In the remote Aldabra Atoll, blacktip sharks swim in shallow, warm waters, waiting for rising tides to fill the lagoon again. Photograph by Thomas M. P. Peshaq
The giant tortoises of Aldabra escape the scorching heat of the day by going to a cave on The Island of Grande Terre. From where tortoises eat grass to caves hidden in rugged coral reefs, it's a long and cumbersome trek. Photograph by Thomas M. P. Peshaq
Once a commercial development for fishing and coconut groves, privately owned St. Joseph Atoll is now prized for its marine biodiversity and seabird colonies. In 2014, the island became a nature reserve, and the nearby seas are also protected and managed by the Save Our Oceans Foundation. Photograph by Thomas M. P. Peshaq
Aldabra Island is home to one of the only remaining healthy populations of coconut crabs in the western Indian Ocean. In other regions, the world's largest terrestrial arthropod with legs spreading up to a meter has been eaten by humans until it is completely wiped out. Photograph by Thomas M. P. Peshaq
In the Mayi Valley Nature Reserve, a World Heritage Site on Praslin Island, Seychellois slugs come together to eat the flowers of the giant seed palm, the magnificent native palm that produces the largest seeds in the plant kingdom. Photograph by Thomas M. P. Peshaq
Giant millipedes and flightless infantry armor faced threats when rats arrived at Fregett Resort Island in the mid-1990s. Photograph by Thomas M. P. Peshaq
The international response has returned the island to a rat-free paradise. Photograph by Thomas M. P. Peshaq
The red-collared green parrot was originally introduced to the Seychelles as a pet. Now they have fled into the wild, threatening the national bird, the Seychellois black parrot, which is mainly active on the island of Praslin, and the contract hunters are trying to eliminate these invaders. Photograph by Thomas M. P. Peshaq
Nepenthes grows in bottles filled with mucus and feeds on small insects that fall into them. The Seychelles endemic species in the picture are only two islands that have survived in the archipelago. Photograph by Thomas M. P. Peshaq