How much do we really know about the planet’s coral reefs? Destinations like Hawaii or Cayman get millions of visitors every year, but have you heard the latest from Mangareva Atoll or Navassa Island? Could you find them on a map? (No Google cheating) The Khaled bin Sultan Living Ocean Foundation is circling the globe studying the planet’s jeweled coral belt and sharing these special places wiringth the world. LOF brings together world class researchers, writers, students and local teachers to push the frontiers of coral reef conservation and exploration. This mission they’ve added an ILCP photographer and Rolex Scholar to the team!

 

Michele Westmorland and I joined LOF’s vessel the Golden Shadow in French Polynesia. We’re headed for the Gambier Islands, a small group of coral atolls peeking up from the ocean more than a thousand miles southeast of Tahiti.

 

It’s easy to throw around huge numbers but hard to comprehend how massive the Pacific Ocean really is.  If I start walking west from here, ignoring the drowning, the first continent I hit is Australia more than 3700 miles away. This trek is like walking from California to Virginia, realizing I forgot something and making it halfway back. If my afternoon stroll aimed me east instead, it would be 4800+ miles until I slogged up the beaches of South America! I could get the same exercise hiking from England to India.

We’ve been steaming for two days to reach our first research site- Hau Atoll. The ship is full of activity with scientists prepping sampling equipment and filling our arsenal of scuba tanks. Michele and I are busy shooting images for LOF marketing and mission.

 

Tomorrow everyone hits the water and truly groundbreaking science – the island’s first ever marine population assessment – begins. What do you think we’ll find?  Check out more on Facebook and stay tuned for more from the South Pacific!

Fun fact: This tiny island is essential to NASA’s space program, can you guess Hau?