Marine environment survey : proposed Aleipata Islands National Park, Western Samoa

Abstract

The Aleipata area surveyed includes .the south-eastern coast of Upolu Island, Western Samoa. The survey consisted of general descriptive ecology and morphology for the Aleipata coastal fringing reef and the fringing reefs of the two detached islands, Nu'utele and Nu'ulua. The area behind the coastal fringing reef to the shoreline was a shallow (<4 m deep) area of sand, rubble, seagrass beds and mixed coral assemblages. A shallow reef platform and algal ridge characterised the reef edge. The reef slope was generally low in hard coral cover except for a few areas. Extensive areas of dead, standing coral colonies covered with algae indicate the effects of Crown-of-Thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) outbreaks in the past decades. The reefs around Nu'utele and Nu'ulua and the south-facing coastal reef were consistently higher in coral cover and diversity. The fish populations appeared to be large and diverse and dominated by the herbivores and corallivores.