One hundred and forty miles from Brazil’s shores lies a wild refuge where flocks of birds blacken the skies and fish fill the pristine waters.

That refuge is Rocas, the only atoll in the South Atlantic Ocean. It’s so untouched that its secrets have remained hidden from humankind and, even today, Rocas is not completely mapped.

The atoll is a complex organism, made up of many different environments: islands, lagoon, open ocean, channels connecting the internal lagoon to the ocean, tidal pools carved out of the reef. And living on and inside these environments is an incredible diversity of wildlife.

Nobody has ever done an overall survey of the wild environments on the atoll; some of them are virtually unknown. We explore them all, with the help of a small group of Brazilian rangers, discovering octopuses that walk overland, sharks that school in bizarre formations, turtles and sea birds laying eggs and much more.

Rocas is a beautiful but harsh place and the adventure is not easy, but it will be worth the effort. Hopefully, some day soon, Rocas Atoll will be forgotten no more.