The first full day of our expedition in French Polynesia began with an exciting passage through the north pass of Fakarava Atoll. It was very impressive to watch as Captain Heidie Norling and our pilot skillfully guided our ship through the strong currents and standing waves into the calm waters of the lagoon inside the long coral reef. After breakfast we went ashore to visit a small town, where we explored by bicycle and on foot, photographing local seabirds, meeting local people, and enjoying some time with friendly local nurse sharks. In the afternoon we had another opportunity to enjoy the beautiful blue water in the lagoon of Toau Atoll, where we encountered lots of black- and white-tipped reef sharks, big coral groupers and clouds of jewel-like damselfish.
9/20/2022
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Tahanea Atoll, Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia
Entering the pass of an atoll in French Polynesia is always a beautiful way to start the day. This morning we arrived at Tahanea, a small island with no permanent population. The water here is some of the clearest our staff have ever seen in this region. With winds and currents to contend with, our divers found a beautiful site to spend some time underwater. They enjoyed a healthy coral reef, some sharks, and large fish. On their way back to the ship they even found some manta rays and jumped in the water to snorkel with them. The rest of us split into two groups: the hikers and the swimmers. The hike ashore was full of birds and plants to observe and photograph. The swimmers launched from the snorkel platform into crystal water where they poked around the coral heads and grew even more comfortable swimming with reef sharks. We had an afternoon aboard. We began with a presentation by our guest speaker Tom Ritchie about the most useful plants in Polynesia. At tea time, the hotel team put out 13 different sweet treats, not to mention the sandwiches and fruit. Before recap, undersea specialist James Hyde gave us a condensed history of the natural world—starting with the big bang! Tomorrow will be a busy day for us as we transit to some islands we have never visited before. So it’s quiet on board this evening as we all head to bed to rest up for whatever tomorrow has in store.
