Kiritimati(pronounced christmas)is an Island in the Central Pacific, located just north of the Equator,
3524 km. North-East of Fiji & 1579 km South of Hawaii.
It is the planet’s largest coral atoll (250 square miles of sand & lagoons),
the top of an undersea volcano, which rises from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean,
1000 fathoms below. On Christmas Eve 1777, Captain James Cook sighted a small Island,
and named it Christmas Isle. He stayed a few days to find the island barren and uninhabited,
with no evidence of earlier settlement. Today the Island, part of The Republic of Kiribati
(pronounced kiri-bass), has a population of 5000 people, mainly Gilbertese transplanted
from their Micronesian homeland some 2000 miles to the west, millions of seabirds and
over half a million coconut palms. The Ocean surrounding Kiritimati is alive with
all kinds of fish, Wahoo (Acanthocybrum solandri), Mackerel-Tuna (Euthynnus affinis),
Sailfish (Istiophorus platypteus), Rainbow Runner (Elagatis bipinnulatus),
Bluefin Trevally (Caranx melampygus), and Queenfish (Scomberoides lysan) are just a few.
The iridescent lagoon (125 square miles) with its innumerable bright white flats
each bordered by brilliant blue channels and all protected by a ribbon of flat sandy coconut studded land,
is teeming with Bonefish (Albula neoguinaica).