Talofa!

This is Ian, and I’ll be doing my very first guest appearance on Relli’s epic blog!  I went to Ofu for work at the end of 2019 to fix a repeater tower and swap out some temperature loggers in Ofu’s Toaga lagoon. On my second to last day, I took out the GoPro and snagged a few pics. Hope you enjoy them.

Impending low tide; Not a bad place to be stuck.

I managed to squeeze through the cracks in the reef to get back to the ranger station before dark.

NPS has temperature loggers near some of these corals. We use this data to look at how temperature contributes to changes in the ecosystem over time. Parts of Toaga lagoon are notorious for getting super hot, and harboring remarkably thermotolerant corals.

Classic. Gotta give Relli mad props for making this shot look as good as it does. Lovin the lightroom skillzzz!

The high density and biodiversity of corals in Toaga Lagoon acts as a refugia for many species of fish. Acanthurus triostegus, Chlorurus frontalis, and Acanthurus guttatus are particularly prevalent.

It’s beginning to look a lot like a Christmas tree worm…Sorry, I had to.

Relli always loves these little Chromis viridis, so I always try and snag some pics of them when she’s not around. So pretty!

this is nerelle – i loved this post! who all thinks ian should post more on the blog?! me for sure! oh andi just wanted to point out that this is ian’s second time posting on my blog. his first post was after we got engaged: https://nerelle.com/the-other-side-of-the-proposal/