Rose Atoll, sometimes called Rose Island or Motu O Manu ("Bird Island") by people of the nearby
Manu'a Islands, is an oceanic
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 ...
within the
U.S. territory of
American Samoa
American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internationa ...
. An uninhabited wildlife refuge, it is the
southernmost point belonging to the United States. The land area is just at high tide. The total area of the atoll, including
lagoon
A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') ...
and reef flat amounts to . Just west of the northernmost point is a channel into the lagoon, about 40 m wide. There are two islets on the northeastern rim of the reef, larger Rose Island in the east (3.5 m high) and the non-vegetated Sand Island in the north (1.5 m high). The
Rose Atoll Marine National Monument that lies on the two outstanding islands of the Atoll is managed cooperatively between the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...
and the government of
American Samoa
American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internationa ...
.
History
The earliest Western sighting was June 13, 1722, during the voyage of
Jacob Roggeveen
Jacob Roggeveen (1 February 1659 – 31 January 1729) was a Dutch explorer who was sent to find Terra Australis and Davis Land, but instead found Easter Island (called so because he landed there on Easter Sunday). Jacob Roggeveen also found Bora ...
, who called it ''Vuil Eiland'' "useless island." The name Rose Island comes from its sighting by
Louis de Freycinet in 1819. He named it after his wife
Rose
A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...
. While the second woman to circumnavigate the globe, Rose de Freycinet was the first to tell her tale. In his official report Louis de Freycinet records that 'I named Rose Island, from the name of someone who is extremely dear to me'. Soon afterwards, in 1824, it was seen by the expedition under
Otto von Kotzebue
Otto von Kotzebue (russian: О́тто Евста́фьевич Коцебу́, tr. ; – ) was a Russian officer and navigator in the Imperial Russian Navy. He was born in Reval. He was known for his explorations of Oceania.
Early life ...
, who named it ''Kordinkov'' after his First Lieutenant.
Fauna
Rose Atoll contains the largest populations of
giant clam
The giant clams are the members of the clam genus '' Tridacna'' that are the largest living bivalve mollusks. There are actually several species of "giant clams" in the genus '' Tridacna'', which are often misidentified for ''Tridacna gigas'', ...
s,
nesting seabirds and rare reef fish in all of American Samoa. The fish population is different from the rest of the region due to a high concentration of
carnivorous fish and low concentration of
herbivorous fish. Almost 270 different species of fish have been recorded in the last 15 years.
Tuna
A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max len ...
,
mahi-mahi
The mahi-mahi () or common dolphinfish (''Coryphaena hippurus'') is a surface-dwelling ray-finned fish found in off-shore temperate, tropical, and subtropical waters worldwide. Also widely called dorado (not to be confused with ''Salminus brasi ...
,
billfish
The term billfish refers to a group of saltwater predatory fish characterised by prominent pointed bills (rostra), and by their large size; some are longer than . Extant billfish include sailfish and marlin, which make up the family Istioph ...
,
barracuda
A barracuda, or cuda for short, is a large, predatory, ray-finned fish known for its fearsome appearance and ferocious behaviour. The barracuda is a saltwater fish of the genus ''Sphyraena'', the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae, which was ...
and
shark
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...
s reside outside the lagoon. In deeper waters,
tunicate
A tunicate is a marine invertebrate animal, a member of the subphylum Tunicata (). It is part of the Chordata, a phylum which includes all animals with dorsal nerve cords and notochords (including vertebrates). The subphylum was at one time ...
s and
stalked crinoids have been spotted by scuba expeditions. Sea mammals such as the endangered
humpback whale
The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The hu ...
and the dolphin genus ''
Stenella'' also use the waters.
The atoll is a critical nesting
habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
for the threatened
green turtle
The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exten ...
and the endangered
hawksbill turtle
The hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Eretmochelys''. The species has a global distribution, that is lar ...
. The turtles migrate between American Samoa and other Pacific island nations. Their nesting season is between the months of August and February.
Approximately 97% of American Samoa's seabird population resides on Rose Atoll. Each of the 12 bird species is federally protected.
Red-footed boobies and greater and lesser
frigate birds nest in the buka trees.
Black noddies and
white tern
The white tern or common white tern (''Gygis alba'') is a small seabird found across the tropical oceans of the world. It is sometimes known as the fairy tern, although this name is potentially confusing as it is also the common name of '' Sternu ...
s nest in the middle and lower branches. The root system is used by
reef heron Reef heron could refer to:
* Western reef heron (''Egretta gularis'')
* Pacific reef heron
The Pacific reef heron (''Egretta sacra''), also known as the eastern reef heron or eastern reef egret, is a species of heron found throughout southern ...
s and
red-tailed tropic birds. Other birds can be found in the ''
Pisonia
''Pisonia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the four o'clock flower family, Nyctaginaceae. It was named for Dutch physician and naturalist Willem Piso (1611–1678). Certain species in this genus are known as catchbirdtrees, birdcatcher trees o ...
'' forest, the only one left in Samoa.
The atoll has been recognised as an
Important Bird Area (IBA) by
BirdLife International because it supports a breeding population of some 400,000
sooty terns, as estimated in 1974.
See also
*
Rose Island Concrete Monument
The Rose Island Concrete Monument is a historic commemorative marker on Rose Island, part of Rose Atoll, a remote island located in the far eastern reaches of the territorial waters of American Samoa. The marker is a concrete structure in the shap ...
*
Desert island
A desert island, deserted island, or uninhabited island, is an island, islet or atoll that is not permanently populated by humans. Uninhabited islands are often depicted in films or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereot ...
*
List of islands
This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water
A body of water or waterbody (often spelled water body) is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another plan ...
References
External links
American Samoa, its districts and unorganized islands, United States Census BureauA Summary of Information on Rose Atoll (Atoll Research Bulletin #29)
{{Authority control
Uninhabited islands of American Samoa
Atolls of American Samoa
Important Bird Areas of American Samoa
Important Bird Areas of the Samoan Islands