The Oceans Surrounding The Island Of Tutuila, American Samoa
In today’s article we will discuss the oceans surrounding the pacific island of Tutuila. Tutuila is the largest & capital island in the archipelago known as American Samoa. This island is a territory of the United States Of America. It is in the middle of Oceania. It is incredibly far from the closest continent that is considered mainland. It stands at 17,439.11 nautical miles from the continent of Australia. It is 15,939.46 miles from the country of China. It is also 7,830.43 Nautical miles from Antarctica. This island sits in the central Pacific Ocean. It is incredibly biodiverse & is home to many unique & intelligent species. A great example of this is the Pantropical spotted dolphin. A reason as to why the island is so biodiverse marine wise, is due to the great environmental factors. These environmental factors (such as coral reefs) are often maintained by humans. The oceans are calm & clear as well, making sea life very visible. The oceans are also biodynamic & have many different environments that creatures may thrive in. The island also has many unique oceanic characteristics such as the many underwater caves around. The ocean also extends quite deep in this area of the pacific leaving room for many interesting & strange deep sea fish. These will be discussed in the article. Many recreational activities take place in the oceans as well, these have formed a sort of bond between the marine wildlife & the humans of Tutuila. The island is also well known for its beaches, which are a staple in both the culture of the island & a staple for the marine animals. A reason as to why the beaches are so important is because they have unique wildlife & due to the amazing oceanic climate of the island. The lagoons of the island are also lined with coral. This creates a strong ecological complex for both the fauna & the humans who often enjoy the lagoons. In this article we will discuss the salinity, temperature, marine geography & terrain, the most important marine ecosystems, the documented marine flora & fauna, & the utilization of marine resources of the island. With that being said, let us delve into the American Samoan island of Tutuila.
The Salinity, Temperatures, Tides, Marine Geography, & Basic Information Of The Oceans Surrounding Tutuila
The Salinity of the water surrounding the island of Tutuila has not fully been measured or verified. However, it can be assumed that the salinity is approximately between 34 & 37 parts per thousand. Salt deposits are also not common & brine pools are also uncommon. Salinity is measured in 1,000 grams. For every 1000 grams of water there will be a certain number of grams that are pure salt. Though the island has mangrove forests these do not affect the salinity in any way. There are no randomly forming currents & there are currently no extreme currents which would pose a threat to any person. There is also little to no riptide or very high surf. The water temperatures for this island can be found on a plethora of websites however the easiest to navigate are the following; https://www.surf-forecast.com, https://www.tideschart.com, & https://www.seatemperature.org. The tidal charts can also be found on these websites. The tide usually never gets over
3.7 feet (1.12776 meters) tall from the current algorithm of the waves. The majority of the oceanic floor around the island consists of coral, sand, & rock. There are very little to no seamounts nearby the island. The deepest point within 5 Nautical/Marine miles (5.7539 miles or 9.26 kilometers) of the island is 5975.7 feet (1821.39336 meters) deep. Swimming is completely safe on the island due to the low amount of water pollution, the warm temperatures, & the lack of riptide or high surf. However it is still recommended that you listen to any warnings put out by the American Samoan government. Scuba diving & snorkelling are also a common recreational activities that take place here. A reason for this is the marine biodiversity of the region. The island is in an extremes odd shape, however this shape gives it over 20,000 feet of coastline. Tutuila has approximately 6 designated marine protected areas at the time of publication.
The Most Prominent Marine Ecosystems Of Tutuila
Coral Reefed Areas
The coral reefs of Tutuila are all fringing coral reefs as opposed to being barrier reefs. There are approximately 250 documented species of coral around the island. This includes 3 species of coral which may grow as large as 10 feet in diameter. However these reefs were almost taken into complete extinction. The reason for this is the crown of thorns starfish. This starfish eats live coral tissue & they can multiple very quickly. This devastated approximately 90% of all fringing coral reefs around American Samoa. Reef algae has also run rampant & sometimes will grow completely over coral & prevent it from sucking in nutrients. This will cause the coral to die. However, parrotfish have been released & have controlled this problem relative nicely. They consume most of the reef algae in order to make sure that it does not asphyxiate the coral reefs.
Mangrove Forests
These mangrove forests are usually in tidal areas. However they are somewhat different then mangrove lagoons as mangrove lagoons are along lagoons instead of being in tidal areas. They are currently labelled at low to moderate vulnerability. There only 3 species of mangrove that are found growing on the island & those species are; Bruguiera gymnorrhiza (oriental mangrove), Rhizophora mangle (Red mangrove), & finally Xylocarpus moluccensis (The puzzlenut tree) is the rarest of the trio. These ecosystems are however in danger due to the sea level quickly rising. This puts them in severe risk of flooding & going completely underwater. This ecosystem provides many services towards the marine wildlife of Tutuila such as coastal protection, fish nursery habitat, hunting grounds, & shelter.
Mangrove Lagoons
Mangrove lagoons are quite similar except instead of being around the coast, this ecosystem exists around the lagoons. It provides the same services to the creatures of the lagoons. The area were most of this eco-complex is found is in the Pala Lagoon.
The Documented Marine Flora Of Tutuila
There are hundreds of types of marine flora of Tutuila. Coral will not be counted for this category as it is technically considered an animal instead of a plant. Unfortunately however not many of them have been documented of identified. One of the ones that has been documented is red algae. Red algae is strictly classified under the division of Rhodophyta. Approximately 133 species of red algae are found in the oceanic regions of Tutuila. Other types of algae have been found such as blue-green algae, brown algae, & green algae. There are approximately 27 documented species of blue-green algae (Cyanophyta) found around Tutuila. There are also 60 species of green algae (Chlorophyta) & 29 species of brown algae (Phaeophyta). As far as we know there are no endemic seagrasses or algae species that live around Tutuila. There are also only 2 seagrass species around the island. As can be seen, red algae is in the most abundance around the island. There are also invasive algae species that are red algae.
The Documented Marine Fauna Of Tutuila
There are hundreds of types of marine fauna around the island. For the purpose of this article we will only be counting fully aquatic species. This means that water birds will not count. The majority of them are found off the coast or in the lagoons with only a small percentage of them being left in the mangroves. However the mangroves are especially unique as they provide a service that the rest of American Samoa can’t. They provide a special type of shelter & nursery area for fish & mammals to feel safe. The rest of the American Samoan islands do not have mangrove trees, so many animals flock to the island. This is a major reason as to why the island is so extremely biodiverse. Now majority of these creatures are bacteria sized or smaller, we will not be discussing them. With that being said, here is a list of the most prominent species that support the marine ecological complexes of Tutuila; Stenella attenuata (Pantropical spotted dolphin), Balaenoptera musculus (Blue whale), Balaenoptera physalus (Fin whale), Balaenoptera borealis (Sei whale), Physeter macrocephalus (Sperm whale), Eretmochelys imbricata (Hawksbill turtle), Caretta caretta (South Pacific Loggerhead turtle), Lepidochelys olivacea (Olive Ridley turtle), Dermochelys Coriacea (Leatherback turtle), Isurus oxyrinchus (Short-fin Mako shark), Carcharhinus longimanus (Oceanic White-Tip shark), Manta birostris (Giant Manta-ray), & Sphyrna lewini (Indo-West Pacific Scalloped Hammerhead shark).
How The Marine Resources Were Utilized & How It Overall Affected The Marine Environment
The marine resources of Tutuila were often utilized for communication fishing. Commercial fishing is still a very large industry in Tutuila. This of course, does strange things to the ecosystem. A good example of this is when a creatures main natural predator gets killed so the creature reproduces very quickly, which in turn causes another animal to decrease in population because the other creature suddenly requires more food needs. The fish were also negatively impacted due to the Pago Pago harbour being built. They were specifically affected by the boat fuel. Eco-tourism is also an increasingly popular industry on Tutuila. Eco-tourism is tourism that is for the purpose of seeing the ecological structures of the island, or seeing the ecosystems of the island.
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