Motu (n) - "a little island made up of nothing but coral and it's derivatives - sand, limestone boulders etc - that have been bulldozed from the mother reef during storm waves and strong swells". Here are a couple images from a short day trip out to a local motu off the coast of one of the main islands of the Tuamotu archipelago or what is commonly known as French Polynesia.
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I have some really close friends in French Polynesia. When our schedules align, I love to take the five hour flight from Honolulu to Papeete on the island of Tahiti. The vibrant blues of the waters in and around this south pacific archipelago are mesmerizing. This year, I flew in on 8-27-11, my birthday. August 27, 2011 will stand solid in Tahitian wave riding history as the day that the Tahitian government issued a "Code Red" alert, prohibiting most watercraft from entering the ocean. red alert - the highest level of alert when an attack by the enemy seems imminent (or more generally a state of alert resulting from imminent danger) alert - condition of heightened watchfulness or preparation for action The Billabong Pro Tahiti, a professional surfing contest, was cancelled due to extremely powerful waves that were churned up from a huge tropical storm system in the South Pacific. Nevertheless, this did not stop a small group of extreme watermen from challenging the waves at arguably the heaviest reef pass in the world......Teahupo'o. August 27, 2011 has been deemed by some experts to be the most intense swell in recorded history. The plane landed in Papeete the evening of the 27th. My tahitian hosts greeted me at the airport and we called it an early night, anticipating the big waves of the following day. After a traditional tahitian breakfast of poisson cru and baguette, we entertained brief negotiations with a rather persistent local pearl dealer, then quickly headed across the island of Tahiti towards the reef pass called Teahupo'o. Teahupo'o translates into "to sever the head" or "place of skulls". This mystic wave plays tricks on the eyes as it bends and refracts along a shallow coral reef that is a mere 20 inches below the water's surface in some places. Teahupo'o is an absolute freak of nature and hydrodynamics. The Code Red swells had dropped overnight to a more manageable 8-12 feet. The following images were shot on August 28, 2011 at Teahupo'o. The Hawaiian Islands are home to one of the wettest places on earth. Mt. Waialeale, on the island of Kauai, has been averaging approximately 452 inches of rainfall per year since 1912.
On the island of Oahu, Manoa and Waimea are two areas that offer amazing waterfall hikes. Mānoa means thick, solid, vast, depth or thickness in the Hawaiian language. The heavy precipitation in the valley collects in it's streams and flows down into Waikiki and the Pacific Ocean. The Hawaiian Islands are the most remote island chain on earth. In regards to surfing, there are a variety of surf seasons. Generally speaking, active storms near the north poles bring large, rideable surf to the north shores of our islands during winter months. Southern shores receive the best surf when the southern poles are active (Hawaii's summer season) with storm systems. Spring is one of those special times of year in the islands. Due to Hawaii's location of in the North Pacific, the spring (and fall) seasons offer a greater potential to receive surfable waves on all shorelines in a single day. On this particular day, I found surfable waves on the north, west and southern shores of the most populated landmass in the island chain....Oahu, "The Gathering Place".
In surfing, the topography of the seabed, also known as Bathymetry (and a variety of other natural elements) determines the shape of a wave. A shore break is a type of wave that occurs very close to shore. The seabed goes from deep to shallow in a relatively short distant, hence the ocean swell is pushed up and over itself as it approaches the shoreline. Shore Breaks can be more dangerous because they tend to break over shallow coral reef. Hawaii offers a pleothera of shore breaks. Here's a few examples, shot in the early morning hours off the coast of Oahu. |
Welcome to the Island Images Photography Blog. Here we showcase a selection of our images from the past twelve years. Click the links on the right side of this page to read and view our company blog posts. Short narrative excerpts give the viewer an idea of what it was like to be in and/or around the water that day..... Categories
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