Palmerston Atoll shone in the sun, her coconut palms waving in a gentle breeze that barely rippled the turquoise waters of the lagoon. Once, millions of years ago, three volcanic islands rose above the waves here. Now the islands are gone, subsided under their own weight, but they have left behind the ever-rising ring of coral that began to grow long ago on their shores. Now this atoll surrounds a deep lagoon where the islands once stood and only a few small motus or coral islands, still break the sea’s surface, dotted along the ring’s circumference. Remote and little affected by the busy world far over the horizon, Palmerston is home to myriad beautiful reef fish, seabirds, sharks and a unique human community.
We left the National Geographic Endeavour immediately after breakfast, eager for our first landing. Riding the Zodiacs through a narrow cut in the surrounding reef, we zigzagged through the lagoon to the shores of Palmerston Island. Here we met current members of Marsters families, descendants of William Marsters, a cooper and ship’s carpenter who settled the island in 1862. Many stories are told about the growth of this isolated community, and apparently there has been some strife over the years; but we saw no sign of turmoil on this lovely morning, as we were welcomed by song and toured around the little motu in the company of chattering children.
Fascinating as the islanders’ life is, no visit to Palmerston would be complete without a look into the blue seas that surround her. Some of us chose to relax and snorkel from the beach at a spot recommended by the islanders, while others headed out to the snorkel platform, anchored at the edge of the drop-off. Here the atoll reef plunges vertically to depths of several thousand feet and the water shades dramatically from turquoise to deep royal blue. The outer edge of the reef top was covered with healthy corals of many kinds, and we floated happily on the gentle swells over them or dove down through the crystal blue to get a closer look. Schools of parrotfish, wrasse and tang swirled around us and several elegant white-tip reef sharks passed by repeatedly, apparently curious about these unusual invaders of their watery realm.
Palmerston is a long way from anything, lost somewhere in the wide Pacific. Today we felt very lucky to be there, right in the middle of it all.
We left the National Geographic Endeavour immediately after breakfast, eager for our first landing. Riding the Zodiacs through a narrow cut in the surrounding reef, we zigzagged through the lagoon to the shores of Palmerston Island. Here we met current members of Marsters families, descendants of William Marsters, a cooper and ship’s carpenter who settled the island in 1862. Many stories are told about the growth of this isolated community, and apparently there has been some strife over the years; but we saw no sign of turmoil on this lovely morning, as we were welcomed by song and toured around the little motu in the company of chattering children.
Fascinating as the islanders’ life is, no visit to Palmerston would be complete without a look into the blue seas that surround her. Some of us chose to relax and snorkel from the beach at a spot recommended by the islanders, while others headed out to the snorkel platform, anchored at the edge of the drop-off. Here the atoll reef plunges vertically to depths of several thousand feet and the water shades dramatically from turquoise to deep royal blue. The outer edge of the reef top was covered with healthy corals of many kinds, and we floated happily on the gentle swells over them or dove down through the crystal blue to get a closer look. Schools of parrotfish, wrasse and tang swirled around us and several elegant white-tip reef sharks passed by repeatedly, apparently curious about these unusual invaders of their watery realm.
Palmerston is a long way from anything, lost somewhere in the wide Pacific. Today we felt very lucky to be there, right in the middle of it all.
