South Pacific Blog

More than 400 species of tropical reef fish, including wrasses, snappers, groupers, jacks, moray eels, surgeonfish, shellfish, and especially barracudas are known to cause seafood poisoning (ciguatera). There’s no way to tell if a fish will cause ciguatera: a species can be poisonous on one side of the island, but not on the other.

In 1976 French and Japanese scientists working in the Gambier Islands determined that a one-celled dinoflagellate algae or plankton called Gambierdiscus toxicus was the cause. Normally these microalgae are found only in the ocean depths, but when a reef ecosystem is disturbed by natural or human causes they can multiply dramatically in a lagoon. The dinoflagellates are consumed by tiny herbivorous fish and the toxin passes up through the food chain to larger fish where it becomes concentrated in the head and guts. The toxins have no effect on the fish that feed on them.

French Polynesia’s 700 to 800 cases of ciguatera a year are more than in the rest of the South Pacific combined, leading to suspicions that the former French nuclear testing program is responsible. Ciguatera didn’t exist on Hao atoll in the Tuamotus until military dredging for a 3,380-meter runway began in 1965. By mid-1968 43 percent of the population had been affected. Between 1971 and 1980 more than 30 percent of the population of Mangareva near the Moruroa nuclear test site suffered from seafood poisoning. Yet ciguatera has been around for a long time, having been reported in New Caledonia by Captain Cook.

The symptoms (numbness and tingling around the mouth and extremities, reversal of hot/cold sensations, prickling, itching, nausea, vomiting, erratic heartbeat, joint and muscle pains) usually subside in a few days. Induce vomiting, take castor oil as a laxative, and avoid alcohol if you’re unlucky. Symptoms can recur for up to a year, and victims may become allergic to all seafood.

Avoid biointoxication by cleaning fish as soon as they’re caught, discarding the head and organs, and taking special care with oversized fish caught in shallow water. Small fish are generally safer. Whether the fish is consumed cooked or raw has no bearing on this problem. Local residents often know from experience which species may be eaten.

Traditionally, South Pacific women were confined to the home, while the men would handle most matters outside the immediate family. In Melanesia the woman was responsible for working the land and doing most of the housework, thereby increasing the status of the man as head of the family. Life was similar for Polynesian women, though they had greater influence.

Western education has caused many Pacific women to question their subordinate position and the changing lifestyle has made the old relationship between the sexes outmoded. As paid employment expands and—thanks to family planning—women are able to hold their jobs, they demand equal treatment from society. Polynesian women are more emancipated than their sisters in Melanesia, though men continue to dominate public life throughout the South Pacific. Tradition is often manipulated to deny women the right to express themselves publicly on community matters.

Cultural barriers hinder women’s access to education and employment, and the proportion of girls in school falls rapidly as the grade level increases. Female students are nudged into lower-paying fields such as nursing or secretarial services. In Fiji and elsewhere, export-oriented garment factories exploit women workers with low wages and poor conditions. Levels of domestic violence vary greatly. In Fiji, for example, it’s far less accepted among indigenous Fijians than it is among Indo-Fijians, and in Fiji’s Macuata Province women have a suicide rate seven times above the world average, with most of the victims being Indo-Fijians. Those little signs on buses reading “real men don’t hit women” suggest the problem. Travelers should take an interest in women’s issues.

The leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), one of four species of sea turtles found in Fiji, is the only turtle which cannot retract its head or limbs. Its shell is a leathery skin rather than a horny plate. The seven lengthwise ridges on its back and five on its bottom make it easily recognizable. Leatherbacks can grow up to 2.5 meters long and weight up to a ton. In Fiji all leatherbacks and their eggs are fully protected year-round under the Fisheries Act.

Postage stamps of the South Pacific are highly valued by collectors around the world, and many smaller Commonwealth countries such as the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Niue, Norfolk Island, Pitcairn, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, and Tuvalu earn a substantial portion of government revenue from the sale of stamps. In order to generate more revenue, the Cook Islands issues separate stamps for Penrhyn and Aitutaki, and Tonga has Niuafo’ou stamps. Some countries also try to boost income by increasing the number of annual issues, a practice that can cost them collectors. Bad actors in this regard are Cook Islands, Niue, and Tuvalu. Most of the stamps are printed in Britain, where the highest technical standards are employed.

Popular themes include birds, seashells, coral, maps, atoll scenes, fishing, dancing, musical instruments, and headdresses. As the bicentenaries of his voyages of discovery rolled around during the 1970s, Captain Cook was the subject of stamp issues by many of the islands he discovered. Easily obtained, inexpensive postage stamps and first-day covers make memorable souvenirs.

The first flight from the United States to Australia took place in 1928. Charles Kingsford-Smith and Charles Ulm flew their trimotor Fokker VII-3M, the Southern Cross, from Oakland to Brisbane (11,906 km) in 83 hours and 38 minutes, with intermediate stops in Hawaii and Fiji. The original aircraft is now on display outside the domestic terminal of Brisbane’s Eagle Farm Airport. In 1937 Pan American Airways began commercial flights between the United States and New Zealand, with stops at Hawaii and American Samoa. The flying boat service was tragically interrupted on the third flight when the Samoa Clipper exploded just after leaving Pago Pago on 10 January 1938. The documentary film China Clipper – Pan Am’s Conquest of the Pacific tells the story.

Human activities threaten deepwater shark species with extinction. Tens of thousands of sharks are harvested in the central and western Pacific each year, with the vast majority taken only for their fins. These are used to make soup at Asian restaurants and the rest of the carcass is dumped back into the sea, a cruel, wasteful practice, which is gradually removing this top predator from the ecosystem. The consequences of these depredations are as yet unknown.

In contrast, the danger from sharks to swimmers has been greatly exaggerated. Of some 300 different species, only 28 are known to have attacked humans. Most dangerous are the white, tiger, and blue sharks. Fortunately, all of these inhabit deep water far from the coasts. An average of 70 to 100 shark attacks a year occur worldwide with 10 fatalities, so considering the number of people who swim in the sea, your chances of being involved are about one in a million. In the South Pacific, shark attacks on snorkelers or scuba divers are extremely rare and the tiny mosquito is a far more dangerous predator.

You’re always safer if you keep your head underwater (with a mask and snorkel), and don’t panic if you see a shark–you might attract it. Even if you do, they’re usually only curious, so keep your eye on the shark and slowly back off. The swimming techniques of humans must seem very clumsy to fish, so it’s not surprising if they want a closer look. Sharks are attracted by shiny objects (a knife or jewelry), bright colors (especially yellow and red), urine, blood, spearfishing, and splashing.

Sharks normally stay outside the reef, but get local advice. White beaches are safer than dark, and clear water safer than murky. Avoid swimming in places where sewage or edible wastes enter the water, or where fish have just been cleaned. You should also exercise care in places where local residents have been fishing with spears or even a hook and line that day.

Never swim alone if you suspect the presence of sharks. If you see one, even a supposedly harmless nurse shark lying on the bottom, get out of the water calmly and quickly, and go elsewhere. Studies indicate that sharks, like most other creatures, have a “personal space” around them that they will defend. Thus an attack could be a shark’s way of warning someone to keep his distance, and it’s a fact that more than half the victims of these incidents are not eaten but merely bitten. Sharks are much less of a problem in the South Pacific than in colder waters, where small marine mammals are commonly hunted by sharks. You won’t be mistaken for a seal or otter here.

Let common sense be your guide, not irrational fear or carelessness. Many scuba divers actually come looking for sharks, and local divemasters seem able to swim among them with impunity. If you’re in the market for some shark action, most dive shops can provide it. Just be aware that getting into the water with feeding sharks always entails some danger. Never snorkel on your own (without the services of an experienced guide) near a spot where shark feeding is practiced as you never know how the sharks will react to a surface swimmer without any food for them. Like all other wild animals, sharks deserve to be approached with respect.

Happy New Year! May 2012 be your best year yet. I’ve already got trips to Morocco and Uzbekistan lined up, and I’m hoping to get to a few additional countries as well. I took the photo above in Genclik Park, Ankara, when I toured Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan in November, 2011. If you’d care to see some of my other Turkey travel photos, they’re on Picasa. My photo albums from several other recent trips can be perused by clicking the Photos link on my Google Plus profile.