Our 17th mission of the Global Reef Expedition is to New Caledonia, a special collectivity (a former territory under special status) of France located in the southwest Pacific about 1200 km from Australia, and home to some of the most
In Tonga, people are dependent on the land and sea for food and it’s a way to make money for their families. Agriculture and fishing form the primary basis for Tongan livelihood. Handicrafts, pumpkins, fish, and vanilla are the main
While visiting the island Ha’ano in Tonga, I was told a Tongan legend of the abundant skipjack tuna that visit the shallow waters near Ha’ano every year. It wasn’t until later that I learned that there was a story behind
Mangroves are unique trees that grow in intertidal areas of subtropical and tropical regions. They are highly specialized in adapting to distinctive environmental conditions they occupy. For instance, some mangroves are able to absorb seawater from the ocean and expel
Today was our last day surveying and conducting education programs in the Niuas. It has been a successful journey, but now we are headed back to mainland Tonga – a 27 hour transit. Traditionally in Tonga, vessels were a means
Today we arrived in the Niua Island Group. The science team will spend the next two days surveying Niuatoputapu, while the education team will provide land-based education programs. These are also the last two days of our Tonga mission before
After 22 dives in 8 days, we are finished surveying in the beautiful Vava’u island group. This afternoon, we are traveling 15 hours to get to our final island group, called the Niuas. It’s the northernmost group of islands consisting
It’s not every day that you can look out your window and see a coral reef in your own backyard. For students of the Government Primary School (GPS) in Matamaka Island, Tonga, this story is a reality. Matamaka Provides Unique
Floating along above the reef on our coral surveys here in Tonga, we are occasionally distracted by flashes of bright colors crawling along the reef. These bright colors come from a group of sea slugs called nudibranchs. For the uninitiated,
Today we are near Ovaka in the Vava’u Island group. The sky is blue, the sun is out, and the scuba diving is incredible. During the morning dives, a couple of members of the Science Team saw two octopi only
