The Remoteness of Aitutaki

This is the inside of an irridescent clam on the ocean floor of an atoll in the Cook Islands. I like to snorkel in warm, tropical waters. My husband will tell you that I am good at spotting fish, or in this case, a clam, for him to photograph, and then it is Dave's role to take a deep breath, swim down and take a photo with his waterproof camera.
This is a photo of a brain coral anchored to the edge of the coral reef. The diversity and beauty of life in the South Pacific is dazzling, especially for someone like me who has lived her entire life in the Arizona desert.
The nooks and crannies of the coral reef provide shelter and protection for a colorful array of tropical fish. Snorkeling in the area of a coral reef is like swimming in an aquarium.
Sunlight is a critical element of the life of the coral reef. Many atolls are the remnants of volcanic islands that have sunk into the ocean, but the coral reefs grow up to the sunlight and remain close to the surface.
This is a triggerfish swimming along the sandy ocean floor. I don't know why, but tropical salt water fish are so much more colorful than fresh water fish.
The "land" on some of the Cook Island atolls is composed primarily of sand and shells. The Cook Islands are a New Zealand protectorate located west of Tahiti and the rest of French Polynesia.
If anyone is wondering how palm trees and other vegetation takes hold on the sandy atolls of the south Pacific, there is an answer. Coconuts float in the ocean, are washed up on the beach, and some of them will sprout a tree trunk and then grow roots in the sand.
Countless islands are so shallow that you can walk from one island to the next through the warm, clear water.
We saw these large whit birds nesting in the few trees on an uninhabited island. I think that this might be an albatross.

The Iridescent Clams of Aitutaki

Last summer we took a cruise to the Society Islands of French Polynesia and the Cook Islands, a New Zealand protectorate. The goal of the cruise was to be in the path of the best total solar eclipse of the 21st Century. That goal was achieved, but we also had the benefit of dazzling snorkeling opportunities, as these photos of iridescent clams in the waters of Aitutaki show.
These are close up photos that my husband took. We both snorkeled on the surface of the water, and when I spotted a clam worthy of a close up photo, I would point it out to Dave, and he would dutifully swim down to the bottom and snap a photo with his underwater camera.
When Dave would swim down, as soon as he got in position over the clam and tried to hold still to take the photo, he would start to float back up. He had to exert himself to hold his breath while swimming down about 12 or 15 feet (3-4 meters).
Here is a photo of what the entire clams look like. The other photos are close ups of just the center section.
I love the patterns and colors of the clam centers. We submitted the top photo in this series in a photo exhibition in Phoenix called "Favorite Shots Two" sponsored by Wilson Wyatt Photographic Studios and Todd Photography. The photo was one of about 40 images selected for the exhibition, and the photo is on display at the photography gallery until June.
My spotting skills are not limited to clams. I pointed out this blue star fish creeping out of a crevice in the coral reef.
And, of course, what happens after I spot the star fish? Dave dutifully swims down for a close up photo. His reward for his trouble is that I tell him afterwards that the resulting photo was worth the effort. We hope that you agree.

The clams came in a variety of colors. The claims shown in this series of photos were about the size of a rugby ball.

The Underwater World of Aitutaki

Barefoot Island is one of the many atolls in the Cook Islands, a protectorate of New Zealand located just west of French Polynesia. It is part of the island group named Aitutaki. If you enlarge this photo, you can see a windsurfer and his kite-like sail in the distance.
Sunlight illuminates the yellow tails in this delightful setting for snorkeling.
The leopard patterned back of a moray eel was visible at close range looking down through a hole in the coral reef. My husband, David, took this photo and the other underwater photos. No, we did not get close to the side hole opening of the reef to try to get a close up photo of the moray eel's head and mouth. This top view was as close as we wanted to be. David's father almost lost two fingers to the mouth of a moray eel swimming off Waikaki Beach in Hawaii.
In many places the coral reef is very close to the ocean surface, as you can see in this photo. Coral grows best in warm, clear water, with lots of sunlight. Visitors need to be careful to swim over the reef, but not to touch it and not to stand on coral.
It is hard to decide which is more colorful: purple coral or yellow fish.
This close up of a hermit crab was taken by our very good friend, Jim Lowman. We travelled together to Polynesia and the Cook Islands. Jim's artwork can be seen on his website, LeafdogArt.com. Jim is a talented printmaker as well as photographer.
This close-up, underwater view of a sea cucumber walking was also taken by Jim. Here is a link that will take you directly to the title page of the the gallery of his photos on his Leaf Dog Art website. It is well worth a look.
This is the inside of a iridescent clam under water. The clam was about the size of a rugby ball.
This is an even closer view of the colors and patterns on the inside of an iridescent clam. Dave was so close that the clam closed up after he took this photo and he could feel on his face the rush of the water forced out of the inside of the clam. He said it was like being spit on by a clam.