The South Pacific: Motu Vaiamanu Raivavae, Austral Islands, French Polynesia – Getting to the bottom of things

It’s surprising what you find out when you travel the world. Today we learned that the pearlfish hangs out with the sea cucumber fish. Well to be precise, it hangs out of the anus of the sea cucumber fish. But having said that, it is very particular. Some say it will seek out particular species to inhabit. That’s choosy, especially as there are more than 1,200 species of sea cucumber, for the around 30 species of pearlfish to check out.

It seems this anal habit is likely to be beneficial for both fishes (what they call commensal) although in which ways is still not clear, but the sea cucumber certainly provides protection for the pearlfish. In most cases the pearlfish does not harm the sea cucumber, although the pearlfish can act as a parasite, eating the internal organs of its host. Well that’s not very appreciative!

Just how the pearlfish enters the sea cucumber is also interesting. After several minutes inspecting its host it will perform a tapping movement around the anus, at which time the sea cucumber will let its visitor into its orifice, usually tail first. Sometimes more than one pearlfish will be ‘housed’ at a time. One researcher found 15 cohabiting.

Well, there you have it… but not quite. One of our Expedition Team reported that he took a PhD student on a dive, only to find her picking up sea cucumbers along the way and looking at their bottoms. It appears that sea cucumbers also host crabs around their anus and that was what her PhD was based upon!

But I digress. Today we had reached Raivavae, in the Austral Islands, French Polynesia. It is encircled by a coral reef with 28 islets situated in crystal clear waters. Its dimensions are roughly 5 miles long by 2 miles wide. And it is all you would expect from a South Pacific island with its coconut palms, reef fishes, and tropicbirds, herons and noddies flying overhead. 

The first sighting by Europeans was by Spanish naval officer Tomas Gayangos on the frigate El Aguila in 1775. It was charted by the Spanish as Santa Rosa. But he was not the first to discover it as upon arrival he found the island was already inhabited, and it is thought had been by various peoples for 3,000 years.

Whether a friendly welcome or not at that time, our arrival was full of joy. The Raivavae people were out in abundance. Ours was the first international ship to arrive since the onset of Covid. In the good times there were three ships a month, predominantly supply vessels.

Upon our arrival by Zodiac boats there was a welcoming party playing lots of music. Immediately, they placed garlands of flowers around our necks and led us to the town centre where men and women danced for us. This was such a surprise and they were clearly joyous at our arrival and we were joyous to see such a welcome.

After the dancing we were taken on a walk around Mahanatoa, one of four villages on the island. There is one road that goes around the island and as we walked we saw an abundance of fruit, vegetables and plants growing, much of which can be picked by passersby along the way. These included bananas, lychees, mangoes, salad vegetables and of course the ubiquitous coconuts.

It was good to see how nicely the villagers maintained their gardens and that there was no litter to be seen. Most of the houses comprised bungalows and many had an open view of the ocean. If someone wanted to build a new house, we were told that everyone on the island has to agree to it. It obviously pays to keep in with the neighbours.

Although it was warm during our visit the temperature can drop to 14 degrees Celsius in winter.

Our local guide was proud to show us some history and led us to the remaining tiki, a stone image that represents a goddess or an ancestor. Unfortunately, since the 1960s three others have been removed and sent to various museums around the world. There are different ways of looking at this situation of course. Local people may regret their loss, but historic items, left unprotected, are vulnerable to the weather at the very least, and the following illustrates an example of this.

During our next stop along the way our guide told us of some birthing stones nearby. We all headed to the area with much anticipation. The stones are located on, what is now, private land but permission had been given for tourists to view. The structure comprised a long flat stone upon which the pregnant woman would lie, with two higher additional stones where she would place her feet. It sounded pretty uncomfortable and one would hope that the birth wouldn’t be in the colder months. However, upon our arrival our guide was clearly upset. The two historic stones for supporting the legs had gone. This was a site of historic importance, and the stones could well have been taken to build a wall or some other structure. It was a loss for the community, archaeology, history and visitors.

Destruction is not uncommon on the islands and elsewhere. In the 1800s many people on the island converted to Christianity following the arrival of missionaries and sacred sites and artefacts were destroyed.

Our guide then took us to a marae (sacred site) within which lies a tomb, considered to be the resting place of a princess.

We also learned of women’s strength according to legend. In days of old men and women would compete on physical and intellectual levels. The tale goes that there was a competition to move a huge rock. The men, thinking the women would not succeed, slept overnight before attempting the move. Meanwhile, the women got to work and indeed did move the rock. We were even shown that rock. However, there are many versions of this story but, we were told, as a result of this old legend women on the island are highly thought of… and not to be messed with, no doubt.

And talking of the people on the island today, there are just less than 1,000, a level slightly increasing which is rare among many island communities which see inhabitants leave for the mainland. It has one school for 3-11 year-olds, after which time they have to travel overseas to finish their education. Since 2003 there has been a small airport, which is of course beneficial for taking islanders to Tahiti, the children to schools overseas, and especially for quick transportation to hospitals if emergencies arise and cannot be dealt by the island’s medics.

The island people were keen to show us their crafts which included using the island’s clam shells to make jewellery and other attractive items.

Before we left, the islanders had set up a food tasting which was delightful – all items were locally sourced. Can you imagine eating grapefruit harvested within yards of where you are consuming it, or the most delicious banana bread made from the fruit of nearby palms? So fresh and flavoursome.

Then it was time to leave, but not before more music playing and the donning of shell garlands around the necks of each visitor. Incredible.

Copyright: Words and photos Sue Barnard 2022