The Line Islands: Surf vs. Turf

Zegrahm cofounder Jack Grove is a marine biologist and leading authority on the fish and marine environments of the eastern tropical Pacific. Kevin Clement is a Zegrahm director, naturalist, and adventure travel leader. In August, the two will lead and lecture on our Line Islands: Hawai’i to Tahiti voyage.

Those of you who have traveled with Zegrahm directors know that they’re all the best of friends. However, like friends everywhere, their perspectives can be very different, especially when their area of expertise is challenged. Such a circumstance arose recently when Jack and Kevin were asked about the highlights of visiting the remote and fascinating Line Islands. The discourse between them turned into a bit of an academic/philosophical contest—a congenial game of one-upmanship as only highly knowledgeable experts and colleagues can play it. Those of us present would be hard-pressed to pick a winner. What realm, indeed, does prove to be the more fascinating—the land forms? Or the surrounding waters?

JACK: It’s obvious the diversity of these islands is found under the waves, in the warm clear waters, and in the reefs that surround them. The world above can’t begin to compare.

KEVIN: That’s true, Jack—if you’re talking only about biodiversity. But you know that at Zegrahm Expeditions, we’re about diversity of experience. It’s an amazing thing to swim, snorkel, or dive among the fish and corals of a South Pacific reef, but above the waves these islands can hold their own. First of all Kiritimati, or Christmas Island as it’s more commonly known, is the largest coral atoll in the world. Add to that mysterious ancient temples, remains of quixotic colonial enterprises, graceful Polynesian dancers, delicate tropical flowers that survive in brutal conditions, some of the greatest bird spectacles on the planet, and beaches that truly define “tropical paradise”—not to mention that the region is almost never visited by outsiders… I think the case is closed.

JACK: Stepping stones Kev… its all about stepping stones across the vast tropical Pacific. The Line Islands are visited by outsiders below the waves all the time. For the marine species capable of dispersing their larvae across this largest of all oceans, the Line Islands have played a key role. We’ll be looking for species like Moorish idols and longnose unicornfish, making the journey from west to east, from the zoogeographic center of marine diversity to the depauperate habitats in the east (including the Galápagos). Now how exciting is that?

KEVIN: We all know you’re a fish guy, Jack. But if you want to talk migrations, how about diminutive shorebirds flying nonstop to the Line Islands from Alaska and the Arctic, powered only by their little wings? Plus, some anthropologists even believe that the earliest settlers arrived in the islands by following the migratory paths of the land birds, figuring they had to be headed toward some land form.

JACK: All right, so avian endurance can be impressive... But—and I was hoping not to have to reveal this surprise element—the snorkelers will actually get to see fish in the process of sex changes and with the moon being on its way to full, we’ll even get to observe gamete launching... surely bird behavior can’t hold a candle to that sort of natural history observation? On the southern part of this journey, we’ll log up to a hundred species of fish while you bird folks will struggle to get a handful of species. So, if you want to see something amazing put on a mask and fins and follow me…

KEVIN: Okay, I’ll give you that point. But when you see seabirds in almost unbelievable concentrations it’s a pretty impressive spectacle. You know, Christmas Island has
one of the highest species diversity and largest bird populations of any oceanic island anywhere. It’s home to 18 breeding species—about 15 million birds. And Starbuck Island alone is home to nearly three million sooty terns. In a massive seabird colony it’s all action and interaction and drama and noise. Now that’s something you won’t get when you’re fish-watching: sound effects to go with what you’re seeing.

JACK: No, a reef is nice and quiet and peaceful and you can actually follow a single fish around with your eyes and observe its behavior—and learn something. But drama—that’s something a reef has in abundance. By the time we make our first submersion, our travelers will understand how to distinguish feeding behavior from courtship, and predation from mimicry. Keen observers will actually witness some of the fish changing color before their eyes, and all of this in crystal clear waters.

KEVIN: Hmmm… I just might have to dust off my snorkel. Now that I think about it, the fish of the Line Islands do have one thing in common with the birds and the people there: isolation. They all live in and around some of the most remote, hardest-to-get-to (and therefore most interesting) spots in all the oceans of the world.

JACK: I have to agree with you there, buddy. This is going to be an incredible trip. And ichthyo-ego aside, I’ll confess I am pretty excited to see that many seabirds in the tropics. I’m so glad you didn’t bring up the fact that birds eat fish…

If you’d like to see how Jack and Kevin resolve their philosophical differences, join them on our Line Islands: Hawai’i to Tahiti voyage aboard the Clipper Odyssey in August/September 2008. See our Did You Know page for breaking news about Kiribati.