Yesterday was Allan's first full day. We planned to rent a car and take ourselves on a tour of the island of Tahiti. I must compliment the island on very nicely done natural attractions. There is one road that goes all around the whole island. We had our trusty tourists map and went from mile marker to mile marker stopping at a lot of the marked attractions. Of course a lot of the attractions were waterfalls and botanicals At the south end of the island there is a beach where international surfing contests are held. Unfortunately the surf was down the day we went. It was still interesting to see the site and talk to a few people. There is a reef out from land that causes the big surf. As a swell approaches shallow water the size of the wave builds proportionally to the change in the depth. This also causes the wave to break. It was interesting to hear that the wind also effects the surfing. They like to have very little wind. Wind will make the wave break apart sooner. We also met a young man from France who was doing his PhD research on coral. As part of his work he was teaching school children and anyone who would listen about the benefits of coral and the adverse climate change effects on coral. He was demonstrating how he can grow and reproduce coral. He also had discovered that if you subject the coral to slightly higher temperature in the early stage of development then it can tolerate higher temperatures later. I will send more photos if I get internet. May fair winds fill your sails with hopes for our environment! Bob
Young student learning about coral
Surfing beach
Scientist working with coral
