I thought you might be interested in observations I have made during a recent diving cruise I made this month in the Fiji-Tonga region of the western Pacific. I am a physicist at Brookhaven National Lab, so I am not an expert in oceanography, meteorology, or biology, but I can tell you what I observed, for what it's worth. I just returned from a diving trip on a live-aboard dive boat (the Matagi Princess II). We departed Savusavu, Fiji 9-Sept-97 and arrived in Nufu'alofa, Tonga on 12-Sept. We cruised around the Tongatapu and Ha'apai Island Groups until 19-Sept. The purpose of the cruise was to sight, photograph, and dive with humpback whales during their stay in Tonga for mating and calving.We encountered about 80 whales during that cruise over the region cited. Estimated whale population before the trip was about 300, but probably the real number was greater than that due to our frequency of sightings over such a large area of ocean. The weather conditions for that time period (9-Sept to 19-Sept) were apparently unusual for that time of year. It was supposed to be the relatively dry, sunny season. But it was overcast the whole time (except for a few brief hours of hazy sun) and there were frequent rain squalls and lots of rain. Winds were generally south to southeast and strong (15-35 knots) and seas were rough much of the time, with 1 meter - 1.5 meter swells and frequent chop on top of that. Air temperature was about 69-70F during the day. Water temperature in the Tonga area was about 73F, which I think is cold for that time of year. Water temperature around Taveuni Island, Fiji was 77F during the same time. Also while we were in Tonga, we heard reports that Fiji was getting similar rainy and cloudy weather.
Fish life on the Tongan coral reefs seemed fairly sparse, but I never dove there before so I don't know what the norm is. Fijian reefs seemed reasonably lively to me, but much coral damage, probably due to previous cyclones. I heard that there had been a cyclone there recently.--Joseph F. Muratore <MURATORE@BNLAD0.RHIC.BNL.GOV>