ever since man first began sitting out
for new lands by small boats heading
over unknown horizons he has been
searching for among other things
paradise and paradise in the Tuamotus a
small archipelago in the Pacific about
200 miles northeast of dignity means
coconuts digging clams spear fishing and
camping on the beach with the surf
blowing this leap
but paradise today is not without its
concerns the biggest worry here is
global warming the 78 atolls that make
up the Tuamotus are just thin coral
reefs at their highest they are ten feet
above sea level as the average
temperature of the oceans climb
estimates are that many of these living
breathing still growing reefs and the
lagoons they protect will very likely
disappear in the next 50 to 100 years as
the Seas rise Frank Murphy is a
University of California Berkeley
trained marine biologist it struck me
the other day when my children arrived
from Tahiti and they saw an atoll for
the first time but actually in their
lifetime these could disappear fishing
is a primary source of both food and
cash Gerard will take a dozen big mahi
mines from his plywood boat which he’ll
sell on his island of arava
gathering and drying the white meat of
coconut known as copra is the chains
biggest business a 100-pound sack sells
for $38
will produced 100 sacks a month in the
past 20 years a new economy has boomed
in the Tuamotus black pearls
Pamela and beldo are 22 and have their
own pearl growing business on a tiny
spit of sand in the middle of the lagoon
at toe Wow
they have thousands of oyster strung
just below the surface beldo takes daily
care at the boxes of oysters making sure
they are closed tightly to protect them
from their natural predators pamela
works eight-hour days seeding as many as
400 oysters a day once planet below the
surface each oyster will nurture a pearl
for a year and a half
outsiders come looking for paradise and
leave with many questions
is it idyllic here certainly is it
paradise as close as you can come a
tropical dream come true
yet it is clear these tiny spits of land
in the midst of a giant sea of blue
paradise are at some risk these
Westerners are happy to have seen a
glimpse of paradise since it may soon
change forever
for new lands by small boats heading
over unknown horizons he has been
searching for among other things
paradise and paradise in the Tuamotus a
small archipelago in the Pacific about
200 miles northeast of dignity means
coconuts digging clams spear fishing and
camping on the beach with the surf
blowing this leap
but paradise today is not without its
concerns the biggest worry here is
global warming the 78 atolls that make
up the Tuamotus are just thin coral
reefs at their highest they are ten feet
above sea level as the average
temperature of the oceans climb
estimates are that many of these living
breathing still growing reefs and the
lagoons they protect will very likely
disappear in the next 50 to 100 years as
the Seas rise Frank Murphy is a
University of California Berkeley
trained marine biologist it struck me
the other day when my children arrived
from Tahiti and they saw an atoll for
the first time but actually in their
lifetime these could disappear fishing
is a primary source of both food and
cash Gerard will take a dozen big mahi
mines from his plywood boat which he’ll
sell on his island of arava
gathering and drying the white meat of
coconut known as copra is the chains
biggest business a 100-pound sack sells
for $38
will produced 100 sacks a month in the
past 20 years a new economy has boomed
in the Tuamotus black pearls
Pamela and beldo are 22 and have their
own pearl growing business on a tiny
spit of sand in the middle of the lagoon
at toe Wow
they have thousands of oyster strung
just below the surface beldo takes daily
care at the boxes of oysters making sure
they are closed tightly to protect them
from their natural predators pamela
works eight-hour days seeding as many as
400 oysters a day once planet below the
surface each oyster will nurture a pearl
for a year and a half
outsiders come looking for paradise and
leave with many questions
is it idyllic here certainly is it
paradise as close as you can come a
tropical dream come true
yet it is clear these tiny spits of land
in the midst of a giant sea of blue
paradise are at some risk these
Westerners are happy to have seen a
glimpse of paradise since it may soon
change forever
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