ZECO TRAVEL TALK

Flint Island is the southernmost of the Line Islands chain, some 720 kilometers NNW of Papeete, Tahiti. It seems likely that Magellan was the first to discover Flint Island on February 4th, 1521. We discovered Flint Island some 487 years later and we couldn’t help but wonder what Flint might have looked like in Magellan’s time.

The following is John Earle’s impression upon our arrival on Flint Island. John is a research associate in Ichthyology at Honolulu’s Bishop Museum and has traveled extensively through this part of the central Pacific Ocean in search of new species. He is one of our on board lecturers and natural history guides on this voyage from Hawaii through the Line Islands and on to French Polynesia.

“From aboard the Clipper Odyssey, Flint Island looked invitingly lush and green, and very unlike dry, desolate Starbuck Island, which would have taxed the survival resources even of wily Gilligan. I stepped ashore from the Zodiac onto a rocky platform and waded through several tide pools filled with cowering fish to a dazzling white sand beach, which encircles the island. Beyond the fringing beach was a thick jungle of coconut and Pisonia trees. It was like a Robinson Crusoe island.

Upon entering the forest, we encountered a colony of nesting black noddies and attracted the attention of white terns, several of which fluttered just above my head, staring intently at me with their dark eyes and uttering cries that sounded like ‘poing, poing.’ We came upon a machine gun pillbox constructed of coral blocks that must have dated from World War II and was now the home of an immense coconut crab, which guarded the entrance with waving claws. I found several other coconut crabs and gingerly brought one out of the jungle for others in the group to admire. This crab was a striking blue, but others we saw were different hues of orange and brown. Several were of such a size that I instinctively backed away. There was no shame in this as these crabs were the size of medicine balls. Their menacing claws are strong enough to rip and shred the shell from a coconut only to crush the meat as though it was a banana. This amazing creature is an endangered species throughout most of its range because it is highly sought after by locals, who have called it a ‘land lobster.’ With no flying insects to pester us, the whole experience was idyllic. I vowed to return someday.

I went back to the ship to retrieve my scuba equipment for a dive just offshore of our landing spot, in one of the most scenic underwater sites imaginable. In crystal clear water, a coral encrusted slope descended from 20 feet, gradually fading off into deep blue. Clouds of colorful tropical fishes swam above the reef, which was patrolled below by well-behaved sharks. Several huge male sea turtles swam by us, perhaps checking to see if we may, perchance, be a female sea turtle. I took video and made a list of the fishes I saw. It soon became apparent that, notwithstanding political boundaries, we had been transported unexpectedly into the Tuamotu Islands faunal region. I saw black longnose butterfly fish (Forcipiger longirostris) which have never been recorded in the Line Islands, as well as several hawkfishes that were scientifically described as being from the Tuamotus. The pixie hawkfish, ubiquitous at Christmas Island, was nowhere to be found. Other divers in the group photographed a school of black Thompson’s butterfly fish, which I had never seen in the Line Islands, but has also turned up in the Tuamotus. It was exciting for me to list fish in an area so little scientifically known that every fish I listed was a new island record.” John Earle

The original vegetation was probably a forest of Pisonia and Cordia trees, but this has now been almost completely replaced by coconuts; about 30,000 palms were planted since 1875 although there has been no real recent human exploitation. In addition to the breeding seabirds such as red-footed booby (Sula sula), great frigatebird (Fregata minor), lesser frigatebird (Fregata ariel), brown noddy (Anous stolidus), black noddy (Anous minutus), masked booby (Sula dactylatra), and white or fairy tern (Gygis alba), the birders found such migrant birds as golden plover (Pluvialis dominica), bristle-thighed curlew (Numenius tahitiensis), and wandering tattler (Heteroscelus incanum). Not bad for one day of scientific observation.

Our exploration of the Line Islands is now complete. The Clipper Odyssey continues southwards to French Polynesia – Bora Bora, Tahaa, Moorea, and Tahiti. As we sailed from Flint everyone spoke with enthusiasm about our visit to this most remote group of islands in the south central Pacific Ocean, especially Starbuck and Flint Islands. Realizing that so few had stepped foot on these islands, our visits on shore proved to be fascinating and our forays into the underwater world had been phenomenal. We vowed that one day, who knew when, we would return.

Wish you had been here.

“Fair Winds”
Shirley Metz