Student Report: The Best School Trip Ever
Written by Pulau Students
Pulau School students and teacher went on the best school trip ever from June 12th to June 17th, 2022. They travelled to Oeno, Henderson and Ducie Islands aboard the MV Silver Supporter. This was a chance to be citizen scientists and learn about the environment and wildlife on these remote islands. But that wasn’t all; they also got to take their first steps onto their islands. This adventure was a great follow up to their research project on the Pitcairn Islands MPA for World Ocean Day. The students have always had a strong passion for the environment so it was a great opportunity to visit these extraordinary places.
These citizen scientists undertook bird and rubbish surveys at each of the islands. On Henderson Island they got to see what would happen if an invasive animal gets to an isolated island by seeing how the Pacific rats have affected the bird populations. It was devastating seeing the rubbish that has washed onto these remote islands. This made them more aware of the need to look after their surroundings.
Their teacher Iona commented, “The opportunity to be involved in hands-on, authentic learning about their wider home environment and contributing valuable data for scientific research will hopefully impact their roles as future custodians of the Pitcairn Islands MPA and also as potential scientists.”
The students have come back to Pitcairn Island buzzing with enthusiasm about their Outer Islands. They are now able to connect the stories about the islands that their parents and grandparents have told them. Read on to find out more about this adventurous trip!
OENO ISLAND
From Pitcairn Island to Oeno takes one night. As we were going to land on Oeno we saw it was wonderful. The lagoon was bluey green. The yellowy white sand looked like manioca. We reached the island. We took off our shoes and put our feet in the sand. In some areas the sand felt soft, but some was hard. The hard sand was coral that was broken down and compacted.
We could see coconut trees and they looked like they were alive. The leaning coconut trees were whispering together. If you listened to them very closely you could hear, swisher, swisher. The green miki-miki bush thorns were pricking us on our arms. When we went through the bush you had to watch out because they would grab your hair and hurt you. We could smell the vegetable smell from the cabbage trees.
Shawn, our guide, took us to the anchor and the chain. They were near the edge of the reef about 100 metres out. When we were going out to the chain in the boat, we could see it. It looks like a rock. Shawn anchored the boat and we all got out and stood on it. It was hard to stand on it at first. The chain was all woven and there were some bits taller and some were small. We then went to the anchor. It was close to the chain and it was hard to walk on so I just stood on the coral. The anchor looked like it was sleeping in the water. It came from the Bowden which was wrecked there.
Shortly after we went and swam in the lagoon and looked at the coral and the fish. We saw some cod. When Charlene jumped in, she thought it was shallow but she went straight into the water and DID NOT touch the bottom. The swim was so wonderful because we knew that we were swimming with the fish.
Later we went around the west. We saw a turtle nest where they had their young. The turtles come up onto the beach right up to where the bush is. They dig a hole.
When we were going round the island you could see the birds flying everywhere. I was excited that Oeno had a lot of birds, but the birds were annoying because they were making screaming noises. They kept on going and going and sounded like they were screaming out loud. Some of them were calling to tell us to get out of their territory. When we went through the bush with Dad we saw different kinds of birds like Murphy's Petrels, Frigates, Masked Boobies. They were making screaming noises. We could see an egg in its nest. We saw a Masked Booby and our three hearts were bumping, because we saw some baby birds. They were white, black, brown, and grey. Some had red feet. They were calling out because we were near them.
Three boats carried us all to Sandy Island. It was big and long and it was full of shells. I saw some shells that looked like a mouth and I think they are called wanna-wanna. Some were spiral shapes. When I went and picked some shells for Mum it made my heart so happy.
In the coconut trees we saw the camp that the Pitcairn Islanders had made. There is a trail that leads to the camp through the miki-miki trees They built the camp in 2009 to
live in while they were on Oeno. There were two camps. I could see a cupboard and a table and a white container. When you walk through the camp it was like the two ends were up and the middle was down and you had to duck to get under the roof.
As we packed up, I was sad because I knew that we had to leave the beautiful island. That island was my heart. I hope that the island never changes. The turquoise lagoon was beautiful and the ship in the background. The colours of the water and the sun, sky, and the boat made me so happy. I hope that one day I will go again to see my majestic Oeno.
Henderson Island
When I first saw Henderson, my jaw dropped. The size of the island takes your breath away. Did you know that Henderson is six times bigger than Pitcairn?
As I came closer and closer to Henderson a shiver ran down my spine. The water was really shallow and I didn’t want anyone to get hurt. Once we had crossed the passage safe from hitting the coral, I let out a sigh of relief. We jumped out of the boat and waded through the water till we reached land.
Once on the beach we began to push our way through the maze of coconut trees to find some unique birds. Charlene suddenly said, “Look, it’s a Stephen’s Lorikeet!” We all oohed and aahed at the rainbowed coloured bird up in a coconut tree, nibbling at the seeds, as it watched us.
We kept on creeping through bushes until we came to the clearing where Paul and Sue had made their camp in 2015. They had been researching the rats on the island. The trees were wrapped around each other, rays of sunlight seeping between the branches. It looked so dazzling in the morning light.
Charlene led us to a bush called Miki-miki. The Miki-miki is kind of sharp and its leaves smell divine. As we crouched through it, we saw that a Masked Booby was in our way.
It was white except for its black wings and mask shape around its eyes and light-yellow beak. We carefully tiptoed around it. We saw its featherless baby crawling out from under its mother. It looked like a plucked chicken. I thought it was ugly. Randy drove into the lagoon ready to pick everyone up. We were going to go to West Beach. Finally, we landed on the west side of the island. I saw a crab scuttling up a big rock. It stared at me with fear so I let it be. All of a sudden, I heard the loud squawks of a Stephen's Lorikeet as it flew past my head. Its beautiful rainbow- coloured feathers lighting up the dull sky. I made a ‘Hooooo’ sound at it. Pual had told us they would answer. He was right. I got an instant reply.
I followed Charlene and Iona as they headed into the trees. I spotted a small fluffy brown animal running away on all four legs. A RAT! It tumbled over a coconut and disappeared. “That was a cute rat!” I said. Then I burst out laughing - I was just joking.
We tramped further up into the trees. I saw a butterfly. Its jet-black body gleamed in the afternoon sun. I watched as the butterfly fluttered into the distance.
I strode along the beach with Cushana at my side. I saw some beautiful brown Angelfish. Cushana whispered to me, “Isabel, they are kind of creepy.” I nodded my agreement. We noticed the Angelfish were following us again. “Creepy.” Cushana muttered under her breath. I looked at her then bounded up the beach to get away from them. While travelling back to the mothership, Randy said to us, “We’ll see if we can get to the east beach in two days' time.” We all nodded hopefully. Two days later, we were headed to East Beach. “There are no passages here so you will have to sit down inside the boat,” Randy warned. Just then, we heard the boat scrape across the coral.
We all jumped out with a splash. I gave a shiver as the cold water hit against my leg. It was devastating to see how much rubbish there was. It was sad to think that lots of animals may think it was food and eat it. It was hard to think that all of that plastic on the beaches came from us humans. We citizen scientists had an important mission to see how much rubbish there was and pick some up.
After picking up rubbish, Colin, Kim, and I began to trudge down the beach looking for the skeleton cave in the steep cliff. The skeleton cave has five small coffins in it. At last, we found it. We knew it was the right one because it had a sign that said, “Please respect the gravesite.” We waited for Shawn to arrive, then we all climbed up to the cave. It smelt very musty. It must have rained, I thought. The cave wasn’t very deep. Two of the boxes were covered in stones. The other three weren’t. I felt a shiver run up my back. As we were leaving, I spotted a grey bird. It was a Murphy’s Petrel. It was creepy because on Pitcairn we call it a Ghostbird. On Pitcairn, Ghostbirds are known to squawk when someone is going to die. As soon as I touched the sand I relaxed. “That was scary,” I thought.
When we were with the rest of the group, we all went swimming. It was fun. We would wait for a big wave then dive into it. The cool water was really relaxing. “It’s nearly time to start heading back.” Shawn yawned. We all sighed.
Watching Henderson fade into the distance, I felt sad. I had such a good time there. It was the first time I have been to Henderson. I loved all the birds and fish that lived there. I would love, love, love to go again.
The Pulau School students would like to thank HMG Government for approving this trip. Many thanks to the MV Silver Supporter Master and crew for helping us travel to our destinations. Thank you to the boat crews for making sure we got safely in and out of the passages to the islands. Thank you to the parents and helpers for landing with us and assisting us with our science tasks.
A very grateful thank you goes out to our teacher Iona for coming up with the idea and for the passion and determination to make the trip to Oeno, Henderson and Ducie happen for us.
We are very thankful to you all for supporting us on the best school trip ever and making it as fun as possible! We learnt many new things and we will never forget it.