Tragic Boat Capsize off Madagascar Claims 22 Somali Lives

Tragic Boat Capsize off Madagascar Claims 22 Somali Lives

At least 22 Somali nationals lost their lives when two migrant boats capsized off the coast of Madagascar over the weekend, according to Somalia's Information Minister Daud Aweis as per Reuters. The boats had departed from Somalia on Nov. 2, heading towards Mayotte, a French territory in the Indian Ocean. Madagascar's Port, Maritime, and River Authority reported that the first boat was found near Nosy Iranja, with 25 survivors rescued, […]

November 26, 2024 7

Africa

Blue whales: first discovery near Seychelles in decades – what our study found

By Jeremy Kiszka, Florida International University Blue whales are fascinating animals. At 24-30 metres in length (longer than a basketball court) they are the largest creatures on Earth. They are also among the rarest. Estimates suggest that there are only around 5,000 to 15,000 blue whales left in the world. Their populations experienced a 89-97% decline due to commercial whaling activities worldwide that started in the North […]

April 22, 2024 22

Africa

New ecoregion proposed for Southern Africa’s threatened ‘sky islands’

By Ryan Truscott There is an “inland archipelago” of mountains stretching across southern Malawi and northern Mozambique — a chain of hard granite inselbergs lifted high above the surrounding landscape as it weathered down over millions of years. These “sky islands”, as they’re also known, are topped with high-altitude grasslands and evergreen forests and watered by cool moist winds from the Indian Ocean to the east. A group […]

March 18, 2024 47

Africa

This popular floating restaurant was on the rocks until Frida Njeri took over

By Velma Pamela, bird story agency There are no land rates for this bar and restaurant that floats on the sea waters of the Lamu Island in Kenya. People have lived here for over 700 years. Lamu Old Town is older than Zanzibar, and other settlements in East Africa where Bantu, Arabic, Persian, Indian, and European influences fused into the Swahili culture. The town, with its relatively […]

February 22, 2024 17

Africa

What are Sabaki languages? How people formed ethnic groups along the coast of east Africa

By Daren Ray, Brigham Young University A new book called Ethnicity, Identity and Conceptualizing Community in Indian Ocean East Africa tracks the history of the coastal communities of east Africa and how the Sabaki family of Bantu languages was formed, shaped in part by the sea and the arrival of visitors from other shores and within the continent. We asked historian Daren Ray to tell us […]

February 20, 2024 33

Opinion Pieces

Houthi militant attacks in the Red Sea raise fears of Somali piracy resurgence

By Samuel Oyewole, Federal University, Oye Ekiti Renewed attacks on ships by suspected Somali pirates since November 2023 have fuelled fear of a new threat of piracy off the east coast of Africa. The area at risk stretches from the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. At least four ships have been hijacked off the Somalia coast since November 2023. Concern has risen […]

February 1, 2024 7