Takutea is a small

uninhabited 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 stereotyp ...

in the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

, north-west of

Atiu Atiu, also known as Enuamanu (meaning ''land of the birds''), is an island of the Cook Islands archipelago, lying in the central-southern Pacific Ocean. Part of the Nga-pu-Toru, it is northeast of Rarotonga. The island's population has dropped b ...

. Administratively, the island is considered part of Atiu, the closest island. It is owned equally by all inhabitants of Atiu and not allocated to one specific village or district of Atiu.

Geography

Takutea is an oval island roughly long and 3/4 of a mile across. It consists entirely of sand, with a maximum elevation of . The island is surrounded by a narrow reef.

History

Takutea has never been permanently inhabited. It was originally called ''Areuna'', but was renamed ''Taka-ku-tea'' ("my white ku") by the explorer Mariri after he caught a white ''ku'' (

squirrelfish Holocentrinae is a subfamily of Holocentridae containing 40 recognized species and one proposed species. Its members are typically known as squirrelfish and all are nocturnal. All three genera in the subfamily are found in the Atlantic and ''Hol ...

) there. The island was also known as ''Enua-iti'' ("Small Island"). Takutea was visited by the people of Atiu, who collected seabirds and coconuts there and regarded it as tribal land. When Captain

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

sighted the island on 4 April 1777, and some crew members went ashore, they found some huts, but no evidence of a permanent settlement. Commander Nicolls of H.M.S “Cormorant” declared the island to be under British protection in June 1889. In 1902 it was gifted to

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

of Britain by

Ngamaru Rongotini Ariki Ngamaru Rongotini Ariki (c. 1831 – 31 March 1903) was a sovereign of the Cook Islands. He was the ''ariki'' of the ''Ngamaru'' dynasty on the island of Atiu, one of the chiefdoms of '' Ngaputoru'', which consisted of three adjoining islands —A ...

, but this was overturned in 1938 as Rongotini had no right to give it away. In 1905 60% of the island was cleared and planted in

coconut palm The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the f ...

s for

copra Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from copr ...

production, and the plantation was maintained by visiting workers from Atiu. In 1950 the Land Court of the Cook Islands appointed three ariki and four mataiapo as trustees, to hold it on behalf of the people of Atiu. Visits to the island declined after 1963, when laws were passed limiting inter-island voyages on traditional craft. It has since been managed as a wildlife sanctuary. In 2004 a television episode of ''

Survivorman ''Survivorman'' is a Canadian-produced television program, broadcast in Canada on the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), and internationally on Discovery Channel and Science Channel. The title refers to the host of the show, Canadian filmmaker and su ...

'' (Les Stroud) was filmed on Takutea Island.

Ecology

Flora

Heavily modified for copra production in the early twentieth century, Takutea's vegetation has since been left to recover. A strip of coastal vegetation surrounds a core of native scrub, native forest, and mixed native and coconut forest. The coastal vegetation is dominated by ''

Scaevola sericea ''Scaevola taccada'', also known as beach cabbage, sea lettuce, or beach naupaka, is a flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae found in coastal locations in the tropical areas of the Indo-Pacific. It is a common beach shrub throughout the Ara ...

'' interspersed with ''

Heliotropium arboreum ''Heliotropium arboreum'' is a species of flowering plant in the borage family, Boraginaceae. It is native to tropical Asia including southern China, Madagascar, northern Australia, and most of the atolls and high islands of Micronesia and Polyn ...

'' and ''

Pandanus tectorius ''Pandanus tectorius'' is a species of ''Pandanus'' (screwpine) that is native to Malesia, Papuasia, eastern Australia, and the Pacific Islands. It grows in the coastal lowlands typically near the edge of the ocean. Common names in English inclu ...

''. The inner forest is dominated by ''

Pisonia grandis ''Pisonia grandis'', the grand devil's-claws, is a species of flowering tree in the ''Bougainvillea'' family, Nyctaginaceae. Description The tree has broad, thin leaves, smooth bark and bears clusters of green sweet-smelling flowers that matur ...

'', ''

Guettarda speciosa ''Guettarda speciosa'', with common names sea randa, or zebra wood, is a species of shrub in the family Rubiaceae found in coastal habitats in tropical areas around the Pacific Ocean, including the coastline of central and northern Queensland an ...

'', and

Coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

, with an underlayer of ''

Tacca leontopetaloides ''Tacca leontopetaloides'' is a species of flowering plant in the yam family Dioscoreaceae. It is native to Island Southeast Asia but have been introduced as canoe plants throughout the Indo-Pacific tropics by Austronesian peoples during prehis ...

'' and ''

Asplenium australasicum ''Asplenium australasicum'', the bird's nest fern or crow's nest fern, is an epiphytic Australasian species of fern in the family Aspleniaceae. Taxonomy ''Asplenium australasicum'' was originally described by English botanist John Smith in 1857 ...

''. A small area of planted Pacific Ironwood in the northwest of the island was planted in the 1960s as a windbreak.

Fauna

Takutea is a significant breeding site for seabirds, and is home to

red-tailed tropicbird The red-tailed tropicbird (''Phaethon rubricauda'') is a seabird native to tropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. One of three closely related species of tropicbird (Phaethontidae), it was described by Pieter Boddaert in 1783. Superfic ...

s and

red-footed boobies The red-footed booby (''Sula sula'') is a large seabird of the booby family, Sulidae. Adults always have red feet, but the colour of the plumage varies. They are powerful and agile fliers, but they are clumsy in takeoffs and landings. They are f ...

. Other nesting species include the

great frigatebird The great frigatebird (''Fregata minor'') is a large seabird in the frigatebird family. There are major nesting populations in the tropical Pacific (including the Galapagos Islands) and Indian Oceans, as well as a tiny population in the South At ...

brown booby The brown booby (''Sula leucogaster'') is a large seabird of the booby family Sulidae, of which it is perhaps the most common and widespread species. It has a pantropical range, which overlaps with that of other booby species. The gregarious brow ...

brown noddy The brown noddy or common noddy (''Anous stolidus'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. The largest of the noddies, it can be told from the closely related black noddy by its larger size and plumage, which is dark brown rather than black. The b ...

black noddy The black noddy or white-capped noddy (''Anous minutus'') is a seabird from the family Laridae. It is a medium-sized species of tern with black plumage and a white cap. It closely resembles the lesser noddy (''Anous tenuirostris'') with which it w ...

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 ...

. The island is also home to

coconut crab The coconut crab (''Birgus latro'') is a species of terrestrial hermit crab, also known as the robber crab or palm thief. It is the largest terrestrial arthropod in the world, with a weight of up to . It can grow to up to in width from the tip ...

s. Because of its importance as a seabird breeding area, Takutea's trustees manage it as a wildlife sanctuary, and have banned the killing of birds or the removal of red tropicbird tail-feathers. No species may be removed from the island or its lagoon without the approval of the trustees. The island, with its surrounding waters, has also been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

References

External links

Atiu Island: About Takutea
{{Authority control Uninhabited islands of the Cook Islands Wildlife sanctuaries Bird sanctuaries Important Bird Areas of the Cook Islands Seabird colonies