Swain's Island

Wow. Swain's is amazing! Though it doesn't look like much from the surface, just a roundish, really flat tiny lttle island completly covered in coconut trees, the coral reefs under the surface are spectacular. Until coming here I was always quite skeptical as to why there was such international debate about the fate of Swain's Island. Yes, it has even been debated by the US department of state and the UN. Apparently the government of Tokelau believes the island is theirs. Strange that they haven't mentioned it for nearly 400 years, but what is time in the middle of nowhere....Swain's is also an atoll just like Rose and so its topography (or rather bathymetry) is very similar. It is the tip of a very steep dead volcano which is slowly sinking back into the sea under its own weight. The strange thing about Swain's is that the central lagoon is completely surounded by land and the lagoon is freshwater, well okay brackish, but still very unusual. The coral reef here is just beautiful. It has steeply sloped walls with nearly 100% coral cover. Much of the coral is tan, but with bright blue polyps making the whole colony look blue from a distance. The coraline algae (think reef cement) is bright pink, and many other colors abound. There are large schools of big fish, not spectacular, but certainly better than Tutuila, or any other American Samoa island including Rose Atoll.So far, having done just three dives here I have seen at least 1 shark on every dive! Hopefully the diving will continue to be good. Oh and yes, that is 200 feet+ visibility you are seeing in those photos. We are out here for 2 more days, then the long trip back to Tutuila.