Phoenix Islands, Kiribati

22nd November – 19th December 2004

The Phoenix Islands are a widely spread group of eight islands located just south of the Equator and almost a thousand miles from anywhere else on the planet.  Only two of the islands are inhabited – the chief island Kanton and Orona (Hull) where a settlement programme was started again in 2001. 

There was a great flurry of excitement in the biospheric world when National Geographic published an article about these islands in early 2004, heralding them as one of the last wildernesses of the world’s oceans.  And for a long time now, we have been very much looking forward to our time there, to discover the state of health of these coral reefs that are so geographically removed from direct human impacts. 

On 22^nd November, we lowered the Zodiac in reasonably calm seas to launch three exploratory dives into the waters surrounding Sydney Island (Manra in the Kiribas language). The Heraclitus remained hove to a mile offshore.  There are few places for us to anchor here in the Phoenix Islands, which meant that our seamanship skills and our ability to look after the ship close to shore had to be very strong, in order to increase our potential of exploration.  As we were poised on the edge of the Zodiac, ready to launch ourselves onto the reef below, we saw rapid movements of long silhouettes beneath us – sharks, many of them approaching the small boat rapidly and with great interest.  Michel grabbed a wooden stick and went in to test the reception we might expect.  Once we had the all clear, we descended to enjoy the sight of so many sharks, including many frisky juveniles, on one reef – is this how all thriving reef communities should look?  Are there always supposed to be this many sharks?  If so, then we have stolen from the biosphere one of our most elegant animals.  We watched mostly grey reef sharks, also black tips and whitetips, snake around us, approaching quite closely but never threatening. 

grey reef sharks on parade at Sydney Island

The fish populations were flourishing – red snappers, jacks, great barracuda, clouds of anthias, plenty of parrotfish including the large steephead parrotfish.  But when we could peel our eyes away from the dancing fish to see what lay behind them, the reef structure was in a devastated state with most hard coral colonies covered in a pink encrusting algae that we have also seen in other parts of the South Pacific, especially Tokelau and Rarotonga.  This began our voyage through the paradox of the Phoenix Islands - at Sydney, Enderbury, Kanton, McKean and Nikumaroro islands we were to find stunning fish populations but up to 95% of the hard corals on these reefs have died in the last two and a half years.

this young grey reef shark passes in front of mostly algae covered corals

We searched further through the reports of the New England Aquarium expeditions in June/July 2000 and 2002 for their impressions of the state of the corals – to probe further into what they had seen.  We made plans to stop at as many islands as possible in the group to gather as wide a range of impressions for ourselves as possible. 

the hawkfish sits on his usual perch - a Pocillopora - but this coral is dead

We had hoped to make another dive expedition at Phoenix Island, but the weather was against us.  The swells were too high and the wind too strong to allow us to heave to or dive safely so we took the wind and continued moving northwards. 

On 24^th November, the seas had calmed enough for us to stop at Enderbury Island.  There are no trees on the island – it is a barren looking, guano-stinking strip of white, speckled with the black, brown and grey bodies of frigate birds, boobies, terns.  It was mined for its phosphate for a while and also served as a military base until the late 1970s.  But there is nobody there now, apart from a small sailing yacht anchored close to shore.  Our diving there continued on the theme of Sydney Island – plenty fish, including all the top predators, but a very damaged reef beneath them. 

wide and closer views of the corals that used to be

We arrived at Kanton on 26^th November, a very friendly pod of bottlenose dolphins gathering around us just before we dropped the anchor outside the pass into the lagoon.  This was the best position we could find, on the leeward side of the island, holding on to the shelf of the mostly dead reef.  But we had to be ready to leave at any moment should the wind move around to the west.  Luckily the weather stayed on our side for nearly two weeks, allowing us to carry out a full study on the fringing reef of the atoll and the lagoon interior. 

We explored as fully as we could in the water – and encountered incredible beauty in the sea.  The dolphins would spend the last few hours of each day with us in the Zodiac, charging just ahead of the bow and encouraging us to ride with them as we hung off the side.  Manta rays gathered at the entrance to the lagoon, feeding furiously on the incoming tide that can reach a phenomenal speed of up to 10 knots.  We rode these currents, flying along the seafloor, one day swirling with twenty mantas.  The sharks are here too – but not to the extent of the previous stops.  The greater part of the shark populations here were fished out quite heavily in a money-making scheme by the government – but they have not been decimated completely. 

bottlenose dolphins, manta rays, mating turtles - the big animals have not yet been impacted by the reef's devastation

We fished like we have never fished before – catching up to ten big-eye tuna each evening before sunset while trolling from the small boat.  And rainbow runners that had taken a liking to the hull in Sydney Island remained with us during our stay in Kanton (and on til our departure from Nikumaroro Island a week later) allowing us to catch a fresh lunch most days. 

But the story of the reef didn’t change.  Very few patches of reef that we discovered were alive or even remotely resembling the ‘pristine’ reefs described from the surveys of 2002.  Inside the lagoon was heartbreaking – the enormous fields of table Acroporas that cover the floor just inside the entrance were all completely dead.  Fish still rove around these skeletons, including sharks and turtles, but there is nothing left alive as a substrate, bar the occasional clump of macroalgae. 

the table Acroporas - skeletons on the lagoon floor

What happened in the last two and a half years to bring this about?  The 2002 report from the New England Aquarium expedition mentions a ‘hot-spot’ beginning during their stay – elevated sea surface temperatures.  They saw a few corals beginning to react, bleaching white as they expelled the microscopic algae inside their tissues.  As the scientists left, most of the corals were still intact, but NOAA reported this spell of raised ocean temperature lasting for the three months that followed – reaching the critical threshold when few bleached corals can sustain themselves without their zooxanthellae partners.  So perhaps what we were now seeing was the aftermath of a mass bleaching event, that soared through the Phoenix Islands like a bush-fire.  It seems the most likely cause of this sudden death – but even knowing the cause does not alleviate the sense of loss that we all felt continuously diving on these reefs. 

Our relationship with the families living on Kanton began as soon as we arrived.  Seven couples have been posted from the Gilbert Islands, about a thousand miles to the west, to act as caretakers for this previously much sought after central Pacific landmass.  It has been a strategic military site during World War 2, a refueling stopover for transoceanic flights, a satellite tracking station during the later twentieth century.  The remnants of these incarnations lie scattered around the island – an overgrown runway here, a satellite dish there, fuel tankards on the crumbling dock, and the wreck of a US troop transport ship protruding above the water line at the entrance into the tricky pass.  The garbage left behind by these technological incarnations is now the playground for the children of Kanton but some sites are off limits because of dangerous chemical waste.

the satellite dish and the techno-wreckage of Kanton

We were invited the day after our arrival to a welcome feast at the village.  A tractor towed a truck with a stoved-in roof and a platform at the back where we could sit – the Kanton limousine.  We arrived at the traditional style meeting house (an old cement floored structure with corrugated roof) – there were prayers, a formal introduction of each islander and their role (the policeman, the radio operator, the ‘diesel’ man, the carpenter etc.).  We feasted on huge lobsters, roasted pig, breadfruit, papaya, rice, desserts.  And they sang to us - the Kiribati culture holding together these families that were strangers to each other before their arrival at this faraway island.  One of the men, Tamayano, became a great friend of the ship.  He is the fisherman – he spends hours out in his wooden boat, trolling for fresh fish to feed the community.  We were told stories of how he used to have a special relationship with sperm whales at the island – he would catch plenty tuna and then hand-feed the whales.  But when he left the island for a while, his son neglected to maintain the relationship and so the whales have not come for a long time. He would tie off to the Heraclitus at night and fish for hours, never failing to catch. He taught Michel a Kiribati dance, the words, the song, the gesture and the meaning behind them all.

Michel dances with the support of the island's singers

We returned the hospitality to this incredible village by inviting the children and then the grownups to the Heraclitus, and there was always singing involved!  The children are currently in the hands of a great lady, Donna, who is teaching them song, dance and guiding them in theatre.  As we prepared to leave, the children rushed to complete their Christmas performance so that we could see it before we departed.  Just days before this intended farewell gathering, our anchor dragged off the reef and despite many attempts to find a holding ground again, it was impossible.  So we drifted offshore for two days to maintain our appointment at the feast.  We watched the children receive their cash prizes for end of term results.  They led the way towards a table laden with food – more lobsters, more pig, more breadfruit and papaya delights, all washed down with sweet young coconuts. 

And then we sat back to enjoy their performance – a legend about the most beautiful girl of the islands who is pursued by many men.  But in their ocean voyages to seek her, many are tricked by a witch who chops off the legs and arms of the suitors.  One young ugly man is eventually transformed by a long journey in his sailing canoe and wins the heart of the beautiful girl.  All the costumes, the props and scenery for the play were made from coconut tree palms, shells, fresh flowers, and gatherings from the atoll ecosystem – a stark contrast to the dilapidated concrete structures, mangled metal and fatigued machinery that make up much of the backdrop of the island.   

the sailor-suitors and their beautiful quest 

We shared all these cultural delights with two other yachts who are spending a few months in the lagoon – Daniel and Lucy with their two children, Noah and Elia, plus Alan, a single-handed sailor/explorer from Chile.  We exchanged information and goods – about weather, about future plans, about navigation and about starting our own on-board yogurt production line! 

And with our anchor already raised two days ago, we merely drifted a little further offshore and raised the sails to make our formal departure from Kanton.  In just two weeks we had thoroughly explored the outside reef, the lagoon, made firm friends with the islanders, the manta rays and the dolphins.  Two of them came to ride the Heraclitus bow as a farewell.

We had two more stops to make on our Phoenix expedition – McKean Island and Nikumaroro Atoll.  The swells were fairly large when we arrived at McKean, a skinny sandbar with a recently wrecked fishing ship driven right onto the shallow reef shelf.  The sharks here were over-excited to see us, the corals were in a fraction better state than we had seen previously.  The waters were packed.  We only stayed for a few hours, the island affording us no protection from the swells. 

struggling and dead corals at McKean 

We moved on to arrive at Nikumaroro (Gardner) Atoll by the 16^th December.  After all our practice at Kanton of drifting offshore, it was an easy matter for us to stay three full days to explore as much as possible both in the water and on the land.  Teams went to the reef to gather photographs, video footage and data. 

a healthy school of blue jacks roam over a dead Pocillopora field

Teams went to the island to gather drinking coconuts.  Fishing was out of the question – the sharks pounced on the catch before it could be reeled in.  There were playful bottlenose dolphins here too and curious manta rays. 

blacktip juveniles roam the shallows of the lagoon at Nikumaroro 

On the evening before we departed, Michel, Heather and Kitty watched an incredible scene unfold before them.  They were looking for the dolphins but instead found a pod of false killer whales.  Michel sought contact with them in the water – but a two metre marlin kept coming between them, with each pass coming closer and closer to Michel.  The razor-sharp bill pointed straight at Michel, he made several emergency exits from the water.  After he had made his final leap into the Zodiac, the whales gathered around the marlin and tore him to pieces.  The three watched in amazement, smelling the carnage and the blood from the small boat. 

the marlin seconds before he met his fate 

Could there be a more appropriate finale to our time here in these islands?  Despite the reefs being almost utterly dead, the ocean here is exploding with life.  Are these memories that we now hold of underwater spectacles a glimpse into the ocean life that Sylvia Earle remembers from her childhood?  Should the seas the world over be this alive?  Is this how they used to be? Sharks, dolphins, whales, rays, tuna, school upon school of fish jumping through imaginary hoops across the boundary between sea and sky, dancing between our world and theirs.  The mobile life here has been (almost) untouched by human hand but the reefs have suffered effects from remote causes. Can the life around continue to live without the corals?  Can a coral recovery occur without a major change on a planetary scale?  And if not, then can we rise to the occasion to increase all possibilities for that change?

Sydney Dive Log

Canton Dive Log

McKean Dive Log

A) Western Point S 04°27.2' W 171°16.0'

Date: Dec 14th	TI: 0958	TO: 1053	MaxDepth: 22m
Divers: Michel, Orla, Heather, Keely

We were originally contemplating diving the northern side of the island. However, upon approaching in our small boat the breakers were too large, and the sea too rough to dive this side of the island.  There was a wrecked fishing ship here, driven straight onto the reef. 

Grey reef sharks swam among us within a foot of our comfort zone. Some of the highlights of the dive were the golden spotted angelfish, Apolemichthys guezei, a conference of puffer fish and two turtles.

The reef was in an intermediate state of decay although there was some new growth. The Pocillopora colonies were healthier than those we had seen at Canton.

Gardner Dive Log