Pacific Ocean

Sailing Tonga

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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 …

Sea Turtles of Tonga

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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 …

The Niuas – Unlike the Rest

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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 …

Backyard Classroom

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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 …

A Colorful Defense

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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, …

Ancient Art of Tonga

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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 …

Feke and the Rat

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For thousands of years, Tongan fishing used traditional outrigger canoes known as popao. With modern technology, it is rare to see these traditional fishing boats and it’s even rarer to see traditional fishing gear being used; however, there are still …

Fasting Whales

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Does the idea of whales fasting sound strange to you? Read on to find out why they do… Humpback whales are a type of baleen whale. Baleen whales do not have teeth, instead they have baleen plates, which are made …

Words into Action

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Happy International Coastal Cleanup Day! Across the world people are cleaning up beaches in order to conserve and protect their coastlines and the precious marine ecosystems that line them. While on the Global Reef Expedition in Tonga, the education team …

Whales, Whales, Whales

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Traveling from dive spot to dive spot in Tonga it’s not difficult to find a misty cloud of water near the surface. We have arrived during Megaptera novaeangliae, humpback whale season. Why are there humpback whales near Tonga this time …