Again, today all you’re going to get is a little education….lol!  First off through will be a chat with Daniel on what to expect on the islands of French Polynesia.  We have seven day stops with only one sea day amongst them all.  

Port lecture on French Polynesia. Land of the Black Pearl.

The legend of Oro & the Black Pearl….look it up.

Pearls have been noted in history since 4200BC.  It was not til the 1700s did they start marketing them. 100 million pearls exported from FP. since 1985. Argonite gives base colour then calcium carbonate…..nacre for sheen.

There are 120 island and 75 atolls of which are inhabited.  Most in Tahiti.  5 different groups…..Marqueses, Society Islands, the Austral Islands, the Gambier Islands, and the Tuamotu Archipelago. Bora bora was originally a separate country. French is only official language 

Now pearls are mostly farmed organically. How to massage an oyster….lol! Choosing a Pearl:-Colour,….peacock, blue or green. The sizes range 9-14 mm. Rating value depends on the purity of the surface. Brilliance. & Shape.. (irregular are baroque).

Uturoa…on Raiatea

There is hiking, boat trip, kayak on river, Pearl farm

Bora Bora(1st born of the gods)

Rent a car, Bora bora beach

Huahine, is 2 islands

Beaches, blue-eyed eeels….2 metres in lengths, Le truck…very bumpy

Mo’orea

More spectacularly ….beach in ne side …..rest are private

Tahiti….Papeete

Gaugin museum, Pearl museum

Fakarava

Beach…UNESCO biosphere 

Marine mammals & Sea Turtles of French Polynesia….by Isabelle Groc

16 species cetaceans….spinner dolphin, rough toothed dolphin,common bottle nosed dolphin, melon headed whales 

Marquesas the land of men…world heritage street…June 2024…”sea of dolphins”

Humpbacks is first mother/calf pair in July 2019. They are the only baleen whales species to come here to mate.

Spinner dolphins are here year round …160 spinners….up to 7 times in the air. Use shallows to rest.   

Orcas  in Marquesas after humpbacks, 

Bottle nosed in Tuamotu

A bottle-nosed mother dolphin with a youngster of her own, adopted a one month old melon-headed whale and cared for it for 3 years.  The melon-headed acquired the behaviour of bottle-nosed dolphins.

Turtles..

Green sea turtles(from eating algae)   Nesting in Tetiaroa Atoll…..protected site. and hawksbill turtles….can tell by shape of the head…pointy

Approx 1000 nesting females annually.  Travel over 300 kms…can live up to 100years…can lay 1000 eggs over that period. Take 50-80 days to hatch.  Takes 30 min to hour to dig a nest.  50- 80 cms deep. Sometimes baby turtles get stuck in nest(3000).  Researchers when investigating the nests after they leave, rescue them. Yellow eggs happens if exposed to too much humidity. They can nest up to 7 times per season.  If the temperatures is too high it can produce way more females …as does plastics.

Some of those that are rescued are put in Baby Box…..taken to Intercontinental Hotel in Tahiti to Sea Turtle Clinic.  Most are released if they can survive ….some cannot like the blind one whose eyes were speared in both eyes. They like to be massaged. They recognize their feeders. 50% of hatchlings are released after ….up to 12months.

Over 800 sea turtles identified in French Polynesia.

What’s in store in Rarotonga

“Smaller the port, the better the visit”.

8 am-4:30 pm….emergency number is 999, 76 % humidity, 25C

13,007 population in the Cook Islands with most living here.

Bug spray (never saw a one)…wifi is not common.  A lot of businesses are not open on Sundays…..we will be there on Sunday.

Single bus journey round island is 5NZ or all day 10 NZ….only clockwise  on Sundays 10am-12pm and 2-4pm…50 minutes.  (They actually had 3 buses running because our ship was in.  One bus driver was called out from church….not sure of the other one that was not scheduled).

CookIslands.com to find out about the bus, CIT taxis are legit but negotiate price before getting in.

Beaches:-Black rock…for rock scrambling, Nikao beach…anticlockwise closest white sand….Nikurora beach, Tikioki beach, Muri beach….tourist beach….with restaurant, turquoise building, Maire Nui beach, Tiara (sp)museum… open Sunday, Paraotane Palace…. Was run by tribal chiefs.

Independent traders “may” be open for trinkets, etc.

From the ship, the island looks ruggedly beautiful.  We were not really sure if the tenders would be venturing with passengers cuz it was a little choppy on the seas.

This island as was the other, was clean with recycle bins available.  

Someone saw a turtle while snorkelling, others saw very large fish in the lagoon at Mure Beach where again we went to a Pacific Resort, and someone mentioned being accosted by the same type of fish that was attacking us yesterday.

First I will say that we are very fortunate to be able to go ashore.  I have heard that there is only a 1 in 10 chance that we would be able to go ashore.  Winds, tides and the fact that most of this island (it is really almost an atoll) is mostly surrounded by a “fringed reef.  It is made up of  a series of islets called “motu” coming together in the shape of a fishhook.  We will be tendered through a channel that was cut through the reef, by the Americans during WW 2.  Recently it has been dredged further by the locals making it possible for frigates to come in.  Otherwise nothing could get through to shore.  As it is, only one tender at a time can get through with no 2 passing each other in it.  It is so narrow that the coral is probably off the sides only 8-10 feet.  Check out the Google map picture.  Beyond the reef, the ocean is so deep that the ship  cannot anchor.  It is too deep!!!  And so we drifted.

What to do on this island that you cannot book a ships tour on???  Friends Mary and Lindsay took a boat tour of the lagoon with snorkelling and a stop at “One Foot Island”, so some people could get a stamp in their passport.  I would have liked to see the lagoon but…… Judy, Greg and us two, took a local taxi ($20NZ but US$ 20 if you only have US cash…hmmmm, not fair.  But if you have a Visa card, they charge you in NZD).  They aren’t  really taxis but everyone that owns a car when a ship shows up, put their cars up for hire.  We were taken to Pacific Resort.  Oh My….absolutely beautiful!  I wouldn’t mind coming back here.  We swam in the warm tropical water, snorkelled, had drinks and lunch at the hotel restaurant bar and then went back into the sea for more water activities.  What a wonderful relaxing day!

The snorkelling wasn’t the absolute best but pretty damned fine with coral and a fair number of fishies….one variety of fish, which I would say was quite spectacular, bit all three of the others but when it came to me, kept advancing on me probably saying get out of MySpace.  I would keep putting my had up when it was coming towards me, it would then back away but would continue to come at me.  It finally gave up and went away.  It was maybe 8 inches+/- so not really a threat…..funny though. I later looked up the name of it. It was a Picasso Triggerfish….very aggressive. Apparently we were not the only people that had been attacked by them.

It was a spectacularly wonderful day.

Many of us got real excited this afternoon. We saw a freighter plowing through the water……the first other ship we have seen in the open seas in weeks.

Seabirds: TheGreat Ocean Voyagers….Isabelle Groc

Isabelle went on a Race Rocks (in B.C.)excursion on birding Oct 5, saw Pomarine Jaeger & Common Mure but were looking for the short-tailed shearwater (not a very striking bird). It is Australia’s most abundant seabird. It nests there but it travels 15,000 to 17,000 kms per year. It can travel 11,000 in 13 days across the Pacific. It has a wing span of 1 metre.  It is also called a mutton bird in Australia because it is said to taste like mutton.

359 seabirds live and feed at sea or close by.

Fairy tern, angel tern is the size of a robin but wing span of 1 metre.  Polynesian sailors followed white terns cuz they could count on them to return to shore.

Albatross’…do not ever kill an albatross or it will be the harbinger of a bad voyage. They have a 2 metre wing span and have difficulty taking off from land.

Midway atoll is now marine reserve.  Huge percent of worlds albatross breed here .  Short tailed albatross almost endangered but they trying to encourage more to come. They mate for life, having a very different courtship routine. It is done to identify the mate of choice. Each of the pair go to sea for sometimes 6 months, then on returning to colony they need to be able to reconnect.  They have 1 chick per year…..travel 1500miles to forage.  80% hatch but only 30% survive.  “Wisdom”…oldest is at least 73 years old .  She has been seen dancing in 2024 looking for her third mate.

Importance of atolls for seabirds…. 37 species of seabirds in world …25% of tropical seabirds of the world… 14 on atolls.

Red-footed boobies….fly hundred of kms …..

Sooty terns have a loud call that sounds like “wide awake”.  Fly non-stop….thousands of kms, sleeping while flying.  They only come to land to nest.

Brown Noddy.

Frigatebirds…2 metre wingspan, long curved beak.  Cannot dive….must glide just above water or ….…..steal from other birds.  The chicks are raised in nest for 4-5 months. Between 1950- 2010 they have declined by 70%…..Caused by invasive species, bycatch in fisheries and climate change. Extreme heat …..change ocean currents causing washing machine effect and intensifying storms. Rising sea levels ….nest on the ground. After hurricane Helene some were found 1600 kms away in Indiana. They feed on plastic and so end up dying.

To help improve the chances of increasing the numbers, they are removing verbesina plants cuz they are invasive and the birds can’t find their nests. Also doing beach cleanup. Thet are also working on a program to relocate albatross from low lying atolls higher locations to have them survive.

White terns in Honolulu have been increasing since 1961, partly because there are lots of trees in Honolulu and the rat population is kept in check.

Talk about next port of call…Akutaki -8-4pm tender and only 66% humidity with 26C.

1782 pop is less than number of this ship.  86% English speaking, rest is Cook Islands Māori. 

It is a fringing reef with extremely deep outside  so cannot even anchor. The channel is only wide enough for 1 tender at a time.

 Right…private vehicles to taxi you.  Also limited supply for boat ride.

ATM available.

Lagoon is the biggest draw.  So swimming in the lagoon. Urea beach for swim not snorkelling.  Tamanu,  O’tou beach for snorkelling.

Nonny juice, bush beer is very strong, 

Purchases in port is not much of a market but in town is much better.

Taaka means please.

Town is less than 1 mile, beaches

Kutekute Shuttle to 1 Foot Island  from Ootu Beach…70 USD

1.67 NZD = 1 USD

It’s Halloween and the ships crew have been busy.

Since we are still at sea, all I have to tell you is what I have gleaned from lectures shared with us.  Today it started with “chat” with Daniel the cruise director.  Mostly it was stories of people that have arrived and stayed in the…

Cook Islands.

Earnest Hemingway’s wife described them as the most romantic in world. 

20,200 population. 10,368 visitor in ‘23.  It is comprised of 15 islands.

Cook arrived in 1773 & 77, but they were not named by him. There had been others Europeans that arrived before and after.

Politically, it is connected with New Zealand but is not governed by it.  It is self-governing and a territory of NZ.  NZ has no authority over the  islands.  The people though, are citizens of NZ.  Apparently it is one of those countries used for hiding money like the Cayman Islands and others.

Aitutaki Island…. Most spectacular in the islands/world.  The lagoon…..on Foot Island Tapuaerau …Ureia Beach, great for laying on the beach, sea swimming. “Visitors Rock”…. 

Show port facilities 

Rarotonga….volcanic island so different than Aitutaki ….black rock beach, Aria beach, Muri beach 

Take bus all way around…one way for 10 NZ dollar?

Look for $3 Cook Island dollar bill.

Next lecture Scary Weather…..by Dr. Charlie

He has written a book called “Florida Weather and Climate”

Automated weather is updated about every 5 min.

GEO station rotates 22,300 miles above the earth

Doppler radar

Reflectivity…rain fall plus wind velocity

Stable weather …..is air pushing down that brings clear weather 

Weather balloon (radiosondes) are released synonymously around the world at noon and midnight GMT.  They rise to 120,000 ft  in 1 hour and 45 min.  They increase in size from 6ft in diameter to 30 ft and then burst.

Severe thunderstorms are “over” 58 mph (93 kmh).

Hail…7 inches in diameter

 People that have been struck by lightning, continue to have neurological problems even if lightning doesn’t kill you. 

Most fatalities from lightning are males and start of the season is in June in Florida

Tornadoes run Counter clockwise direction in north hemisphere

Tornados start in spring. They used to be predominately in Tornado Alley  but now more to Tornado Dixie which is more easterly.

Waterspout is a tornado over water.  Dust devils are also tornados.

Fog and smoke can be deadly when they cause is car pileups on freeways.

Extreme cold…Antarctica

Heat waves….in 2010, 56,000 died in Russia

Wildfires

Rainfall flooding 

“Drought caused” flooding caused a disaster with rainfall yesterday in Valencia with 20 inch falling in 8 hours …picture.

China has had the most people to have died from drought caused flooding. In 1975, 200,000 + died when dam burst.  There have been others.

Next lecture Coral Gardens and Gardeners….Isabelle Groc

Julia Baum from Victoria is doing reach on Christmas Island  in Kiribati to see how people affect coral reefs.

Corals Flower are animals related to jelly fish and sea anemones.  Soft coral are best for building reefs.  Hard corals harbour algae to partner with soft corals.  They are the rainforest of the oceans.  1 billion people world-wide, live within 100 kms from coral reefs.  50% of reefs have been lost in 30years, due to pollution, overfishing, climate change.  23-29C is the optimum temperature for coral growth.  1 degree can start coral bleaching.  If temp returns to normal they will recover.  1985- 2018 …87% experienced bleaching.

El Niño…every 2-7years, lasts 9-12 months …causing warming of oceans.  2015-16 El Nino …90% of coral died in Christmas Island.  10% survived.  Some algaes that live in the hard coral is the secret to recovery.  Polluted areas have less chance of recovery…..if they are healthy they have a better chance.  Takes more than 10 years for recovery.

Convict tang fish and parrotfish help recovery.  If no damsel fish then the coral stops growing.

Coral gardeners are seabirds.  If there are rats then there were no seabirds.  Albatross’ are the most contributors to recovery.   Seabird despite this 700 times higher.  Dolphin poop helps with recovery too. They rest in shallow waters in the morning after hunting during the night.

Titouan Bernicot started Coral Gardeners in 2017.

Goal to start 1 million corals by 2025.

When we were snorkelling above the beautiful coral near Savusavu, we were told that there was a nursery close by that had helped to make the coral gardens what they are.

Today is Halloween and it’s a party with a lot of people dressing up. These are some……not too good pictures but you get the idea.

Yes I know….weird!  The reason that we have the same date ….two days in a row, is that we have crossed the International Dateline. 

I went to another lecture today on Daniel having a conversation with “Steve” the polyp.  I started out expecting to glean some more info but it was so hilarious that I just decided to tape it.  If anyone wishes to hear it you’ll have to come visit.

Next lecture of these days at sea…..

Sinking or Growing?  Rethinking Atolls….Isabelle Groc

Kiribati ( sounds like Kiribass), is the largest nation in sea area but smallest in land.  Christmas Island one of the Kiribati , is largest atoll in world.

South Tarawa, the capital of Kiribati, is one of the most densely populated areas in the Pacific, much like Hong Kong is.

Fanning island population is 2300 with elevation less than 3 metres is most vulnerable nation to climate change and rising sea levels.

There are 320 atolls in world, all in tropical latitudes.  Atolls happen where there was a volcano surrounded by coral but, the coral has to grow atleast as fast as volcano shrinks.

Atolls are drowning???  Micronesias atolls increase by 3%, some shrank but

Atolls are changing in shape and size elevation depending on

Vertical accrete (accumulate sediment)….coral sediment is brought up onto the island.  Fish  parrotfish are bio erodes and contribute to breakdown coral into sediment.  Seabirds help too in form of guano.  Crabs help as well.  Atolls must have living coral to be healthy.

Threats to atoll ecosystems incl overfishing, sewage, dredging, maladaptive sea walls, deforestation and invasive species. People of the atolls are adapting to rising sea levels by moving & elevating build structures. Seawalls sometimes though, interfere with natural process of building. Protecting healthy coral and native vegetation, remove invasive species, establish marine protected areas.  

Tetiaroa, an atoll in the Windward Group of the Society Islands, Marlon Brando with 100 year lease, developed resort for rich and famous. He was before his time in developing it though. He was all about eco-sustainablity.

41% of worlds endangered species are in jeopardy on these atolls because of rats and ants.

In 2018, rats were removed on some of the lesser “isles” but were all removal on entire atoll in ‘22-24. In ‘23, they removed crazy yellow ants.  Now crabs (strawberry hermit crabs)are coming back…nesting in trees.  Coconuts crab…related to hermits are returning, can be 1 metre in diameter.  Increase of seaterns.  Strange though…they deposit eggs on branch…not really a nest., Red-footed boobies and brown noddies returning as well. Brando stopped coconut production because coconut create loss of natural vegetation that affects birds. Trying to restore natural vegetation 

Palmyra Atoll…south of Hawaii, ants came with US military.  They removed in 2011, 1.2 million coconut palms in hopes of restoring vegetation to encourage seabirds. Native trees remove more of the carbon in the air and ocean.  They are using native traditional knowledge to improve things as well.

Fakarava Atoll…will have to look for some of processes

We were scheduled to head off to our next port of call in the Cook Islands but instead, as mentioned before, the ship is waiting offshore from Neiafu….awaiting the arrival of an air ambulance.

Lecture on Polyps and (how they are similar to ) people 

The Great Barrier Reef off Australia’s east coast provides 2.3 billion income and employs 69,000. Coral on Great Barrier Reef is 133,000 sq miles. Cook discovered it because his ship ran around. There are 1500 different fish plus snakes, birds, etc. There are 600 types of coral on Great Barrier Reef

In Fiji, the reefs provide employment for 1 in 10 of the population. Belize barrier reef is largest in Northern Hemisphere.

There are several types of reefs…..fringing, patching, atolls and barrier reefs.  All coral are animals. The hard ones have 6 tenticals, the soft have 8 tenticals. Flowerpot corals look like daisies. There is also smooth cauliflower coral & finger coral.

There are two kinds of reproduction…..Sexual is the coral spawning once a year with the coral casting sperm & eggs during the full moon in November when there is low tide movement.  Most though is asexual reproduction which means they split and divide.  The more colourful the coral is determined by algae and plankton

Coral bleaching is when they are all turning white at same time, is caused by increase in ocean temperature, extremely low tides, pollution or too much sunlight  causing the coral to starve to death……but it can regrow on top of dead coral.

The Rings of Fire…by Dr Charlie Paxton

Earthquakes and volcanos are caused by the splitting apart or building ridges. Iceland is being split apart at a rate of 18 milimetres a year.

Oceanic crust under continental crust….

1350 potential volcanic eruptions in the world but 500 are active.

Volcanoes types are:- cinder cone, strata volcano, shield (Hawai’i)…are largest, 

Volcanic ash is big problem. And a half inches in. Lava flows create lava caves/tubes

Pyroclastic flow….the most dangerous.

Mt. St. Helens in 1980 was a Plinian eruption creating 200+C. temperatures, causing melting snow that causing mud slides. Name is taken from name of scientist that studied Mt Vesuvius.

Mt. Erebus…..in Antarctica, is the southern most volcano in the world. Erebus is the world’s only presently erupting phonolite volcano. 

Yellowstone blew this year…2024. 

In this area is the Tonga trench, with one side sliding under the Australian plate.  Because of the volcanic activity here, they are able to use the hot spring near Savusavu, for cooking.

In 2015 here in Tonga, two volcanic island erupted at same time joining up to make one island.  Then in ‘22 activity started happening again in the middle, blasting way causing the largest atmospheric explosion ever recorded. With the Hunga Tonga-Hunga ha’apai eruption and tsunami it then became two islands again….

Earthquakes…

Tsunami….”slump-type” is from landslides. Tsunamis waves way out in ocean can be 100 miles apart but increase as it gets close to shore. The Tongan eruption tsunami took 7 hours to reach California

When a tsunami is approaching, the water recedes before being hit with the wave.  The waves are erratic on the shore as well.

Tsunami can have second wave 1-1.5 hours later.  In 1952, the population of Kamchatka  knew to go to higher ground after an earthquake but returned after the initial wave hit.  Unfortunately, another wave hit an hour and half later causing 39% of population to be killed. 

9.2 in 1964 earthquake in Alaska, was the largest ever recorded in North America. Recently, new earthquakes have been happening in areas that are not in places where there are fault lines and the like, are caused from fraking.

Humpback Whales…the return of the Ocean Giants…. By Isabelle Groc

They are called Megaptera novaeangliae after their giant pectoral fins.

Baleen plate……have no teeth and eat only small fish. They range in length 42-50 feet long.

The indigenous peoples of BCsaid that there used to be so many in the Salish Sea that you walk across the tops of them.  But then commercial whaling began about 1876 through to 1908 in the Salish Sea, when it was closed to whaling. Outside of the Salish Sea,  it continued until 1967 .  The first sighting of a returning humpback was 1997 off Race Rocks, the first in 100 years.  As a child growing up in Campbell River, we would always see lots of Orcas but never saw ANY humpbacks. 

Originally the only way they would feed was what is called “lunge feeding” where they come straight up out of the water catching with their mouths open catching their food. Now  they also use what is called “bubblenet feeding”.  

In “Big Mama” the humpback has been seen in B.C. waters 2003 -2023 with 7 calves.  6 Times as a grandmother, 3 times as a great-grandmother.  Now over 500 humpbacks return to B.C. every year.

95% of the world’s population of humpback had been killed with only 1200 remaining at the time.

Their migration is from Alaska to Hawaii travelling 4800 kms. 

Along with the humpbacks, the only shorebird that feeds in Alaska is the Bristle-thighed curlew that travels 6000 km.

In South Pacific the numbers had been reduced to 1%. From the Vava’u archipelago (Tonga) the whales migrate over than 5000 miles, taking all different routes.  Enroute will be visiting to underwater seamounts.  Only males sing…to lure that females.  Each group sing their own song but now it seems they are adopting similar sounds, adopting from other groups, maybe when together in feeding grounds of Antarctica.

The whales are identify by photo ID from underside of flukes

Oldest catalogue Glacier Bay.  One male, #159….has returned every year since 1974.  Happy Whale is photo ID catalogue.  Matches are correct 97-98% of the time.

Pectoral fin….not good enough for identification nor is head shots….tails are the only one used for identifying (because they don’t have enough photos of those areas).  Only 2% of the humpbacks go to Mexico, the rest go to Hawaii.

New catalogue from B.C  has introduced “mouth” pictures that can be used in identification. That is because the whales have taken to “trap feeding”.

Whales travel at max. 5-14 knots per hour. They don’t pay attention to noises of ships til it’s too late and so are injured.

We kept getting updated announcements throughout the day from the captain regarding the arrival of  the air ambulance.  Finally it arrived in Neiafu after a refuel in Fiji and the patient was transported to shore on the tender.  I do hope the patient recovers from whatever was the emergency. After the tenders returned to the ship, we were underway at approximately 7:30 pm., a full day and 3 hours late.

What a lovely sail into this port.  In many ways it’s like sailing through the Gulf Islands except that the hills are covered with palm trees.

We are greeted again by local dancers in traditional garb.

Tour today is Nuku Island and Swallows Cave

Snorkelling for me was not nearly as good as what I had experienced in Savusavu.  There were others that swam farther afield than I, that said the coral and fishes were pretty spectacular. 

The Swallows Cave had no swallows in it. They were just flitting around above the entrance to the cave.  Maybe they got scared off by us.  The cave itself was, although not extensive, was quite colourful and the water in it, was like a black hole….so deep!  We also stopped for a short beach time.  I have to say that, wow, the waters are so incredibly beautiful, so turquoise.  Your jaw just drops in awe!  As for too-numerous-to-count islands, it is quite obvious that they are all volcanic.

So everyone was back to the ship for a 4:30 sail away.  As we waited on several of the decks (one in particular that is never open to the public), the captain finally came on to say that we would not be leaving as planned….in fact probably not til tomorrow, because someone had a medical emergency that required that they be airlifted to Australia for immediate treatment.  An air ambulance will arrive Wednesday morning.  We will then depart towards our next port of call.

Nuku’alofa is the name of this the capital of Tonga …….Nuku mean small and aloha, something that you love. No one is in palace today.  The king is at one of his other homes. We passed by where they want to make a parking lot on sacred ground???

The blow holes on are on west side of the island.

The male guides wear “skirts”. They are cloth wrapped around along with decorated ropes.  He explained that it was like wrapping myself with my country.  Sisters outrank men.  

All girls college for handicrafts

Cemetery plots are 6-7 feet deep.

Tongans have conquered Samoa and Fiji amongst other Issland countries.  They used the stars for navigational purposes.

The country is composed of 170 islands that appear and disappear. 

2022 January 15th there was a volcanic eruption that caused a tsunami……more about later.

We pass by tapioca plantations, yams and taro

The Sabbath (Sunday )must be observed or you can be fined or sent to prison.  All animals…..pigs, cattle or whatever must be kept in pen or you can be fined but dogs run free but if they bite someone, you can be fined.

For the most part, the homes and gardens are cared for….people take pride in their places, decorate fences.

Coconut palms are totally used.  The roots are good for stomach aches and the like, wood for poles for buildings, leaves ….baskets, roofs and of course the coconut itself, for meat, milk, cream, oil, etc.  The husks are used for burning….makes good charcoal.

Land is given only to males not females (funny when considering that it is a matriarchal society, that the women are revered).   No ownership to foreigners only leased…50-100 years.

Rainwater collected into cisterns.  Wells don’t have clean drinking water so that water is used for toilets and washing.

Lemon trees help keep the bugs away. Diesel and solar are sources for power. Barn owls take care of rats and mice.  No poisonous snakes, no bears. Free running chickens need to be boiled to make tender.

Local cooking method……hole in ground….Wood sticks lit, then hard rocks to absorb the  heat, then taro leaf and meat, tapioca, etc….roasted

The legend of the Hina Cave is about a very beautiful 8 foot woman from Fiji that fell in love with a Tongan man.  They ran off to this cave but after a week or so Hina was hungry so the man went in search of food.  He never returned.  She looked out for him on the shore (where her soul is said to reside) but still he never returned.  She went back into the cave where she turned to stone.

The US 47th regiment hid out in Hina Cave during 2nd WW with 3 gun platforms on edge of the reef.

15 C is lowest temperature recorded here.

Bees on ground is sign of cyclone coming.

Most prisoners in the prison are there because of drug trafficking…250 is highest number of prisoners ever recorded.

Kava……it’s a drug but it doesn’t make you drunk like from beer. It just makes people sleep so is used as a sleeping aid. It’s also good for depression.

After coming back from seeing the cave, we were treated a a feast with foods that were baked in the special oven….incl suckling pig.  So many (15) dishes and traditional dancing and singing by local young people…   Before the dance performance came on we were entertained by 2 of the daughters of the big kahuna. One sang Anne Murray’s “Could I have this dance for the rest of my life”and Tina Turner’s “Simple the best”. They were very good.

Only a few died from Covid but many lost their jobs and the tsunami on Jan 15/22 destroyed so many peoples homes and businesses. I believe that the Oho’lei Resort was mostly destroyed by the tsunami. And so they feed 3648 people every day.

Off the island is the 2nd deepest trough in Pacific…with very high currents. It is off Oho’lei Resort so humpbacks travel through in front. 

No charge to go to doctor or dentist.  School is free up to and incl 12.

Vanilla vine grows up coconut stalk. Apparently, the plant needs another for support.  

Apparently Chinese run lots of shops here but are also into investing. There aren’t any South Asians here like in Fiji.

Below are from lectures on board

Tonga

Tonga is the only surviving monarchy of Oceania. It is a nation of 170 islands ….36 of which are inhabited with a population of only 106,000. Tonga has been in settled since 888 +/- BC.  No foreigner can own land.  They have always had an extremely effective navy.  Europeans have never colonized.  In 1616…. the first Europeans set foot… In 1773 Captain Cook arrived.  Tongans are very religious.  Although the Europeans never been colonized, their missionaries did by converting them to Christianity.  George 1 Toupu, was the first king of modern Tonga.  George 11 brought in British.  After his wife died when daughter was 2, he remarried.  He sent his daughter to NZ to prevent her from being killed because of the tradition that if the father remarries, the children of previous marriage are to be killed..

She was Salote 111….the daughter and first queen, was 6’3”.  She lost her mother at 2, and was orphaned at 18.  She brought education to girls.  Tongans are extremely educated .  They have the highest numbers of PHD’s in world.  Parliamentary system….constitutional monarchy.

Tradition. It is a matriarch society.  Inherit through women. “Fahu”…. (father’s oldest sister) accorded the highest levels of respect at all formal and informal occasions from funerals to weddings and births. She acts as the family matriarch and oversees her siblings, nieces, and nephews.

DO NOT ever WEAR BLACK on Tonga.  It is a sign of mourning. 

First stop….Nuku’alofa….Things to see:-Royal Palace, Royal Tombs, Free Church (there is no access because it was damaged by cyclone. It was made from coral)

Neiafu, is our second stop in Tonga.  Local market, Ene’io Botanical Garden, developed since 1972 and dedicated by the queen in 2006. Some other things to see or go to:-(Chiefs Whistles) Mapu’a ‘a vaea-blowholes, humpback whales.  Mt. Talau….131 metres high.

Hurricane Season lecture by Dr. Charlie Paxton

He had been involved during 31 hurricane seasons

Hurricanes do not develop near equator. There are none off west and east of South America cuz the water is too cold

P-3 Orion planes plus some others, fly thru hurricanes to get a truer picture.

Fiji has hurricane centre in this area.

Hurricanes are caused by warm ocean water, moist air, system disturbance, unstable atmosphere, low vertical atmosphere, warm air rising up into cold air. 

Sinking of air is where the eye occurs.

Hurricanes have a wind speed of 74 mph plus.

Because of excessive heat of water in east Caribbean this year,  caused the season to begin very early.

They start with a tropical depression then tropical storm to hurricanes.

Peak season in Atlantic is September in Atlantic/ Caribbean.  

Season here in South Pacific is from November to April where they are called cyclones.

Most potential fatallities are from freshwater flooding, but also storm surge, depending on strength, size, tides, shallow waters and bays. Wind and waves are like a wrecking ball.  The greatest loss of life has been in Florida over the time they have been researching, then NY. Katrina…28’ storm surge. Tornados …offshoots from hurricanes 

La Niña, causes more hurricanes and they are stronger …..in Atlantic. There were 85% more hurricanes in ‘24  

Tropical cyclones 

Hurricanes don’t go through high pressure areas. Rain that went ahead of Helene cause most damage. Evacuation considerations….storm surge. Post stress causes…..Fire ants , alligators, rats, snakes 

The highest fatalities from a hurricane or cyclone has been in 1970 in Bay of Bengal with the death toll being 500,000, mostly from storm surge.

Exploring the Ocean Of Dolphins…by Isabelle Groc

Writer and photographer, film maker of nature from Vancouver but born near Toulouse. A photo journalist who works with scientists. Wrote book “Gentle Giants” about whales.

There are 18 varieties of toothed whales & 8 of balleen whales 

She worked with Robin Baird, a researcher in Hawaii.

Photo identification is part of research. Spinner dolphins & Humpback whales were the most previously research. Humpbacks migrate Dec to March, to off coast of Kona where there is very deep water, high mountains so it’s protected.

Beaked whales and Melon-headed whales.    

Orca are “killer of whales”, are really dolphins. Been observed in B.C. since 1958.  They are from family of blackfish. There are 5 species….. False killer whales, pygmy killer whales….rarest and only in Hawaii, short-finned pilot,  melon-headed whales, beaked bait whales.

A lot of the whale family members can be identified because of marking left by Cookie cutter sharks. They suck on the whales, then bite them, leaving hole that when healed, leaves a scar.  The presence of squid is a sign there would be whales around cuz they are a food source.

In order to track, they attach tag, make Acoustic recording, use drones and dogs. “Conservation Canines” a book she has written. It is about how dogs work for environment. They can smell whale scat (poop). Researchers also take pieces skin to test for pollutants. Noise disturbances can destroy entire population of a pod of up to 400 members cuz they all hang together.

Nuku’alofa, on island of Tongatapu….the capital of Tonga

The ship is double the length of the pier. It is the only ship here for the month. 27C tomorrow with slight chance of rain & 85% humidity. 1 Tongan Pa’anga money =.59 CAD or .43 USD. Water is not drinkable. Time zone is GMT +13, drive on left, speak Tongan and English 

Oho’lei Beach and Hina Cave, near the ocean but not recommend you swim in the ocean. The water is too rough and sea is shallow. Must see…..5 kms of blowholes. A Stonehenge……..built 13th century …..“family tree made out of rocks”. Wear a tee shirt while on beach ….customs are to cover up.Currency exchange on shore.