Motu One ( Marquesan for "Sand Island"; ) is the name of a small sandbank with no vegetation, located on the western edge of a

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...

; the only

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical parts of the oceans and seas where corals can develop. Most ...

in the

Marquesas Islands The Marquesas Islands ( ; or ' or ' ; Marquesan language, Marquesan: ' (North Marquesan language, North Marquesan) and ' (South Marquesan language, South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcano, volcanic islands in ...

. The reef is approximately in diameter, and the islet has a surface area of less than one

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

, rising only a few feet above sea level and changing shape regularly as the action of the currents deposits and removes sand. Motu One is the northernmost of the

, located about northeast of

Eiao Eiao is the largest of the extreme northwestern Marquesas Islands. The island is uninhabited, but is administratively part of the commune (municipality) of Nuku-Hiva, itself in the administrative subdivision of the Marquesas Islands. As of 2 ...

and northeast of Hatutu. It is a calcareous coral reef on a

volcanic plug A volcanic plug, also called a volcanic neck or lava neck, is a volcano, volcanic object created when magma hardens within a Volcanic vent, vent on an active volcano. When present, a plug can cause an extreme build-up of high gas pressure if risi ...

- the only island in the group not made of exposed

volcanic A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...

material. Motu One is administratively part of the commune (municipality) of

Nuku-Hiva Nuku-Hiva is a commune of French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in ...

, itself in the

administrative subdivision Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

of the Marquesas.

History

Although Motu One was reportedly visited by Marquesans from islands in the region, primarily on

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

-collecting missions, there is no

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

evidence that it was ever inhabited. The first

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

ers to sight the islet were those on the 1813–1814 voyage of the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

commander Commodore David Porter, who named it ''Lincoln Island''. Subsequent explorers called it ''Sand Island''. The

Motu One Reserve The Motu One Reserve is a nature reserve encompassing the whole of the island and reef system of Motu One in the northern Marquesas Islands. The reserve was declared in 1992 in combination with several other reserves were declared as a part of th ...

was declared in 1992, as a first step in preserving the

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

of the island. In combination with the declaration of this reserve, several other reserves were declared as a part of the

Marquesan Nature Reserves The Marquesan Nature Reserves are a network of small nature reserves in the Marquesas Islands. The reserves were declared by the government of French Polynesia in 1992, as a first step toward preserving the native flora and fauna of some of the s ...

. This includes the

Hatutu Nature Reserve The Hatutu Nature Reserve is a nature reserve encompassing the whole of the island of Hatutu in the northern Marquesas Islands. The reserve was declared in 1971, and is the primary nesting site of several endangered species, several of which are en ...

, the

Motane Nature Reserve The Motane One Reserve is a nature reserve containing the whole of the islands of Moho Tani and Terihi, as well as the surrounding rocks, in the southern Marquesas Islands. It was declared in 1992, as the first step toward protecting the ecosyste ...

, and the

Eiao Island Nature Reserve The Eiao Nature Reserve is a nature reserve encompassing the whole of the island of Eiao in the northern Marquesas Islands, as well as several surrounding rocks. In the 1970s, the island supported French military activity while it was being cons ...

Ecology

Green sea turtle The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exte ...

s nest on Motu One. There is a large stand of ''

Porolithon ''Porolithon'' is a genus of coralline red algae. although more species have been recently proposed. The ''Porolithon'' are the primary reef building algae. When coral reefs reach sea level, many corals break under the high energy impact of the w ...

'' (''Hydrolithon'') that is unique in

French Polynesia French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...

. There are a wide variety of

pelagic bird The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean and can be further divided into regions by depth. The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or water column between the surfa ...

s nesting on the islets including a subspecies of the southern Marquesan reed warbler, the Mohotani Marquesan warbler (''Acrocephalus mendanae consobrina'').Marquesan Reed-warbler ''(Acrocephalus mendanae)''
/ref> Since 1992, the whole reef and island

have been

protected Protection is any measure taken to guard something against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although ...

as the

References

External links

Société d'Ornithologie de Polynésie "MANU"
{{FrenchPolynesia-geo-stub Islands of the Marquesas Islands Uninhabited islands of French Polynesia

History

Ecology

See also

References

External links