Tepuka

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Tepuka
Waters Pacific Ocean
Archipelago Funafuti
Geographical location 8 ° 28 ′  S , 179 ° 5 ′  E Coordinates: 8 ° 28 ′  S , 179 ° 5 ′  E
Tepuka (Tuvalu)
Tepuka
Residents uninhabited

Tepuka is an island in the northwest of the Funafuti atoll , the main atoll in the island state of Tuvalu in the Pacific Ocean . "Te puka" or "Pouka" is the name of the tree species Hernandia peltata .

geography

The island is eighteen kilometers west of Fongafale , in the northwest of the atoll. Nearby are the islands of Tepuka Vili Vili (SW) and Te Afualiku ( NE ). The Pacific lies in the west of the island, while the Funafuti lagoon " Te Namo " adjoins it to the east . In recent years the island has been exposed to severe erosion . Te Ava Tepuka and Te Avua Sari are two passages through the Funafuti Atoll in the northeast of the island. There is a well-preserved underground bunker on the island that served as an outpost for American communications units during the Pacific War . The bunker was connected to the Funafuti International Airport (military airfield on Fongafale).

The island belongs to the Funafuti Conservation Area , with an area of ​​33 km² with reefs, lagoon area and the six Motu Tepuka Vili Vili , Fualopa , Fuafatu , Vasafua , Fuagea and Tefala .

fauna

Lepidodactylus tepukapili is a type of gecko that was only described in 2003 and is only found on Tepuka and Fuagea .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Map of Funafuti . Tuvaluislands.com,.
  2. ^ Charles Hedley: General account of the Atoll of Funafuti . Australian Museum Memoir 3 (2): 1-72, 1896, pp. 17, 31-32.
  3. ↑ geonames.org.
  4. ↑ Admiralty Nautical Chart 2983 Tuvalu - Funafuti atoll . United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO),.
  5. ↑ Hugh Laracy (ed.) Melei Telavi: Chapter 18 - War . In: Tuvalu: A History . Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific and Government of Tuvalu, 1983, p. 142.
  6. ↑ Funafuti . Tuvaluislands.com. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
  7. Jump up ↑ George R. Zug, Dick Watling, Tataua Alefaio, Semese Alefaio, Claudia Ludescher: A new gecko (Reptilia: Squamata: Genus Lepidodactylus ) from Tuvalu, South-central Pacific. In: Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. vol. 116, 1, 2003: 38-46.
  8. ↑ Lepidodactylus tepukapili Zug, Watling, Alefaio, Alefaio & Ludescher . In: polynesian diversity . February 12, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2019.