August 31-September 1, 2012 Asleep before the party started....no surprise there.

You get a picture of a Starry Moray instead of birds because
Sheryl is much more partial to sea life than birds. 

We went to the motus on the east side of Suwarrow yesterday in the ranger's boat.    They are called the Seven Sisters.  The cost to us was 1 gallon of gasoline.  There was a Norwegian family (ethnic Nowegian father, mother of Bengali Indian origin adopted as a child and raised as a Norwegian) with two small children, a single handing Pole and a couple from Washington state with us.  First stop was a low, bushy motu/reef complex with lots of nesting birds.  Lynne says, "Take lots of pictures".  So it soon becomes Clicl!Click!Click!  The brown boobies  build a nest on the outside edge near the top of a bush.  Their chicks are large but still in the downy stage.  The Red-tailed Tropicbirds nest on the ground under a bush.  Their chicks are still very small and downy.  The adult's red tail feather is incredibly narrow, maybe only 1/16" wide and untapered.  Some adults do not have one.  There are eggs just sitting on the sand.  We do not know whether they are from another species or tropicbird eggs incubating in the sun.  We had to be careful where we stepped so we didn't step on any.  The Sooty Tern juveniles were nearly fully grown, no down left, and running around together looking for an adult to beg food from.  The Lesser Frigatebirds nest on very low bushes.  We saw chicks on nests from just hatched to fledgling stages.  Apparently, the frigatebirds to not steal the chicks and eggs of the other kinds of birds.  The Fairy Terns nest in the forested motus in trees, so are not here on the shrubby area.  It was incredible how many birds are nesting here and how close we could get to them without seeming to disturb them.  With little contact from humans and no depredation,  they can reproduce abundantly.  On the reef, we saw about half a dozen Starry Morays about 2 feet long, covered with black stars and speckles much coarser and darker pattern than the Peppered Morays we saw in the Tuamotu reefs.  These morays were again in water several inches deep, hiding under coral chunks or ledges.  None were out feeding at this time of day.  We now know how to find them.  Just look under a "rock".  We have seen about half of the 24 species of moray eels here in the tropical Pacific.

After visiting the bird rookery, we got back in the skiff and headed toward the eastern corner of the atoll to a large forested motu.  During the ride, some of us started eating lunch.  The Norwegian kids, Magnus and Selma, were a lot of fun.  They would offer others food items and shyly accept some of what we were eating.  They were a joy to be with.  We brought grapes and honey roasted peanuts which were very popular except with Ants who really only liked lollies (candies).

First activity was to go snorkeling.  The water was incredibly clear.  It was easy to see at least 100 feet.  The coral looked very healthy with lots of types and also a lot of small sponges.  There was a great variety of small tropical fish with few larger fish.  I saw no sharks but Lynne saw a Black-tipped Reef Shark.  There were many giant clams with a great variety of coloration on their lips - some patterns not seen before.  For example, brilliant blue with black spots on the outer lips while fluorescent green inside.  A couple were at least 10 inches long - monsters for this area of the Pacific.  We think that the "really big" clams are in the Marshall Islands, north of the equator.  It was fun to watch the Norwegian kids.  The 5  year old was swimming, free diving with abandon and taking pictures with a camera.  The two year old wore arm "floaters" but was looking in the water through a mask.

After snorkeling for an hour, we gradually migrated to the beach,  ate some more lunch and wandered around.  This motu with the tall trees provided nests for Fairy Terns and Brown and Brown and/or Black Noddies.  The task to be accomplished was to catch dinner - coconut crabs.  Our opinion was that seeing them was much more satisfying than eating them so we just watched.  Interacting with the other cruisers and hearing their stories was more fun than killing crabs.

We trolled for fish all the way to the Seven Sisters , had several strikes but no fish caught.  On the way back, we had more strikes, hooked three and caught two.  To enhance our chances, we would turn around and troll back through any area that produced a strike or hooked fish.  Part of the trolling was in the entrance pass.  Today, it was as flat as a mill pond, due to the light winds and seas coming in from outside the atoll.  We returned to the coral slab "wharf" about 5:30 and got back to our boat at 6.  A great day and we were pooped.  Lynne downloads the pictures onto the computer.  She says, "You took 478 pictures today."  Aren't the new digital cameras incredible!

The day ended with a potluck/drinking party on the beach.  Fantazia, the large, very fast catamaran with the 3 Aussie and 1 Kiwi men, created a Blue Moon Party and left invitations in everyone's boat.  The coconut crab people prepared their catches.  Was a grand time had by all?  We don't know because we exhausted and were fast asleep in our cozy little bed.

1 September 2012  I spent the entire day doing maintenance!  No weekends or Holidays for us out here!  Or looking at it another way, no five days to rest up between weekends!  The highlight (?) of my day was 2 ½ hours in the water cleaning the fuzz and scale off the prop and lightning grounding plate, scrubbing the waterline and wiping any the fuzz off the hull.  Having 6-foot long Black-tip Reef sharks frequently cruising by to check out the quality of my work provided some extra incentive for me.  I did not want them to "chastise" me for doing a poor job.  Eventually, they were satisfied and did not come back any more.  Despite lots of "stuff" floating by in the current, I could see the sharks at least 100 feet away when they were going away. On the other hand, they snuck up pretty close before I saw them incoming. Suwarrow is noted for having a very large population of sharks.  I would call it "Shark City" here.  Or sharky!

Position :  13 14.84' S, 163 06.76' W

Speed : 0.2 knots,  Course : 221 degree