shine in the water and when the sunshine passes through the water too...

The giant clam (most of the time purple, brown or green) are the one on the fourth and fifth pictures. They can reach from 20 up to 100-150cm...

Fishes of Mayotte and more...

The underwater world of Mayotte is just breathtaking! Huge coral
gardens accommodate an enormous abundance of coral reef fishes...On
the pictures above you may admire:
- butterfly fishes
- an octopus
- a leaf fish
- an angel fish;

Karibu to Mayotte:-)

Mayotte is located in the Indian ocean (north of the Mosambique Channel), between the African continent and Madagaskar. This tiny island is the 5th oversea department of France, thus a French territory. A 1400 km2 lagoon with a double coral reef, paradise for turtles and dolphins, as well as exotic flora and fauna welcome the curious guests.

Now here it is still the dry season, so daily temperatures are above 30 degrees, while water is up to 26-27 degrees warm. For the moment we had the chance to meet the very friendly and smiling locals, the playful "maki" (lemurs), the colourful margouillat (greenish lizard), joyful dolphins, bunch of turtles, and, and....
For the moment please enjoy this small selection of pictures and bear with me being not such a frequent writer...Internet is very rare and slow here, so more pictures and stories in a while:-)
P.S. "Karibu" means welcome in the local language, "le mahorais"....