Matureivavao, or Maturei-vavao is an uninhabited

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 ...

in the

Acteon Group The Acteon Group (Groupe Actéon) is a rather isolated and uninhabited subgroup in the far southeast of the Tuamotu atoll group in French Polynesia. It is located about east-southeast of Tahiti at latitude: 21° 17' 60 S, longitude: 136° 29' ...

in the southeastern part of the

Tuamotu Islands 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 ...

. It is the largest

within the

, and like others in this group, is administratively part of the

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

of the

Gambier Islands The Gambier Islands ( or ) are an archipelago in French Polynesia, located at the southeast terminus of the Tuamotu archipelago. They cover an area of , and are made up of the Mangareva Islands, a group of high islands remnants of a caldera alo ...

Geography

Matureivavao is about long in a NNW-SSE direction and wide. It has a land area of and a lagoon area of . It lies southeast of

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 Island ...

and from

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 Austr ...

. The atoll is high enough to be visible from a considerable distance. It appears as a sandy beach, backed by a line of dark green. In bad weather, the seas sometimes sweep over the reef. There is no entrance to the lagoon. In some maps, this atoll also appears as "Melbourne".

History

The first recorded sighting of this atoll was made during the Spanish expedition of the Portuguese navigator

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 1606 under the name ''Las Cuatro Coronadas'' (the "four crowned" (by coconut palms)), however, these observations were not fully documented. As such, the first unambiguous approach to the island was made on 14 March 1828 by the explorer Hugh Cuming in his ship ''Discoverer'' captained by Samuel Grimwood. The next sighting was in 1833 by navigator

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 ...

on his merchant vessel ''Amphitrite'' and again in 1837 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 , the name given to the group. It was previously owned by a man named Captain Nicholas but was redeemed in 1934.

Flora and fauna

After the hurricane in 1983, Matureivavao was entirely replanted with thousands of coconut trees. The atoll is home to a variety of ''

Amaranthaceae Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus ''Amaranthus''. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making it ...

'' including the genus '' Achyranthes aspera var. velutina''. It is also one of the few atolls in which rats were never introduced.

References

*''Sailing Directions, Pub 126, "Pacific Islands" NIMA 2002''; page-12

External links

Atoll list (in French)
{{FrenchPolynesia-geo-stub Atolls of the Tuamotus Islands of the Gambier Islands Uninhabited islands of French Polynesia

Geography

History

Flora and fauna

See also

References

External links