[Coral-List] Participate in a rare survey expedition in the Northern Line Islands. Pangaea Explorations.

Alexandra Rangel alex at panexplore.com
Mon Jul 2 14:52:50 EDT 2012


Good afternoon,

We have a fantastic opportunity available that may be of interest to your
list members--to be part of a survey mission that will take place in The
Northern Line Islands in the month of August.

It would be great if you could forward the message below.  If you would
like more information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,
Alexandra Rangel
Pangaea Explorations
Exploration | Education | Conservation


    [image: Pangaea
Exploration]<http://panexplore.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f1d7c17de15878b37639bb7e8&id=d9744b5344&e=130be966c7>
           Friend on
Facebook<http://panexplore.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f1d7c17de15878b37639bb7e8&id=5b77c59a53&e=130be966c7>
    Follow on Twitter<http://panexplore.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f1d7c17de15878b37639bb7e8&id=2b5ca4a51f&e=130be966c7>
    Forward to a
Friend<http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=f1d7c17de15878b37639bb7e8&id=879181afe1&e=130be966c7>
      Joining The Expedition
Last year, the Sea Dragon team sailed through the Northern Line Islands of
Kiribati to record and document the health of coral reefs and correlate
those findings with the way of life on each island.

In just 6 weeks time we have the opportunity to go back to these quickly
changing islands to compare our notes from last year and document an
intriguing story of human migration, and evolution.

The mission needs an ‘on-island’ team, and an ‘under-water’ team made up of
journalists, marine biologists, filmmakers, divers, photographers,
educators, sailors, anthropologists, conservationists and bloggers to make
this trip a success.

Please contact us ASAP if you are interested in being part of this unique
team – there are 6 places available. We ask for a contribution of $4950
from each team member. All food, accommodation and gear are included. You
can register here.<http://panexplore.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f1d7c17de15878b37639bb7e8&id=42b58a3f47&e=130be966c7>



          Sail, dive, explore & survey
Pacific Tropical Islands
August 14th – September 4th 2012

The Islands Human population on this chain of islands varies, along a
gradient, from 12,000 on Kiritimati to 12 on Palmyra Atoll. Higher fish
populations and healthier corals trend against increasing human impact.

Palmyra Atoll, a US Fish and Wildlife protected area, is one of the few
places on the planet that exhibits an inverted pyramid of biomass – hordes
of apex predators; gray and whitetip reef sharks, red snappers and rapid
turnover of prey – the healthiest of marine ecosystems. (See this Nat Geo
article for more<http://panexplore.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=f1d7c17de15878b37639bb7e8&id=3354483766&e=130be966c7>
)

In contrast, overfishing, pollution and runoff has taken its toll on
Kiritimati’s coral reefs, that are steadily degrading and no longer able to
support the island inhabitants’ needs. (See this article for
more<http://panexplore.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f1d7c17de15878b37639bb7e8&id=23cb60f1dc&e=130be966c7>
)



 The Human Story Twenty years ago, in an attempt to reverse urban growth in
Kiribati’s capital Tarawa, the government relocated thousands of Kiribatese
to the Northern Line Islands, 2000 miles east of their homeland.

The three newly inhabited islands – Kiritimati, Tabuaeran and Teraina – all
within a day’s sail of each other are outwardly similar with the same
climate, native species and disused military infrastructure. So why now, 20
years later, are the local societies and marine environments so different?

Kiritimati, the southern‐most and largest island, has an airport, power
generators, satellite communications and an international tropical fish
trade. It’s a mix of government employees and families subsistence‐living
in polluted marshland.

The next, Tabuaeran, with its sheltered turquoise lagoon and cheerful
community, has begun seaweed farming for export to China since the first
internet and telephone line was installed in 2011.

And finally, primitive Teraina is a long way off connection with the
outside world, the only means of communication being via a limited telegram
service and a dangerous anchorage – the Sea Dragon team didn’t even manage
to land last year.


More information about the Coral-List mailing list