Our first day at North Minerva Reef has been outstanding. For one thing the weather has become calm so we can dive and snorkel on all sides of the reef. We have split off into different activities and among us we have swum with a manta ray and green turtles, seen grey reef, whitetip reef and grey reef sharks, and found some wrecks.
Green turtle in North Minerva Reef lagoon.
Photo: Richard Robinson, www.depth.co.nz
This reef is an atoll with a deep pass, so we have anchored in the lagoon and it will be a very calm night of sleep. At night a few of the crew went for a brief night dive on the outer reef – where the shark numbers abbreviated the dive.
A bommie and diver in North Minerva Reef lagoon.
Photo: Richard Robinson, www.depth.co.nz
Now that we have moved further south we have noticed a change in the fish fauna. The Tonga fangblenny that was endemic to Tonga is no longer found here. It has been replaced by the canary fangblenny (Meiacanthus oualanensis). Interestingly, the canary fangblenny has until now only been recorded from Fiji. Our find here confirms it has a wider distribution than previously thought.
By Dr Tom Trnski
