The Acteon Group (Groupe Actéon) is a rather isolated and uninhabited subgroup in the far southeast of the

Tuamotu The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (french: Îles Tuamotu, officially ) are a French Polynesian chain of just under 80 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extendin ...

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gr ...

group in French Polynesia. It is located about east-southeast of

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

at latitude: 21° 17' 60 S, longitude: 136° 29' W.

Atolls

The Acteon Group includes four atolls of relatively small size: *

Matureivavao Matureivavao, or Maturei-vavao is an uninhabited atoll in the Acteon Group in the southeastern part of the Tuamotu Islands. It is the largest atoll within the Acteon Group, and like others in this group, is administratively part of the Communes d ...

Tenararo Tenararo is the smallest atoll in the Acteon Group in the southeastern part of the Tuamotu Islands in French Polynesia. It is administratively a part of the Gambier Islands. It is uninhabited. Geography Tenararo is located west of Vahanga, t ...

Tenarunga Tenarunga or Tenania, previously Narunga and formerly Minto Island is a low, wooded and uninhabited atoll in the Acteon Group in the southeastern part of the Tuamotu Islands in French Polynesia. It is administratively a part of the Gambier Islan ...

Vahanga Vahanga is a small uninhabited atoll part of the Acteon Group in the Tuamotu archipelago, French Polynesia and belongs to the municipality of the Gambier Islands. Geography Vahanga is located 9 km west of Tenarunga and 1362 km southe ...

None of the islands on these atolls have permanent inhabitants.

History

The first recorded European to sight the Acteon Group was

Pedro Fernández de Quirós Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for '' Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning ...

on 5 February 1605. He described the group as ''"four atolls crowned by coconut palms"''. On the different texts describing his voyage by other members of this Spanish expedition they were charted as "Las Cuatro Coronadas" (The four Crowned), "Las Cuatro Hermanas" (The Four Sisters), "Las Virgenes" (The Virgins) or "Las Anegadas" (The Flooded ones). The rediscovery of Acteon Group is generally credited to

Thomas Ebrill Thomas Ebrill (also spelt Abrill) was a British merchant, who from 1826 to 1842 worked with the ships the ''Minerva'', ''Star'' and ''Amphitrite'' in the Pacific and is known for his discovery of the Acteon group. Life Ebrill's early life is unkn ...

, captain of the Tahitian trading vessel ''Amphitrite'', who discovered these islands in 1833. However, they were sighted by Hugh Cuming on his ship Discoverer, Captain Samuel Grimwood, on 14 March 1828 ource: Cuming's log They were named four years later by

Lord Edward Russell Admiral Lord Edward Russell, (24 April 1805 – 21 May 1887) was a British naval officer and Whig politician. Early life He was the son of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford, and his second wife Lady Georgina Gordon, and was the younger half ...

, commander of , after his vessel. In January 1983 these atolls were struck by Severe Tropical Cyclone Nano. In 1932 Tahiti's High Court recognised government ownership of the group, as well as the nearby atolls of

Maria Est Maria Atoll is an uninhabited small atoll of the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. It is located in the far southeast of the archipelago, about southwest from Marutea Sud. Maria's closest neighbour is the small atoll of Matureivavao of the Act ...

Tematangi Tematagi or TematangiBoard of Geographical Names Site Internet: http://geonames.usgs.gov/foreign/index.html is an atoll in the southeastern area of the Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia. Tematagi's nearest neighbour is Mururoa, which is loca ...

, and

Vanavana Vanavana, Kurataki, or Huataki is an atoll in the southeastern area of the Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia. Vanavana's nearest neighbour is Tureia, which is located to the east. Vanavana is a small oval-shaped atoll. It measures approxim ...

. In 1953 the government established two civil real estate companies to develop the atolls for the benefit of their former inhabitants and granted them exclusive use for ten years. This period of exclusive use was later extended, and in 1975 and 1979 the atolls were permanently transferred. The companies were later dissolved, leaving the ownership of the atolls uncertain. In March 2021 the Catholic Mission of Tahiti (CAMICA) claimed ownership of the seven atolls by right of occupation, leading to protests by the descendants of the original owners. The acquisition was later challenged in court; as of May 2022 the case is still unresolved.

Administration

Administratively the four atolls of the Acteon group belong to the commune of Gambier.

References

External links

Reefbase – Picture

Island Conservation: The Acteon and Gambier Restoration Project
Atolls of the Tuamotus Island restoration {{FrenchPolynesia-geo-stub