Day 14 - Tuesday, September 4 I decided to go back to the reef in the morning when the tide was still high, and was just getting ready at 8:30 when the phone rang. Mika took the call and when he was finished he asked me if I knew Ray Pierce but I'd never heard of him. "He's a birdy" said Mika. "Birdo" I corrected him. "Well, he's over at Zac's place. He arrived on the boat yesterday and he's staying with Zac. And he'd like an audience with you." I like that turn of phrase, even though I knew Mika meant it the other way around. "What time would he like this audience?" I asked, smiling. "Anytime in the next hour. Be careful what you say, I think Zac wants him to find out what you're doing in Tokelau." This surprised me as I thought Zac knew what I was doing, and Zac and I had got along since I had arrived. "Zac knows why I'm here" I said. "Yes, but he didn't know when you were coming. And the Taupulega didn't know either - they have not given their approval." Mika pointed out. That was serious. The Taupulega is a council of elders who make community decisions for the islanders, but non-governmental decisions. Without their approval a foreigner can't even step off the boat onto any Tokelau island. If I was here illegally, then that meant they were tolerating my presence even though I had violated their laws. And they were being polite about it by not telling me. I wanted to come back to Tokelau someday and that might be difficult if my first visit was unlawful. I'd better make a good impression, I thought. So I got my iPad and combed my hair, then I cleaned my teeth. And put on a clean shirt. Zac's place is just over the road from Mika's, I'd seen it from the road, and from the lagoon as the first site I snorkelled is just behind his house, but I'd never visited until now. Zac's house is a mansion. I live in a two-storey four bedroom house in Sydney, and Zac's house is bigger than mine. It's still the same concrete construction as other buildings, just larger. As General Manager for Nukunonu he gets to travel a bit (and was educated in New Zealand) so he had been bringing some of the niceties from the western world back to his home each time he returned. Zac had gone to work, but Ray was there and we sat down for a chat over a Coke (my first in over a week). Ray is a New Zealander working as an environmental consultant in Cairns. His company has been contracted by the South Pacific Commission to conduct biological surveys of various islands throughout the Pacific (and the company also does a lot of work in Indonesia). He and his colleagues had been to Tokelau last year and were back to look at changes in the fauna. Ray asked me about the birds I'd seen, and I told him what I'd seen and when. We discussed the different species and how common they were, and how to tell a brown noddy from a black noddy. He asked about Indian Mynahs, but I hadn't seen any. Someone had reported seeing two in Nukunonu. That was concerning, because they are a real pest. Then he told me that they had found yellow crazy ants in Atafu the previous year. Yellow crazy ants are an aggressive stinging species that are invasive and occur on many islands in the Pacific. It is one of the exotic species Australian Quarantine are determined to keep out of Australia, although they are periodically detected on yachts or at marinas in Northern Queensland and quickly eradicated. The ants on Atafu seemed to be confined to a small area on a motu beside the inhabited motu. Last year wherever the ants occurred there were no White Terns nesting. Outside the ant area the Tern population was "exploding", to use Ray's description. So he was keen to see what had transpired since last year. In fact, the PB Matua was in Fakaofo this morning, and was now on its way to Nukunonu before continuing on the Atafu, and Ray was getting a ride in a couple of hours. Then we discussed rats, cats, pigs and dogs. Not for very long, as mammals are not prominent in Tokelau. Rats (specifically, the Polynesian Rat) arrived on the island sometime in the last 100 years or so. It gnaws on young coconuts, thereby damaging them, and has been a threat to the coconut/copra industry for decades. And so cats were introduced to kill the rats, with varying degrees of success. The cats also like to climb trees and eat birds. And fish. All the cats I'd seen here were white with blotches of ginger or black, suggesting they are all related. There are no dogs in Tokelau, they are a prohibited species. The only place I've ever been to that doesn't have dogs, and I think it's a great law. I thought all the pigs were in Pig City, but apparently there are some roaming free on some of the motus. Ray asked if I saw any on Te Fakanava, and I told him I hadn't. In fact, I hadn't seen any pig damage in the undergrowth on the island either. The topic then turned to me. "What brings you to Tokelau?" Ray asked. "I wanted to holiday somewhere where there were no obnoxious tourists" I said facetiously. "And anyone who goes to all the effort of getting here doesn't meet the standard definition of 'tourist'. The whole rigmarole involved with boat departures, and timings, and the trip itself - that weeds out the obnoxious people too. " Then I told him about the fish, and the lack of information on them, and the fun I was having. He was interested, and we spoke for a short while about it. Ray's work deals specifically with land fauna, primarily vertebrates and invasives, so fish isn't in his brief, but he was still interested to hear what I had found. I had sighted one known invasive - the Peacock Grouper (Cephalopholis argus) - at most sites, but it was in very low numbers everywhere I had seen it. As this part of the world is within its natural range, its numbers seem to be under control. They were more common in Niue, but again were not a threat there either. The phone rang - for me. MIka had received a call from Pio who wanted my passport. I said I'd bring it down shortly, and as Ray had to get ready to leave, we parted. Ray was catching the Matua to Atafu today, then on Thursday afternoon would be returning to Nukunonu and remaining for the next two weeks where he will be going to all the outer islands to survey the birds. As I left and we exchanged email addresses, Ray commented it was a shame we didn't know each other previously, because if we had coincided our visits then I could have accompanied him to the outer islands to help with the surveys. For me, it means a lot when a field biologist says something like that. Maybe next year. I collected my passport and went to see Pio. He took the passport and kept it for immigration, I'd get it back before boarding on Friday. The schedule was definitely confirmed, no more changes. The Matua arrives back from Atafu on Thursday evening, cargo loading commences Friday at 7:00am, passengers boarding at 10:30, departure at 11:00am, arriving Apia on Saturday at midday. I told Pio what Mika had said about the taupulega. I had submitted my application for a permit to visit at the beginning of August, and had been told in Apia it had been granted. But Pio knew the whole story: the taupulega meet once every few weeks, and they weren't meeting before my arrival. In situations like this the mayor can grant approval, which he did. He's then supposed to tell the taupulega, but for some reason didn't. So everything was OK from my side, there's just a small internal communications problem at their end. But I wasn't an illegal alien, and I think Ray will allay any concerns Zac might have had about me, too. On the way back I visited a small shop. After the coffin had been unloaded yesterday the barge went back for all the rest of the cargo. That meant there was Coke on the island again. The Pineapple Fanta had lasted longer than the Coke (apparently Pineapple Fanta doesn't go well with Scotch) but had finally run out in the weekend. Mika had then produced packets of Tang from somewhere, and we'd been drinking that for the last few days. And to tell the truth, I liked the Tang better than the Fanta. I might have to buy some when I get home, I haven't had Tang in years and it tasted good! But there was Coke on the island again, so I bought a carton. I had planned on going back out to the reef at high tide, but by the time I was ready it was approaching low tide. I waded out to my favourite entry point only to be greeted by some nasty big waves. They were pounding the reef edge and were coming in sets too quickly for me to get to the edge and out to safety. But I tried - I got to within 20 metres of the edge and stood up. I hadn't even got my fins on and a wave knocked me off my feet and once more my left knee got to know a coral head intimately. As remaining on your feet in fins is much more difficult than just in booties, I decided there wasn't much point in trying to get to the reef so I headed in to one of the larger rockpools to see if there was anything new to see/photograph/record. I visited several pools over the next three hours, and saw all the usual suspects. But two new additions were a porcupinefish (being serviced by an adult and juvenile cleaner wrasse, the juvenile swimming in and out of its mouth) and a small school of mullets with black pectoral fins. I only saw them in the distance and will need to identify them when I'm back in Sydney but they're probably Diamondscale Mullets. There's also a couple of aberrant fish I wanted more shots of, both of them surgeonfish. The first looks like a whitecheeked surgeonfish (black all over, white cheek mark, yellow rim at base of fins, thin yellow strip on tail) but has no cheek mark, and instead of yellow it has orange rim and a thick orange stripe on the tail. The second looks like an orangeband surgeon, except the band isn't thick and orange, it's body isn't bicolor, and its tail is white and lunate. It may even be a different species. And it might be the unidentified surgeon I saw in the Wharf Channel. http://www.zoochat.com/1821/porcupinefish-diodon-hystrix-289638/ http://www.zoochat.com/1821/porcupinefish-diodon-hystrix-289640/ http://www.zoochat.com/1821/porcupinefish-diodon-hystrix-289646/ http://www.zoochat.com/1821/cleaner-wrasses-porcupinefish-diodon-hystrix-289642/ http://www.zoochat.com/1821/unusually-coloured-whitecheek-surgeonfish-acanthurus-nigricans-287965/ http://www.zoochat.com/1821/unusual-surgeonfish-289645/ http://www.zoochat.com/1821/unusual-surgeonfish-289644/ After three hours I packed up and headed back home, I'll try the reef tomorrow. My last day for snorkelling, as I need 24 hours for my gear to dry before packing it. As I walked back I saw some boys walking along the reef in the shallow water with a net strung out between them. I walked over and asked how they were doing, and they showed me a haul of mullet and parrotfish. The mullet were different to the ones I had already seen, these had yellow pectoral fins. I took some photos, said 'Thanks, good luck' and turned to leave. One of the boys offered me a mullet, but my hands were full with cameras and snorkelling gear. "You're with Mika" he said "we'll bring later". It turned out the boy I was talking to, named Junior, was Mika's neighbour. A couple of hours later Junior appeared at the back door holding in his hands three parrotfish and two mullet. I found a pan for him to put them in, and thanked him very much. When Mika arrived home I showed him the fish, and Mika explained that in Tokelau the men catch the food while the women look after the house. That's pretty much the way labour is divided amongst the men and women. "If a women walks past men who are fishing, it is the custom to give the woman a fish." I pointed out that, with my very full beard, not even the most dim-witted Tokelauan could mistake me for a woman. "You're a palagi" he said "it's the same." And so we had another very nice fish dinner, all because I had to walk past some boys fishing when walking home. Note: palagi = white person. Hix Photo count for the day: 165 taken, 82 deleted.
Day 15 - Wednesday September 5 Wednesday morning looked a little overcast, but that wasn't going to stop me from trying to get back to the reef. Up early, I headed out at around 8:30, but again the waves were just too strong, not only pounding on the edge of the reef-flat, but then surging across the flat making it difficult to get anywhere near the edge. So I went back to the large rockpool, then decided to try further along the reef-flat for a new pool. The surge was strong, and made photography difficult. I found a rock and coral formation that a number of squirrelfish had decided to occupy. These were predominantly Spotfin squirrelfish, a common species, but there was another species there too, and it was one I needed a photograph of. Many of the squirrelfishes (and closely related soldierfishes) are identified by the pattern on their dorsal fin, the problem is getting a photo with the dorsal fin erect. They normally flash it if something annoys them, or another fish gets to close, but it's only up for a split-second. But getting any photo was almost impossible. I was in only one metre of water, and I had to have the camera close to the bottom to shoot under the rock overhang. Despite the weightbelt I couldn't stay down long enough to frame a shot, plus the camera kept readjusting focus because it was darker under the rock. And the surges kept pushing me in the wrong direction. In the end I just sat the camera on the ground, pointed the lens under the rock, let it focus on whatever it was pointed at, and depressed the shutter. I did this a few times, with rather mixed results (I got some photos, but not framed well, and none really usable). http://www.zoochat.com/1821/squirrelfishes-290748/ I removed one of the weights from my belt, one that I had prepared earlier. Using a cable-tie I had attached a GoPro mount to the weight, and now I took the GoPro off my chest harness and attached it to the weight. I put the weight on the ground just under the rock overhang and swam away to see what else I could find. A small school of Needlefish appeared, and I tried to get photos without much success. Needlefish are long and thin, with long thin needle-like snouts (in fact, fisherman have been injured by these strong, pointed beaks). There are three or four species found in the South Pacific, and a few species of halfbeaks, a related group. The best way to tell them apart is by looking at the snouts, and counting the spines and rays in the fins. A good photograph can enable you to do that, but getting a good photograph is the hard part. Both Needlefish and Halfbeaks like to swim at the surface, which makes getting photos hard as the surface rocks around a lot. They are also silvery, and hard to see in a viewfinder, so it's extremely difficult to focus. So I only managed to get three photos that might help me confirm identification when I get home (but I suspect Keeltail Needlefish). http://www.zoochat.com/1821/needlefish-290745/ A Dotted Butterflyfish held my attention for a short period - although I had seen this species elsewhere in Nukunonu, I had only seen it in the lagoon and this was the first time I'd seen it this side of the motu. And I also chased one of the aberrant Whitecheeked Surgeonfish again. But the thing that really caught my eye was a female Goldsaddle Goatfish. http://www.zoochat.com/1821/odd-white-cheeked-surgeonfish-acanthurus-nigricans-290742/ Goldsaddle Goatfish were common and had been sighted at all the sites I'd visited, but apart from a brief glimpse of a female at Lagoon 3 - prior to be stung by the jellyfish - they had all been male. Females are easily distinguished from the blue males by being bright yellow or gold. Seeing one on the reef-flat gave me a chance to get a decent photo if I stalked it slowly enough. http://www.zoochat.com/1821/female-goldsaddle-goatfish-parupeneus-cyclostomus-290744/ http://www.zoochat.com/1821/female-goldsaddle-goatfish-parupeneus-cyclostomus-290743/ Ten minutes after leaving the GoPro I returned and collected it. Re-attaching it to the chest harness I noticed a little Toby swimming in a coral head. Looking closer I realised it was a Solander's Toby, a species I hadn't seen here. The other Toby I'd see - the Ambon Toby - had blue spots and stripes, whereas the Solander's spots are larger and green. I managed to get a couple of shots of the fish before it disappeared into a coral head with it's partner. I spent a bit more time in the rockpool, before calling it quits and going home. I looked at the reef edge once more, hoping the waves had died down, but they hadn't. In fact, they seemed a bit worse. behind the waves breaking on the edge I could see even larger swells forming. It just wasn't going to happen. Back at Mika's house I washed everything thoroughly in freshwater. For the past two weeks or so only my boardshorts, t-shirt, and cameras had been washed in freshwater after use, but now I wanted the salt off everything. Then I put it all in the sun to dry. Tomorrow I would be packing and I wanted everything completely dry and salt-free before going into my suitcases. While most things would dry in an hour in the sun, I knew my neoprene reef boots would take a while longer, which is why I wanted 24 hours for them to dry (although it wouldn't take anywhere near that long). Looking at the GoPro footage from under the rock I was able to stop the film when the squirrelfish raised their dorsal fin, and though it doesn't look exactly like what's in my field-guide, I think the fish where Samarai Squirrelfish; I'll confirm this back in Sydney. The Solander's Toby pair were also seen, but what really surprised me was a fish I had glimpsed under the rock for a split second and thought it was a young Sabre Squirrelfish. It was shy and disappeared in a hole in the rock and I never saw it again. But it appeared a couple of times in the GoPro film, and it turns out to be something I've never seen before - a Tailspot Squirrelfish. Another new species for Nukunonu. After sorting and labelling the pictures from the morning, I turned my attention to all the groupers I'd seen here. Like the Parrotfishes, the groupers were frustrating me. Apart from the Peacock and Flagtail Groupers, I couldn't identify any of the others. I knew they were Epinephalus groupers, but they didn't match the photos in the book. Identification was based around the number and placement of black saddles along the dorsal, and none of these have any saddles. http://www.zoochat.com/1821/grouper-290750/ Back in Sydney I have several excellent books that will help with identification. For travel, though, I only carry the one field-guide. While it is generally very good, it does have limitations. For one thing, most species are illustrated by only one photograph, accompanied with one sentence describing the species and highlighting differences with similar looking species. While some species mighht have more than one photo to describe different geographic variations / colour morphs /male, female, juvenile colour phases, most species don't have this, hence my frustration. I'll just have to wait till I get back home. In the afternoon the waves seemed to have died down a bit. My entry point was looking good and - still desperate to get back to the reef - I decided to go out again. My gear, all sitting in the sun for two hours, was completely dry (and some of it quite hot) apart from the Reef Boots which were still damp, but also very hot. I walked down to the water's edge and watched the waves, which seemed to be smaller. So I started wading out again. But halfway there the waves started up once more. I got near the reef-flat edge, looked at the waves, and decided to wait in my very familiar rockpool to see what the waves would do in fifteen minutes or so. There was nothing new in the rockpool, but I did see another Ambon Toby which I followed for around ten minutes to get some more photos. In that time, the waves got bigger, and the surges started rolling in over the reef-flat. And there was some power behind them too. http://www.zoochat.com/1821/ambon-toby-canthigaster-amboinensis-290737/ The wrasses of the genus Thalassoma are a speedy bunch. They all seem to be in a hurry to get somewhere, always swimming quite speedily and rarely slowing down or stopping. Getting photos of Thalassoma species have always taken time (and a lot of deleted photos). One species in this genus that I was still to get a good photo of was the Surge Wrasse. I have one good photo of a juvenile in Niue, and none from Nukunonu, as everytime I saw a Surge Wrasse they were gone before I could point the camera in their direction. With one exception - an adult I saw in the Wharf Channel, but as I was being sucked out of the channel at the time, I really wasn't in a position to try for photos. But now, in this rockpool, was a juvenile that seemed to be hanging around. And after ten minutes of patiently stalking, I managed a couple of shots although they aren't that clear. http://www.zoochat.com/1821/surge-wrasse-juvenile-thalassoma-purpureum-290749/ http://www.zoochat.com/1821/sixbar-wrasse-thalassoma-hardwicke-290747/ Around the same time I noticed some mullets hanging around. These ones had yellow pectoral fins, and I imagine they are the same species Junior had been catching the day before. Unlike the mullets with black pectorals, these guys kept returning, getting quite close, and I managed to get some good images of them. Again, identification will have to wait until Sydney. http://www.zoochat.com/1821/mullet-yellow-pectorals-290740/ http://www.zoochat.com/1821/mullet-yellow-pectorals-290741/ The waves rolling over the reef-flat had become more frequent and much stronger, and a particularly big one caught me off-guard and swept me quickly toward a large coral outcrop consisting of several different coral heads. I could see I was going to add to my collection of cuts and scrapes, but the extra water in this wave lifted me up and I was washed clear over the top of the coral with no contact at all. And as I was washing over it, I briefly glimpsed in the middle of the coral a grouper with black saddles. As soon as I could get a footing I hurried back, but couldn't find the grouper. And with more strong waves hitting me, I once again decided to call it a day and returned back home. Once again I washed all my gear in freshwater and laid it out on the veranda to dry. Although the sun was now obscured by trees, it would dry overnight, except the reef boots which would dry tomorrow in the sun. After uploading those photos I updated the spreadsheet. Not counting unidentified fish, the total count was 121 species, and the reef-flat total was up from 51 to 56 species. The Reef itself still sat at 63, just one behind Lagoon 2 at 64. It would have been nice to see the reef with greater diversity, but that was not to be. Dinner was a little different - beef stew, roast chicken, fried eggs - and french fries. Mika had got a pack of frozen fries from the shop and cooked them in oil. It was a different, but tasty, dinner. Hix Photo count for the day: 244 taken, 164 deleted. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Attached below are four photos - the first shows a wave crashing on my entry/exit point, the other show the resulting turbulence.
Day 16 - Thursday, September 6 Thursday morning and the sky was beautifully clear as the sun came up. Today I had a few things to do, but mostly I was going to pack in the afternoon. Walking outside to look at the stream in the channel beside the house I could see that the flow (water levels) had dropped significantly since the high on the weekend, and was back to the way it was when I arrived. Looking up at the sky I could see the moon, or rather two-thirds of it. And then I noticed the waves at the edge of the reef-flat. They were small. I walked out to the shoreline and watched the waves at my reef entry point for a full ten minutes. The waves were much smaller than the previous days, and they had no power in the them. Even though it was high tide, once the waves had broken on the edge of the reef-flat, there was not much that rolled on over the flat. After watching for ten minutes and seeing no change I decided to break my own rules and go back out again. It was still early, and if I was back by ten o'clock then my boots would have time to dry in the sun by evening. As quickly as I could I got into my gear and collected my cameras. I had removed the powerful strobe from my underwater housing the previous night, and now I made the decision to go without the strobe. While this would impact upon the colour of my photos, it would allow me more freedom to take more photos and to not miss opportune shots. And as recording the species was the primary goal (and not photos for publication) this seemed to be a prudent choice. Putting on my fins at the shore I swam out over the reef-flat with very little resistance and was able to swim straight over the edge without any problems. A good sign, I thought. Visibility was still around 40 metres, which was fine. And as I swam out I saw a grouper with black saddles - a Hexagon Grouper. This was another good sign. it also brought the number of species seen at this site to 64 - equal with the Lagoon 2 site. But I wanted one more species, and I thought I knew where to find that extra species - a small damsel that hid amongst the coral heads. I'd glimpsed one the other day when photographing the hawkfishes, and I thought I might be able to get a photo of it today. I needn't have worried, as there were lots of new fish to see. http://www.zoochat.com/1821/hexagon-grouper-epinephalus-hexagonatus-289683/ http://www.zoochat.com/1821/small-spotted-dart-trachinotus-baillonii-289681/ http://www.zoochat.com/1821/bicolor-parrotfish-tp-amp-ip-cetoscarus-289680/ The usual unicornfishes, surgeonfishes and parrotfishes were all there, as was the Blacktip Reef Shark, Green Turtle and school of Small-spotted Darts. Prominent above the reef was a new wrasse I'd never seen before, but which was photogenic and later identified as a Ringtail Wrasse. There were also large numbers of a damsel, the Variable Chromis (or Pale-tailed Chromis). On my last visit I had been excited to see a Clown Coris, and this morning I saw another in the genus - the Yellowtail Coris. Just a single individual, but it was still exciting to see it. And then the grand-daddy of wrasses came along, a Humpback Wrasse. It was swimming just above the dropoff and although not as close as I would have liked, I still got some photos. Interestingly, it had a Bluefin Trevally swimming directly under it for much of the time I was watching. The small damsel in the coral heads turned out to be a Blackbar Damsel, and I saw a Pennant Bannerfish nearby. A large Yellowmargined Triggerfish gave me a close scrutiny and allowed some good photos. http://www.zoochat.com/1821/ringtail-wrasse-oxycheilinus-unifasciatus-289678/ http://www.zoochat.com/1821/variable-chromis-chromis-xanthura-289677/ http://www.zoochat.com/1821/variable-chromis-chromis-xanthura-289673/ http://www.zoochat.com/1821/humpback-wrasse-cheilinus-undulatus-289687/ http://www.zoochat.com/1821/humpback-wrasse-cheilinus-undulatus-289686/ http://www.zoochat.com/1821/bluefin-trevally-caranx-melapygus-289685/ http://www.zoochat.com/1821/pennant-bannerfish-heniochus-chrysostomus-289684/ http://www.zoochat.com/1821/yellowtail-coris-coris-gaimard-289664/ http://www.zoochat.com/1821/yellow-margined-triggerfish-pseudobalistes-flavimarginatus-289660/ http://www.zoochat.com/1821/yellow-margined-triggerfish-showing-me-its-289661/ http://www.zoochat.com/1821/blackbar-damsel-plectroglyphididon-dickii-289651/ But I hadn't seen my white whale - the Saddled Butterflyfish. On my previous visits I had swum only about 50 metres north and south of my entry point, and now I extended that by a further 50 metres in each direction. I saw another scrawled filefish, a trumpetfish, a school of small barracuda and school of halfbeaks, but no Saddled Butterflyfish. Over the edge of the reef-face, down at the bottom of my vision, I could just make out a few faint, dark silhouettes. At one angle there was a slight reflection or a burnished gold colour, just for a split second. I suspect these were Midnight Snappers which display that colour, and are around the right size. Not far away I saw some similar darker shapes, which were probably the related Black Snapper - in Niue I've usually seen both species together. As they prefer deeper waters the only way to confirm this will be to come back with scuba gear some time. A prospect I look forward to! http://www.zoochat.com/1821/trumpetfish-aulostomus-chinensis-289654/ http://www.zoochat.com/1821/barracuda-school-289674/ http://www.zoochat.com/1821/green-turtle-chelonia-mydas-289656/ http://www.zoochat.com/1821/green-turtle-chelonia-mydas-289658/ After 77 minutes I had to go in. I didn't see the Saddled Butterflyfish, and this was disappointing, but I had leave as I was exhausted. One last fish caught my attention - it was all yellow, but a dirty yellow, not the brilliant yellow of the Lemonpeel Angelfish. Diving down I found it to be another Mimic Surgeonfish starting to change into its adult form. Finding one a week ago was amazing, but to find a second one, that was incredible! What's more surprising is I never saw an adult at any of the sites. http://www.zoochat.com/1821/mimic-surgeonfish-acanthurus-pyroferus-289659/ I swam at the edge of the reef-flat and determined there was still enough water over the edge that I could catch a wave in without hitting anything hard and immovable. And then, sitting on the rock that is the edge of the reef-flat, in the appropriately named surge zone, was an adult Surge Wrasse. The only time I haven't seen one swimming at speed. So, as the next wave pushed me onwards, I tried to frame him in the viewfinder and managed a half-decent shot. Half-decent because of all the turbulence. http://www.zoochat.com/1821/surge-wrasse-bottom-thalassoma-purpureum-289648/ Swimming in to shore it got dark quite suddenly and I could see dark clouds obscuring the sun. I hurried back to Mika's house and for the third time in 24 hours I thoroughly washed all my gear in freshwater, took it all apart and set it out on the veranda to dry. Ten minutes later it started to bucket down like it only can in the tropics. I made sure that everything was out of the rain, knowing that this would last only a few minutes and in half-an-a-hour the sun would be back out. The rain did stop shortly thereafter but the clouds remained most of the day and we had several more light showers. By evening everything had dried except the reef-boots which I had to put in plastic bags when I packed them that evening. After sorting and labelling slides, and identifying new species, the final count for The Reef was 81 species, and the total count for species seen in Nukunonu was 133 species (not including unidentified fishes). During a lull in the afternoon when the sun came out from behind the clouds I took my camera to photograph a White Tern I had seen sitting on a nest in a Breadfruit Tree a couple of days prior. The tern now had a chick and I was lucky enough to get some shots of the adult feeding the chick. The tree was a tall sturdy tree, and I thought I could climb a neighbouring trunk and get photos of the chick (and feeding) from a neighbouring branch without disturbing them. After getting permission from the owner of the tree (who said I didn't need to climb it, they would give me breadfruit), I climbed up as far as I could go, but the tree was more difficult than I expected and I found myself balanced precariously between two branches four metres above the ground, with my foot stuck between two branches and sticky sap on my hands. The adult terns were most concerned at my predicament and were both flying over to look at me, and they seemed quite distressed that I might injure myself. To cap it off, I wasn't high enough for photos and leaves obstructed my view, so I reluctantly - and with more difficulty than it took to get up - climbed back down again. And the terns seemed a lot happier that I was safe on solid ground again, too. That night, over a dinner of canned tuna, rice and boiled bananas, Maliana said something to Mika and he laughed heartily. "Mum says I have to hire a security guard now" "Why?" I asked, genuinely puzzled by the comment. "Because you are leaving. For the last few weeks we could both go out and you were here. We're going to have to start locking the doors again!" I was going to miss this place. Hix Photo count for the day: 441 taken, 274 deleted.
Day 17 - Friday, September 7 Last day in Tokelau. I'd packed my suitcases the night before and all I had was a few things to do in the morning and I'd be ready to go. I splashed some water on me in the 'shower', cleaned my teeth and brushed my hair in the iPad. My bags were ready to go and were picked up at 8:00am by the truck and sent down to the wharf. I'd be heading down around 10:00. The town crier with his megaphone walked past saying something in Tokelauan and Mika said the schedule had changed and I had to head to the wharf now. Apparently they had moved everything forward. Looking out the window I could see the waves were barely a ripple at the edge of the reef-flat, and would have been perfect for snorkelling. Oh well. Maybe next time. Packing my laptop into my backpack, and packing in a couple of cans of Coke, I said goodbye to Maliana who was sad to see me go (but I suspect she'll be glad not to have to worry about the palagi and his wet snorkelling gear). She presented me with a woven fan made out of Pandanus leaves, a traditional gift. I had left behind a dozen AA batteries, a six-way powerboard, a small handnet for fishing and some insect repellent. When Mika and I arrived at the wharf the barge was just arriving. As I went to Immigration to get my passport Mika went down to help unload the barge and put the goods in the truck. Then he rode off with the truck, presumably to help unload it. A few minutes later the mayor announced the barge was ready for passengers. I looked for Mika to say goodbye and thank him for eveything, but he was nowhere to be seen. I had no choice but to get on the barge. Also on the barge, to help get passengers and luggage onto the ship, was Junior. I told him what had happened, and asked him to explain to Mika. I also saw Pio and asked him to do the same. But even if they both forgot, I could explain to Mika on Facebook. I just felt bad leaving without saying goodbye, and thanks. And so I left Nukunonu, and Tokelau. We didn't stop at the other atolls, we sailed straight on to Apia The ride was uneventful, although I didn't get a cabin this time and had to sit in the lounge the whole time (and try to sleep). The ride wasn't as rough as the ride in, but my stomach still felt a little queasy. Despite children on either side of me throwing up the whole voyage (one boy making awful gurgling noises each time), I never felt the urge to do so myself. I tried reading my book, but it just made me feel even more queasy. Of course, the book is an introduction to Bioinformatics, so it may have been the content that made me feel ill, and not the fact I was reading. I did some Sudokus, but they didn't help. And so, as it got dark, I tried to sleep like everyone else on the boat. Hix Photo count for the day: 0
For the conclusion to this tale, please see the http://www.zoochat.com/1814/hix-goes-tropical-again-samoa-pt-291031/#post595653 thread. Hix
