Adventures in Google Earth

Next week we are going to be travling to the South Pacific! Be sure to join us! Remember, if you want to become a follower of Adventures in Google Earth, just click on Follow this blog!
If you want us to travel anywhere by way of "deskchair" traveling, let us know by leaving a comment. Thank you.

Happy Traveling,
Flora and Leanne

Coconut Crabs

Coconut Crabs (Birgus latro)* are part of the hermit crab family. When juveniles, the Coconut crabs occupy a gastropod shell. When 2-3 years old, they abandon the shell, develop an exoskeleton and become a miniature of the adult Coconut crab.

Coconut Crabs can weigh up to nine pounds and can be three feet long (that's one yard!). These grabby little goomers have the name coconut crab because they can climb coconut trees and snap off the branch where the coconut hangs with their powerful claws. If the coconut does not crack open on the fall, this crab must husk the fibers away and make a small hole. After they make a bigger hole, they can snap it with their claw and eat the fleshy part.

This amazing animal lives in sandy burrows and coral or rock crevices. They can be found in The Seychelles in the Indian Ocean to Easter Islands in the Pacific. They have adapted so well to living on land, that they can drown when in water!

Want to learn more about Coconut crabs? Here are some wonderful websites that include pictures and videos:

http://www.arkive.org/coconut-crab/birgus-latro/video-00.html (We found ARKive on Google Earth and it is an amazing website)

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/2811/0

Happy Traveling!

Leanne and Flora

Footnotes:

*also known as the Robber Crab or the Palm thief.

Three Beautiful Uninhabited Atolls

Filippo Reef
Less than a mile long, this is the only island in the Line Island Group that hasn't ever been claimed by the USA. There is some speculation that this may be a Phantom Island, due to the lack of recent sightings. Filippo Reef is part of the Central Line Island.


Palmyra Atoll and Kingman Reef
These atolls are uninhabited, US territories. They are part of the Northern Line Islands. We found many beautiful pictures of Palmyra on Google Earth. You can also visit the following sites:
http://www.janeresture.com/palmyra/index.htm
http://www.nature.org/wherewework/asiapacific/palmyra/plants/ http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/07/kingman-reef/warne-text

Happy Traveling!
Flora and Leanne

Welcome to the South Pacific!

Welcome to the beautiful Line Islands! Also known as the Equatorial Islands, the Line Islands are a group of 11 atolls and low coral islands, of which only three are inhabited. The islands are subdivided into three categories, Northern, Central, and Southern (see map below). Three of the Line Islands are US Territories, while the rest belong to Kiribati. Today we will focus on the three Southern islands, Flint Island, Vostok Island, and Caroline Island.











Flint Island

This uninhabited atoll, which belongs to Kiribati, is 2.5 miles long and 0.5 miles wide. It is surrounded by a narrow reef, making it difficult to anchor. It is said to have once been thickly wooded but since then the foliage has been replaced by planted coconut palms.

To learn more, visit: http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/kiribati/about_destin/flintisland.html
Vostok Island

This pristine island is so small, 1,400 yards long to be exact, that we couldn't even see it on Google Earth. The uninhabited island is home to many animals species including the Coconut Crab, Brown Noddy, and the Azure-tailed Skink. We will further discuss these amazing creatures later.

To learn more visit:
http://www.janeresture.com/kiribati_line/vostok.htm

Caroline Island

Also known as Millennium, Caroline Island is a six mile long, one mile wide uninhabited island. It has about 39 ephemeral islets along the reef rim and it is home to a large population of Coconut Crabs.
To learn more visit:
http://www.oceandots.com/pacific/line/caroline.php



Happy Traveling!
Flora and Leanne
All photos courtesy of wikipedia.org