Fish and Wildlife
Rose Atoll contains the largest populations of giant clams, nesting seabirds and rare reef fish in all of American Samoa. The fish population is unique 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, mahi-mahi, billfish, barracuda and sharks reside outside the lagoon. In deeper waters, tunicate and stalked crinoid have been spotted by scuba expeditions. Sea mammals such as the endangered humpback whale and the stenella genus of dolphin also use the waters.
The atoll is a critical nesting habitat for the threatened green turtle and the endangered hawksbill turtle. 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 terns nest in the middle and lower branches. The root system is used by the reef herons and red-tailed tropic birds. Other birds can be found in the Pisonia forest, the only one left in Samoa.
Read more about this topic: Rose Atoll
Famous quotes containing the words fish and, fish and/or wildlife:
“The beasts, the fishes, and the winged fowls
Are their males’ subjects and at their controls:
Man, more divine, the master of all these,
Lord of the wide world and wild watery seas,
Indued with intellectual sense and souls,
Of more pre-eminence than fish and fowls,
Are masters to their females, and their lords:
Then let your will attend on their accords.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“I have a very great fear of love. It is so personal. Let each bird fly with its own wings, and each fish swim its own course.—Morning brings more than love. And I want to be true to the morning.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“Russian forests crash down under the axe, billions of trees are dying, the habitations of animals and birds are layed waste, rivers grow shallow and dry up, marvelous landscapes are disappearing forever.... Man is endowed with creativity in order to multiply that which has been given him; he has not created, but destroyed. There are fewer and fewer forests, rivers are drying up, wildlife has become extinct, the climate is ruined, and the earth is becoming ever poorer and uglier.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)