Clipperton Island
Clipperton is a windswept atoll in the far reaches of the eastern Pacific
Inhabited by 170,000 breeding pairs of Boobies and several million bright orange land crabs. I was invited to accompany the Jean Louis Etienne expedition to Clipperton in 2005. I spent 5 unforgettable weeks on this isolated speck of land with a rotating crew of some 25 scientists and workers from a range of disciplines. My time spent there was a revelation. Working from tent laboratories the team studied the entire range of fauna and flora over a four month period.
Clipperton is a windswept atoll in the far reaches of the eastern Pacific
Inhabited by 170,000 breeding pairs of Boobies and several million bright orange land crabs. I was invited to accompany the Jean Louis Etienne expedition to Clipperton in 2005. I spent 5 unforgettable weeks on this isolated speck of land with a rotating crew of some 25 scientists and workers from a range of disciplines. My time spent there was a revelation. Working from tent laboratories the team studied the entire range of fauna and flora over a four month period.
The Island
The island lies four days by boat from Acapulco, Mexico, in the vast blue desert of the Pacific and the narrow platform reef surrounding it drops steeply into water thousands of metres deep.
Except for an isolated volcanic plug some 20m high, the land here, composed of coral rubble, rises only a few metres above sea level and during cyclones waves wash completely over it. The atoll surrounds a unique lagoon; anaerobic and acidic in a deep central hole, slightly brackish at the surface, with its own unique microbiological fauna. The waters surrounding this tiny outpost have probably the lowest biodiversity of any point in this ocean. Isolation by the prevailing Pacific Ocean circulation has largely preserved this unique ecosystem.
It is so far from any other habitat that planktonic larvae from other animals cannot survive the lengthy voyage on ocean currents to arrive there and settle. There are only a half dozen species of coral and less than 70 species of fish found there, quite a few of which are endemic to the atoll.
Marine working conditions
were difficult
The high swell was a constant and underwater visibility was often really poor. The only access to open sea was through a tiny gap in the reef, navigable only on high tides, meaning my underwater working times were brief. Often I had only an hour or so available at high tide to rush out, through the gap in breaking surf, dive down and find my subject, carry out an underwater drawing, and then get back in through the reef before the falling tide rendered the passage impassable. Terrestrial conditions however were superb, a constant 27 degrees and steady trade winds, the only real problem being the constant rain of guano from the cacophonous hordes of Frigate Birds and several species of Booby.
My visit to, and time spent working on Clipperton contributed to the most extraordinary voyage I have ever undertaken. The French organisation landed a complete, enormous restaurant gas cooking setup and we were treated by qualified chefs to three superb meals a day. The working hours were long and often arduous but the company of scientists, researchers, media crew and expedition engineers was wonderful, the total isolation throwing us together in common endeavour and here I made some lasting friendships.
I was commissioned by my sponsor for the voyage, Foundation Gaz de France, to create a large underwater reef painting and a variety of studies of terrestrial and marine flora and fauna. In addition I created a number of other underwater drawings and extensive underwater photography.
Marine working conditions
were difficult
The high swell was a constant and underwater visibility was often really poor. The only access to open sea was through a tiny gap in the reef, navigable only on high tides, meaning my underwater working times were brief. Often I had only an hour or so available at high tide to rush out, through the gap in breaking surf, dive down and find my subject, carry out an underwater drawing, and then get back in through the reef before the falling tide rendered the passage impassable. Terrestrial conditions however were superb, a constant 27 degrees and steady trade winds, the only real problem being the constant rain of guano from the cacophonous hordes of Frigate Birds and several species of Booby.
My visit to, and time spent working on Clipperton contributed to the most extraordinary voyage I have ever undertaken. The French organisation landed a complete, enormous restaurant gas cooking setup and we were treated by qualified chefs to three superb meals a day. The working hours were long and often arduous but the company of scientists, researchers, media crew and expedition engineers was wonderful, the total isolation throwing us together in common endeavour and here I made some lasting friendships.
I was commissioned by my sponsor for the voyage, Foundation Gaz de France, to create a large underwater reef painting and a variety of studies of terrestrial and marine flora and fauna. In addition I created a number of other underwater drawings and extensive underwater photography.
