Amalau is the name of a valley and a bay within the

National Park of American Samoa The National Park of American Samoa is a national park in the United States territory of American Samoa, distributed across three islands: Tutuila, Ofu, and Ta‘ū. The park preserves and protects coral reefs, tropical rainforests, fruit bats, ...

. Amalau Valley is located between

Vatia The gens Servilia was a patrician family at ancient Rome. The gens was celebrated during the early ages of the Republic, and the names of few gentes appear more frequently at this period in the consular Fasti. It continued to produce men of inf ...

and Afono, and it is an isolated valley with various wildlife such as large numbers of native bird species and

flying fox ''Pteropus'' (suborder Yinpterochiroptera) is a genus of megabats which are among the largest bats in the world. They are commonly known as fruit bats or flying foxes, among other colloquial names. They live in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Aust ...

megabat Megabats constitute the family Pteropodidae of the order Chiroptera (bats). They are also called fruit bats, Old World fruit bats, or—especially the genera ''Acerodon'' and ''Pteropus''—flying foxes. They are the only member of the su ...

s. Amalau Valley is reached on the road leading to Vatia. There are only a few homes at Amalau. A significant site in the valley contains the remains of an old village. The Tu'ulaumea Tupua near Amalau Valley is an important legendary site. In Amalau Cove, pillow lavas can be observed along the shoreline. The pillow lavas indicate extrusion under water. The beach at the head of Amalau Bay is a mixture of cobbles and basaltic boulders, also with big chunks of coral which have been rounded by the ocean waves. Amalau Valley has been described as a “prime bird- and bat-watching area."

Wildlife

Amalau Valley has been described as the best place in American Samoa to observe the

Many-colored Fruit Dove The many-colored fruit dove (''Ptilinopus perousii''), also known as ''manuma'' in the Samoan language, is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It occurs on islands in the south-west Pacific Ocean where it is found in Fiji, the Samoan Isla ...

. There are also large numbers of

White-tailed Tropicbird The white-tailed tropicbird (''Phaethon lepturus'') is a tropicbird. It is the smallest of three closely related seabirds of the tropical oceans and smallest member of the order Phaethontiformes. It is found in the tropical Atlantic, western Paci ...

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, and Brown Noddies present. Amalau Valley is a particularly great site to observe fruit bats, especially the

Samoa flying fox The Samoa flying fox or Samoan flying fox (''Pteropus samoensis'') is a species of flying fox in the family Pteropodidae. It is found in American Samoa, Fiji, and Samoa (where it is known as ''pe'a'' and ''pe'a vao''). Its natural habitat is sub ...

. The Samoan flying fox can easily be observed in the Amalau Valley during early morning or in the late afternoon. At some parts of the year, the bats remain visible throughout the day. A raised “Bat Observation Tower” platform has been proposed erected in the Amalau Valley in order to allow visitors to observe avifauna such as the flying foxes who frequent this area.U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service (1997). �
National Park of American Samoa, General Management Plan (GP), Islands of Tutulla, Ta'u, and Ofu: Environmental Impact Statement
” Pages 158 and 214.

References

{{American Samoa Tutuila Protected areas of American Samoa Geography of American Samoa Landforms of American Samoa Tourist attractions in American Samoa Fauna of Samoa