How do I get to American Samoa

Bluewhales, Finnish right- and Seiwale are known in the western Pacific region, but have not been seen in the area around American Samoa.

There are other sea urchins known to be found in different kinds of dolphin and whale populations; other known sea birds are sherds, raptors, gannets, tropicbirds and others. Following consultation under Section 7 of the European Space Agency, the National Maritime Fes cue Service has established that bottom fish, shellfish, reefs and valuable core fishing in the US EEZ area around the American Samoa Archipelago will not have a negative impact on the American Samoa Archipelago with regard to the endemic speci ation or CRAC.

The NMFS has also come to the conclusion that industrial fishing in the American Samoa Archipelago will have no effect on sea-mammal species that have not been examined or approved under the Navy Mammal Protection Act. In American Samoa there are strict national and regional legislation to safeguard tortoises and their nests. There is a fine of $500 to $250,000 and up to one year in prison, subject to conditions, for slaughtering a tortoise or the import of products of turtles into the territory (mussels, filled tortoises, tortoise crests, etc.).

Luckily, few tortoises seem to be accepted into American Samoa, possibly through educational programmes that educate kids and village people about the vulnerable turtle state. Samoan people thought that tortoises had the capacity to rescue fisherman who were losing them at Sea by taking them ashore.

Samoan for" I' a sa" means "holy fish", probably because of this capability. The Samoans used to harvest tortoises as their traditional diet, and the shell was often used as a bracelet, comb and hook and also in the headstall of a princess at important dancing events.

Tortoises have been integrated into Samoan music and artwork, and in Faga'itua and Leone there are tortoise petrolroglyphs (rock paintings). Among the tortoise tales is the tale of the tortoise and shark that appear in the ocean at Vaitogi when the inhabitants of the village are singing a serenade. There are two types of tortoises, the hawkbill and the greensbill, which are the most common ones in the American Samoa area.

In Samoa they are known as laaumei ena`ena and phonu. During the lifecycle of the species, the species undergoes a number of long walks between their food and shelter. Their only known nest area in American Samoa is the Rose Atoll. Once they have laid their hatchlings there, the large tortoises move out of the rose atoll and to their feed sites in the South Pacific.

In a few years the tortoises will go back to the rose atoll and settle there. Each tortoise is returned to the same breeding and eating areas throughout its lifetime, but this does not necessarily mean that all tortoises that breed in the rose atoll move to exactly the same area. In the mid-1990s, a marking survey followed eight marked pelagic tortoises from their breeding grounds in the Rose Atoll to Fiji by means of sattelite hemetry.

One more tortoise, marked on the Rose Atoll, was found in Vanuatu and another was pursued eastwards to Franco Polynesia near Tahiti. Loggerhead sea tortoises are known in Samoa as larvae. The most common are in Tutuila and on the Manu'a Islands and also found in Rose Atoll and Swains Island.

1993 the team of an American Samoa Goverment ship involved in exploratory longliner fisheries raised a small recently deceased sea turtles about 5.6 kilometres southwards of Swains Island. It was the first time that the ship's master had seen a sea turtles in the American Samoa for 32 years.

Samoan archipelago's closest known nest area is the Solomon Islands. Green turtle are rare in American Samoa, although there have been at least three sightings. turtle species. An autopsy of a rested, carcassed virgin olive found that it was wounded by a sharks, and may have recently placed an egg, signaling that there may be a sandy shoreline in American Samoa.

In Samoa the hunchback is known as the tabola or i' a manual. At Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary, males are mating from June to September. Hummingbirds come to Samoa from the south as far back as July and remain until December; however, they are most frequently encountered in the Samoa area in September and October.

Bumpheels have been spotted around all seven isles in the territory of American Samoa. Occurrence of moguls around American Samoa is an important part of their hike up and down the Pacific. In the hot climates of the Antarctic Ocean, they live in the abundant Antarctic water 3,200 leagues to the north.

It seems that most of this group stays near Tonga, but at least some of them continue their migration to Samoa. They breed and give mother to their young in hotter water. Only when they come back to Antarctica do they take up food again.

Cachalots can be found in the tropics and poles around the globe. Historic observation of sperms around Samoa took place in all month except February and March. Also in Fagatele Bay Sanctuary there are occasional sightings of cachalots. Whimbrel is a migrating sea bird that lives on the rose atoll in American Samoa.

In Samoa, the Newell Sherwater is known as Ta`i`o and has been recognized as a "visitor" to Tutuila.