Takaroa

This article covers the atoll. For the church, see Takaroa (church) .

Takaroa
NASA image by Takaroa
Waters	Pacific Ocean
archipelago	Tuamotu Archipelago
Geographical location	14 ° 27 ′  S , 144 ° 59 ′  W Coordinates: 14 ° 27 ′  S , 144 ° 59 ′  W
Number of islands	-
Main island	-
Land area	20 km²
Lagoon area	93 km²
Residents	1105 (2007)

Takaroa (other names: Taaroa, Tiokea , old name: Sondergrond Eyland, Het Schadelijk Eyland ) is an atoll that is geographically part of the Tuamotu Archipelago , more precisely to the subgroup of the King George Islands ( Îles du Roi Georges ). Politically, it belongs to French Polynesia . The closest island, around 10 km to the southwest, is the smaller Takapoto , which is also inhabited .

geography

Takaroa and the neighboring island of Takapoto are located on a 2,780 m high submarine mountain that emerged from a hot spot on the Pacific Plate and is part of the "Tuamotu Seamount Trail". The summit has sunk due to tectonic processes and today no longer protrudes above sea level. All that remains of the atoll is a dense ring of numerous coral islets ( motus ). The atoll is elongated-oval in shape and 27.4 km long and 7 km wide. There are several dangerous coral reefs in the 90 km² large lagoon . In the west, the lagoon has only a narrow, about 3 m deep passage (Passe Tauonae) to the Pacific Ocean that can only be navigated by small boats. There are numerous shallow tidal channels ( Hoa ) between the motus , which serve to exchange water with the open sea.

climate

The climate is tropical and humid. The temperature is relatively constant over the year with a fairly high average temperature of 27.1 ° C, which is usually not perceived as unpleasant because of the constantly blowing winds. The average annual rainfall is 1574 mm (for comparison: Cologne around 800 mm). The rainiest months are November to February, the (southern) winter months are somewhat drier.

There is a weather and earthquake station from Météo-France on Takaroa .

flora

The porous limestone soil of the low islands of the South Pacific, in which the rainwater quickly seeps away, only allows vegetation that is relatively poor in species. Mainly the bush Pemphis acidula (Polynesian: miki-miki) grows on Takapoto , a salt-tolerant plant with a very hard reddish wood that forms extensive root systems. Other common indigenous plants are beach winds , pandanus and pisonia grandis.

The coconut palm was like Jacques-Antoine Moerenhout reported relatively rare even in the first half of the 19th century. He suspected that this was due to systematic destruction in the devastating tribal wars with the neighboring island of Anaa . In the meantime the stocks have recovered and the coconut palm is being planted in extensive groves for copra production. Other crops are taro , yams , sweet potatoes and bananas .

fauna

The land fauna is also relatively poor in species. It is limited to insects, lizards, a few species of spiders, and land and sea birds. This makes the coral reef all the more species-rich, especially the regions around the tidal channels, through which food is washed into the lagoon during the tide changes.

Politics and administration

Politically, the island belongs to the French Overseas Zealand ( Pays d'outre-mer - POM) French Polynesia and is therefore affiliated to the EU. It is administered by a subdivision ( Subdivision administrative des Îles Tuamotu-Gambier ) of the High Commission of French Polynesia ( Haut-commissariat de la République en Polynésie française ) based in Papeete . Together with the neighboring Takapoto and the uninhabited Tikei , the island forms the political municipality Takaroa-Takapoto ( Commune de Takaroa-Takapoto ) with a total of 1577 inhabitants, of which 1105 are Takaroa itself. The majority of the residents are Mormons . Your church was built in 1891. The official language is French. The currency is (still) the CFP franc, which is linked to the euro . The only place is Teavaroa on a motu in the northeast of the atoll, where almost all residents live. On a few other motus there are individual, inhabited pearl farms.

Infrastructure

The Takaroa regional airfield opened in 1986 ( IATA code: TKX, ICAO code: NTKR) with a 1000 m long asphalt runway is about 2.5 km away on a motu in the northwest of the village. The airfield is only served by Air Tahiti with small propeller planes from Papeete .

Takaroa has no port. The goods of the once a month supply ship from Tahiti are unloaded in the roadstead with small boats.

The island does not have a continuous road, some of the motus are connected by a partially paved road. The tidal channels are only crossed by concrete walkways in a few places; most of them have to be driven through or waded through.

Takaroa does not have a central fresh water supply, the households depend on rainwater cisterns. However, modern technology has already found its way here, too, and most houses have parabolic antennas and solar cells for operating satellite TV sets.

The most important branch of the economy is now the cultivation of black pearls. Several privately operated pearl farms are anchored in the lagoon. Copra is also exported to a small extent. Tourism has hardly played a role so far, and the infrastructure is only slightly adapted to tourism needs. There are no hotels, only family pensions with modest comfort, no restaurants and bars.

history

Takaroa is the name of a malevolent god in the Tuamotu Islands, son of Te-tumu and Te-papa, who set the heavens on fire to destroy everything. The island was also said to be home to Moeava, a great warrior and courageous seafarer, the mythical hero of the Tuamotu Archipelago who is still revered in numerous legends and songs.

The story of ugly Maui and its beautiful brother Kuri is still told today. Maui married the lovely Hina, but she was more drawn to Kuri. When Maui caught them red-handed one day , he turned his brother into a dog. In her grief, Hina called her brother, a magical bird, to help and asked him to take her to a place far away where she and her lover would be safe from Maui's magical powers. Hina's brother sent them both to the moon. When the moon is full you can see the lovers on the moon disc.

The rich mythology and the stone remains of what were once 19 ceremonial sites, which the American anthropologist Kenneth P. Emory recorded in the 1930s, indicate a dense and significant settlement by Polynesian natives. The Marae Mahina-i-te-ata, a 10 × 7 m, rectangular ceremonial complex in the northeast of the island is still in good condition . Today parts of the surrounding wall built from coral blocks and an almost 2 m high orthostat are still visible in the low vegetation of the area . A detailed archaeological investigation of the monuments as well as a dating is still pending. At the confluence of the Passe Tauonae with the lagoon there is still a fish trap of unknown age belonging to the Polynesian natives.

The atoll was discovered for Europe on April 14, 1616 by the Dutch Jacob Le Maire and Willem Cornelisz Schouten . They gave it the name "Sondergrond".

The next European visitor to Takaroa was the Dutchman Jakob Roggeveen , who had set out to search for the fabulous southern continent with three ships on behalf of the West Indian Trading Company . His escort ship Africaansche Galey ran into a reef on the night of May 19, 1722 and had to be abandoned. A sailor drowned in the accident. However, five crew members took the opportunity to desert. They hid in the thick bush and were left behind.

James Cook reached the island by resolution during his second voyage to the Pacific on April 18, 1774. He dispatched two boats with armed men under the command of Lieutenant Robert Cooper to, as he writes in his log, “Mr. To give Forster the opportunity to collect some plants. ”The boats were awaited by several Polynesians armed with spears on the beach, who were soon joined by another 40 to 50 warriors. When the situation threatened to get dangerous, Cook ordered two or three warning shots to be fired with the cannons and the crews to be recalled. The landing party had yet to trade with the islanders, for they brought five dogs and two dozen coconuts to the resolution back in exchange for some plantains (English plantain) that appeared to be unknown to Takaroa.

The Whitney South Sea Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History , whose primary objective was to collect bird specimens at various Pacific islands, visited Takaroa and Takapoto and other neighboring atolls in February-March 1923. The scientists collected botanical specimens and registered occurring coral species and the rest of the fauna on the reef.

Attractions

• There are two stranded shipwrecks, a coaster and a large sailing ship on the outer reef. The most interesting wreck is the Country of Roxburg , a four-masted barque with an iron hull, built in Glasgow in 1886 . The Bark is during the journey from Chile to Australia on February 8, 1906 during a cyclone stranded. The wreck served as the backdrop for the French adventure film "Le reflux" from 1965, directed by Paul Gégauff , with Roger Vadim and Catherine Deneuve in the leading roles.

• Near the passage to the lagoon are the ruins of an old lighthouse made of coral chunks .

• Two rusty cannons from the Africaansche Galey have survived . The graves of the five Dutch sailors who deserted on the occasion of the accident, who were welcomed by the islanders, can still be seen in the cemetery today.

Remarks

1. ↑ Moerenhout confuses the island with the neighboring Takapoto.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://earthref.org/cgi-bin/er.cgi?s=sc.cgi?id=SMNT-144S-1461W
2. ^ JA Moerenhout: Travels to the Islands of the Pacific Ocean , London 1837, Reprint: Lanham (MD) 1983, p. 99
3. ^ Institut Statistique de Polynésie Française (ISPF) - Recensement de la population 2007
4. ↑ Takapoto - étude socio-économique in Journal de la Société des Océanistes, No. 54/55, Paris, June 1977, p. 14
5. ↑ ESC Handy: Polynesian Religion, Honolulu 1928, p. 377
6. ↑ RDCraig: Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology , New York 1989, p 172
7. ^ P. Hervé Audran: Traditions of and notes on the Paumotu (or Tuamotu) Islands ; In: The Journal of the Polynesian Society , Volume 27 (105), 1918, pp. 26–35 ( online )
8. ↑ Kenneth P. Emory : Tuamotuan Stone Structures, Honolulu 1934, pp. 30-35
9. ^ Carl Friedrich Behrens : The well-attempted southerner - Journey around the world 1721/22 , Reprint Leipzig 1923, pp. 71–73
10. ^ JC Beaglehole: The Journals of Captain James Cook , Volume 2, Cambridge 1961, pp. 377-378

Web links

• Brief description and picture of the atoll ( memento from December 23, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
• Census 2007 ( Memento of February 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF, French)
• Airport of the atoll
• Map of the atoll (PDF)