Port talk the night before:-In port from7-4:30, bugs spray needed and sun protection. Partly cloudy, 15% chance of rain, 74% humidity and temperature around 28C. 17,000 population, drive on the right. It is tender port….15-20 minute ride in…in Opunohu Bay. There is a craft market, food stands at pier…..not much else. Too long walk to get anywhere.  Public bus only 5/day, taxis are expensive.  Scooters for rent nearby (Coco rider.com). Mo’orea is like Bora Bora but better.  More hotels here than other Polynesian islands ….lots of beaches. Ring road…60 kms around. Timae Beach near airport on east side.  Eco museum…aquarium, golf course in timae., zip line (3600 francs)..tiki park, hikes…3 Coconut Tree Pass, Mt Mou’aputa…extremely difficult , plus another….take 6-9 hours to complete, horseback riding.

Excursion Highlights of Mo’orea is a counterclockwise circle island tour.

In 1700s Christians came to Mo’orea. The octagon church in the port was the first Christian church. Locals had worshipped three gods previously.  When they decided to have no more wine in ceremonies at the octagon church, the locals built their own church elsewhere.  There are lots of churches on the island.

Mo’orea became a protectorate in 1842.   Mo’orea mean Yellow lizard 

The reef is only 1-2 metre deep. Intercontinental hotel closed since Covid.  We passed where you park your car then catch boat to private island to lunch and feed the rays, sharks and turtles.

Some very nice hotels.  Houses on beach for rent 100/month

Club med closed …sold part to country for park and beach.  Beach is free to public now.

There are 10 kinds of mango grown here. 

Discotheque on Saturdays. 15 dollar for men, nothing for women.

Flower over right ear means looking, left is married, both is married but looking for more, 2 on right gay….so said the guide.

Aluminum bands on the coconut trees are to prevent red crab from climbing the tree to attack fragile young coconuts.

Green leaves for weaving….. walls, roofs and handbags toys like rays

On the left side are free elevated homes provided for poor.    

Mo’orea electric wires, etc are all underground so no overhead lines.

Only French, after 5 years can own property or if you are Tahitian or ……if you build hotel or other business that employee many people. 

Ferry to Tahiti for school is free for student or regular workers get better rate.  It starts at 6 am and is a 45 minute ride.

Surfing very dangerous cuz there is only 60 cms to coral

Lots of Protestant churches but only one Jehovah’s.

School is free but it costs 50$ for lunch/month ….5 days a week.

60 “Rappel” means remember the max speed is 60 kmh.

70 of 110 islands of French Polynesia have mountains. The rest are flat.

Everyon used to have large familys of 8-18 but now only have 2-3.

Very nice roads..all are paved.

It is now coming into summer…humid and very hot.

One hospital with 2 doctors and heli pad.  Pharmacy with one private doctor too.

Beaches are public but problem is to get access to them.

In 1897, the Chinese here brought to work.

Everyone gets 35 day paid holiday for men and 35 for women with up to 5 children plus 2 more day per baby 

They pay 50% tax on Chinese cars but 30% if bought from France. 

60% population is mixed race.

Costco Travel is cheaper  …$250-350/night on land or $800/night on ones over water at Sofitel….OMG it’s breathtaking.  Sofitel ,Hilton and another are owned by a Chinese man than owns the major grocery store, the hardware store, etc, etc.….  He sold one of the hotels to Chinese outfit but they went bankrupt. He then bought it back for a song. There are  2-5 flights per day out of Mo’orea .

Pineapple distillery is now owned by Coca Cola. When owned by govt only made juice but they have too many pineapples produced so make jam, juice, alcohol, etc. we had 7-8 tastes of different alcohol contents from 8%- 30%

Solar panels are becoming popular.  Our guide paid $16,000 for 12 solar panels on his roof. 

This island’s mountains are like no others. The Canadian Rockies are something else but not like the ruggedness of these.

This was a reminder to look up “tompi fish” or also called “skippy” cuz they skip atop the water.  A  girl had her leg impaled by one while on a floaty….in Tonga.  My search could not find it.

6400 population.  There are 2 two islands joined by a short bridge.

There are only 2 hotels here now. In 1998 a cyclone hit destroying most of the 13 (?) hotels at the time 

The first part of our excursion was to go snorkelling but first stop we had to see the humpback whales that were hanging out in the bay.  I had also seen them from the ship.  They didn’t seem to be bothered at all by the presence of the ship.  We saw 3….2 adults and a baby that was having a whale of a time.  Apparently there have been up to 7 hanging out here, way past the time that they should be on the move.  They usually are here between August and October.

The snorkelling was so incredible….a school of like 100 black…. what look like angel fish with long snouts, all kinds of butterfly fish and so many others and then……I spotted a triggerfish. I became a bit panicked and quickly moved to another location. Oh my did it ever rain today….after being told to expect only 5% chance of rain. It doesn’t really matter if you get wet when you are snorkelling but at one point the rain that was pelting me was “prickly”.

Archaeological site Temple of Huahine. There are 241 temples on Island …for each family.

Fish traps….No fishing licence required & no limitations on number of fish caught at fish trap…rock weirs.  Fresh water to left, ocean to right .  I think I heard that this trap has been in existence since 1898.  Blue crab, lots of good eating fish.

We then stopped at a very little creek that had the “blue-eyed eels”. These guys are huge….2 metres long.  Our guide and a few others went into the creek to feet them …..tuna or mackerel.  Their eyes are weird!  One of my not-very-good pictures shows one with mouth open and what looks like teeth.

Then off to a viewpoint…gorgeous!

From port lecture the night before:-‘Ferry ride between Raiatea and Bora Bora is only a 45 minute ride so you can imagine that we are barely moving

27 C… hotter than today…75% humidity. 10,000 pop

Time zone….GMT -10, There are 17,000 pearls for each wifi router…lol!

Tendering from inside reef, 10 minutes.….Vaitape name of town.

Options:-Island Le Truck, private shuttle buses…USD5, taxis everything is expensive.  Most nice beaches are private….get day pass. Matira beach is only one at not cost. Swim with stingrays……6kms, Coral garden…5 minute walk.  Naval museum…40 models. Art galleries….sell what they have on display.Hiking….Mt Otemanu…619 metres(2400 ft) plus several others

Albert’s is Kaenoa’s family’s Pearl shop. Bloody Mary’s is closed for renovations……maybe! Floating bungalows….off the island on east coast. Take small boat….you can see them from the shore.

During the night we were rudely awakened by emergency alarm…..6 short and one long blast …..at the ungodly time of 2:56 am.  Apparently if was for an electrically fire in the ceiling of a stateroom half way down the hall from us.  And then we were jolted again, 4 times by announcements.  Two other rooms next to the one with the fire, were also vacated.  When I went out on the balcony I did not see flames but did smell smoke.  Try to get back to sleep after that……tough!

My tour Lagoon boat ride and snorkelling.

Mt. Otemanu was only just climbed for the first time, 3 years ago. The lagoon is a caldera …is 100 feet deep.

Cabins above water is Bloody Mary’s…is closed for renovations

Reef is just 2 feet deep. It filters the waters coming into the lagoon and oxygenated the water. The turquoise colour is made the white sand (from coral) …with sun and the clarity. Dark is very deep drop off.  Parrot fish provide 100 tons of poop, providing some of white colouring. Reef grows 20 mm per year. Coral grows close to surface for photosynthesis. A Motu is a flat island and is part of the reef ….waves break coral that float in to make motus.

We saw Eagle rays…..black, have tail but no stinger. Manta rays are lighter in colour and mottled.

As a bit of a correction regarding the creation of Pearls…..the colour of the pearls as I said before can be determined by the colour of the rim of the shell. It is the membrane that is trimmed off and chopped into small pieces and implanted along with the nucleus, not a chip. Also the nucleus’ are made from the nacre of the freshwater oyster from the Mississippi River.

77% humidity, 27 C (82 F), 45% chance of rain in form of thunderstorms.

Somehow I lost what I had written for the 5th so will be going on memory.  We travelled by vehicle for 20-25 minutes and then a 5 minute boat ride out to a little hut out in the lagoon to the Anaipu Pearl Farm.  We noticed upon coming into port, that the homes were almost sitting in the water.  Our guide told us that although they do have tides, that the low to high is maximum 40 centimetres.  That explains why they can away with being so close….and of course with such reef, they wouldn’t get much wave action.

Of the people there, the woman that spoke pretty good English (French is the official language of all of the islands), explained what the process they used for creating these black pearls.  One of the others, a Polynesian fellow was the “surgeon”.  He would cut the membrane away to get to the gonad. He would pierce the gonad and insert a small nucleus that they purchase from Mississippi, as well as a chip of the clam shell that they wish colour of the Pearl to be.  Each day the surgeon will do about 300 processes. In 2 years they reopen the gonad to find the Pearl.  They then put another  nucleus of the same size of the Pearl removed, into that same gonad.  In another year they remove another larger Pearl and repeat the process.  Eventually they will have farmed 4 pearls from each mollusk (they look like clams or scallops).  

After hearing all about the farming of pearls, we were treated to snorkelling just off the hut. The coral was really plentiful and so were the fish…..none of which were aggressive this time. It was amazing. Sorry but no underwater photos 🙁.

On the return from the Pearl farm, we stopped briefly to see a vanilla farm. The natural pollinators cannot pry into the vanilla bean so they have to be hand pollinated by humans. It can only be done in the first couple hours of the day doing about 300 in that period.

We had so few miles to go from Raiatea to Bora Bora ( we can see it from where we were), the ship could not stay beyond about 5:30. I am not sure but suspect that they have to be able to see exactly where the ship is going. There is only a small break/passage in the coral reef. The ship must have going at less than 5 knots….so slow! It look about an hour to get through to that spot.

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