Vatoa (pronounced ) (known as Turtle Island after Cook's visit) is an outlier of Fiji's Lau Group.

History

Vatoa was the only island of present-day Fiji visited by

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

. The island was sighted on 2 July 1774. The next day, a Sunday, the Master and some of Cook's crew went ashore: Cook's chart shows the name Turtle Isle.

Geography

Vatoa has varied rainfall and is usually cool because of

trade winds The trade winds or easterlies are permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere ...

. The island has an area of and rises to more than

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. It is composed wholly of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

(Koroqara Limestone, Tokalau Limestone Group), probably

Late Miocene The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million ye ...

in age. A single village has a population around 300. Interesting old fortifications occupy the highest part of the island.

Government

Viliame Naupoto, a noted son of Vatoa, is currently Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces. He once served as Director of Immigration and Deputy Commander of the

Republic of Fiji Navy The Republic of Fiji Navy or Fijian Navy is the navy, naval branch of the Fiji, Republic of Fiji Republic of Fiji Military Forces, Military Forces. Formerly known as the Royal Fijian Navy, it was established after Fiji ratified the recently create ...

Shipwrecks of Vatoa and associated reef Vuata Vatoa

Vatoa and its associated reef, Vuata Vatoa, have a surprising number of shipwrecks, given the closest island to the north is and to the south is , but Vatoa with an elevation of only can easily be missed. Some of the wrecks are listed below: *1825: Oeno, Whale ship, Vuata Vatoa *1840: Shylock, Whaler, Vuata Vatoa *1942: SS Thomas A. Edison, Cargo ship, Vuata Vatoa * 1943: USS Grebe, Minesweeper, Vuata Vatoa * 1962: Ragna Ringdal, Cargo ship, Vatoa The schooner, '' Lyman D. Foster'', bound for

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...

carrying timber, was dismasted in a hurricane, off Vatoa in April 1913.

References

External links

Islands of Fiji Lau Islands {{Fiji-geo-stub