Beveridge Reef
A few days ago we visited some of the youngest islands in the South Pacific, in the Kingdom of Tonga. Here, volcanoes powered by the interaction of the Pacific and Indoaustralian Plates are just emerging above sea level in the most recent instants of geologic time. One of these, Falcon Reef, has even retreated from its newfound island status and now lies a few feet below the waves. Soon enough the tectonic forces stirring below will raise it higher through further eruptions and it will become a beautiful new volcanic cone like its neighbor Tofua. But already corals have discovered the incipient island and begun the long process that will build a new atoll in the eons to come, long after the volcano has come and gone.
Today, at Beveridge Reef, we saw the other end of this ages long story. Beveridge is a perfect ring of coral, built on a volcanic foundation that rose millions of years ago and has long since subsided far beneath the sea, it now retains not a single square foot of dry land. This is a truly wild place. Humans come here only as rare visitors; there is no beach, no towns or wharves or airstrips. This is pure reef, the kingdom of corals, sharks and teeming millions of fish. A visit to this turquoise ring, set like a precious stone on a field of deepest blue, is a great privilege.
Naturally, water sports were the order of the day. The snorkel platform was anchored over the drop-off on the outside of the atoll and wetsuit-clad revelers plunged into the crystalline water for a closer look. Scuba divers explored deeper and marveled at the variety of fish that have made their home in this isolated spot, hundreds of miles from the nearest similar reef. Those of us who chose to stay dry were not disappointed either, enjoying the views over the shimmering blue shallows, ringed by crashing surf and juxtaposed against the dark blue depths of the lagoon. Our Captain had anchored the ship in a dramatic position, facing directly into the powerful current flowing out of the main pass where the tide enters and leaves the atoll and we struck up a brief friendship with a Namibian yacht that slipped by into the calm inner waters while we rode our anchor there.
All too soon it was time to go and Beveridge drifted from view into memory, its brilliant blue afterimage slowly fading in our minds.
A few days ago we visited some of the youngest islands in the South Pacific, in the Kingdom of Tonga. Here, volcanoes powered by the interaction of the Pacific and Indoaustralian Plates are just emerging above sea level in the most recent instants of geologic time. One of these, Falcon Reef, has even retreated from its newfound island status and now lies a few feet below the waves. Soon enough the tectonic forces stirring below will raise it higher through further eruptions and it will become a beautiful new volcanic cone like its neighbor Tofua. But already corals have discovered the incipient island and begun the long process that will build a new atoll in the eons to come, long after the volcano has come and gone.
Today, at Beveridge Reef, we saw the other end of this ages long story. Beveridge is a perfect ring of coral, built on a volcanic foundation that rose millions of years ago and has long since subsided far beneath the sea, it now retains not a single square foot of dry land. This is a truly wild place. Humans come here only as rare visitors; there is no beach, no towns or wharves or airstrips. This is pure reef, the kingdom of corals, sharks and teeming millions of fish. A visit to this turquoise ring, set like a precious stone on a field of deepest blue, is a great privilege.
Naturally, water sports were the order of the day. The snorkel platform was anchored over the drop-off on the outside of the atoll and wetsuit-clad revelers plunged into the crystalline water for a closer look. Scuba divers explored deeper and marveled at the variety of fish that have made their home in this isolated spot, hundreds of miles from the nearest similar reef. Those of us who chose to stay dry were not disappointed either, enjoying the views over the shimmering blue shallows, ringed by crashing surf and juxtaposed against the dark blue depths of the lagoon. Our Captain had anchored the ship in a dramatic position, facing directly into the powerful current flowing out of the main pass where the tide enters and leaves the atoll and we struck up a brief friendship with a Namibian yacht that slipped by into the calm inner waters while we rode our anchor there.
All too soon it was time to go and Beveridge drifted from view into memory, its brilliant blue afterimage slowly fading in our minds.
