We said goodbye to the Aldabra Atoll and made our way overnight to the Farquhar Atoll, the southern -most atoll of the Outer Islands.

This atoll runs 67.6 miles including its lagoon and spans 170.5 square  miles.

Here are some other facts:

• The islands have  low-lying sand banks, coconut palms, and soft white sand.
• The atoll was named after a former governor of Mauritius, Robert Townsend Farquhar
• It is very remote and due to its isolation with very limited human presence, it enjoys a pristine marine environment.

It is simply stunning:

 

 

 

It is also known for its abundant marine life, so the plan was to enjoy a  platform snorkel before a visit to the mainland.  However, you can see from the above photos that is was an overcast day and the water was once again challenging due to strong currents.  Still, I managed a few pics before retiring from fighting the ocean stubbornly trying to push me out to the deep- even the fish were having trouble going forward:

 

 

It was murky so I am not sure whether this was a school of wrasse or trevally, but most likely the former as the trevally is an enormous fish capable of leaping out the water to catch and eat seabirds:

 

 

Trevally can be up to 67 inches long and can weigh up to 176 pounds.  This is a trevally from the internet:

 

I was glad that this next fellow stayed in its “cave” deciding not to fight the current.  As you can see it is a moray eel:

It was soon necessary to  climb back on our Zodiacs for a wet landing so we made our way onto the island and were well rewarded for our exertions:

We also had a surprise guest:

 

As well as a local who kept its distance:

 

 

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