Bloggers Discover New Island in the Pacific

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A new island emerges from the Pacific. Credit: Frederik Fransson, ‘Maiken’

Yachting bloggers made history in August when they sailed into a “stone sea” near Tonga in the Pacific, vast surfaces of ocean covered with a floating layer of pumice. Pumice is a volcanic rock that floats, basically it is lava that was so filled with gas bubbles when it hardened that it is lighter than water, think “rock foam.” The next day the crew of the Maiken were very possibly the first human beings to see a new island after it emerged from the sea. How cool is that?

The new island is about a mile across already, so this is real land. From the dark color above it’s a good bet that basaltic lava is emerging, this is a good thing. Some volcanic eruptions are just light colored pumice and ash, an island made of pumice and ash quickly is washed away by waves. When basaltic lava emerges it hardens into solid rock, this island will be going on the maps.

When I was a kid the birth of Surtsey Island near Iceland was big news, it also was a volcanic island that emerged from the sea. Scientists learned a great deal from that event, and are still learning today. One of the things especially interesting was seeing how life colonized the land. A spider was the first living thing found making its home on Surtsey, eighteen months after it emerged from the sea. I remembered that fact from my childhood, even as a kid I was fascinated by the changing world around us.

Scientists flocked to study Surtsey, and I am sure that all sorts of scientists, starting with waves of geologists and vulcanologist’s, are already booking flights to Tonga. I mean, gee, scientists are human. Given a choice, would you want to live here or here while you were on a business trip? I think I can safely say that all but the Canadian and a few Midwestern scientists would prefer the tropical lagoon; granted I may be biased as a result of the severe snow allergy I developed as a child near Toronto.

Aside from being a tropical paradise, I’ve heard nothing but good things about the people of Tonga. Tonga is the “Cradle of Polynesian civilisation,” Polynesian civilization was born there before the birth of Christ and spread throughout the Pacific. Tonga is one of the very very few places on the planet where the original inhabitants were not conquered, enslaved, or colonised during the European conquest of the world. The Tongan Royal family has been ruling Tonga for centuries, though they have been a constitutional monarchy since the eighteen hundreds. A proud history for any people, my hat goes of to the Tongan Nation and their new island.

(The above image is claimed as Fair Use under US copyright law. It is not being used for profit, it is an historically important image, and it is central to the subject of the post.)

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