Ever since man first began setting out for new lands by small boats heading over unknown horizons, he’s been searching for among other things, paradise. And paradise in the Tuamotus, a small archipelago in the Pacific about 200 miles northeast of Tahiti, means coconuts, digging clams, spear fishing and camping on the beach with the surf lulling to sleep.

But paradise today is not without its concerns. The biggest worry here is global warming. The 78 atolls that make up the two Tuamotus are just thin coral reefs, at their highest they are 10 feet above sea level.

As the average temperature of the oceans climb, estimates are that many of these living, breathing, still growing reefs and the lagoons they protect will very likely disappear in the next 50 to 100 years as the seas rise.

Frank Murphy is a University of California of Berkeley-trained marine biologist.

“It struck me the other day when my children arrived at Tahiti and saw that for the first time, that actually in their life time, this could disappear, and it’s pretty amazing.”

Fishing is a primary source of both food and cash. Doriat will take a dozen big My-Mys from his plywood boat which will sail on the island of Fakarava. Gathering and drying the white meat of coconut known as copra is the chain’s biggest business. A 100-pound sack sells for 38 dollars. A hard working family will produce 100 sacks a month.

In the past 20 years, a new economy has boomed in Tuamotus – black pearls. Pamala and Valda are 22 and have their own pearl growing business on a tiny spit of sand in the middle of a lagoon at Tuwao. They have thousands of oysters drowned just below the surface. Valda takes daily care of the boxes of the oysters, making sure they are close tightly to protect them from their natural predators. Pamala works 8 hours a day, seeding as many as 400 oysters a day. Once planted below the surface, each oyster will nurture a pearl for a year and a half.

Outsiders come looking for paradise and leave with many questions.

Is it ideal here?

Certainly.

Is it paradise?

As close as you can come, a tropical dream comes true.

Yet it is clear these tiny spits of land at the midst of a giant sea of blue paradise are at some risk. These westerners are happy to have seen a glimpse of paradise since it may soon change forever.

New Words and Phrases

horizon
the line or circle that forms the apparent boundary between earth and sky.

Tuamotus

archipelago
a large group or chain of islands,a large group or chain of islands

Tahiti
the principal island of the Society Islands, in the S Pacific

spear-fishing
to fish underwater using a spearlike implement used manually or propelled mechanically

lull
to put to sleep or rest by soothing means,to give or lead to feel a false sense of safety; cause to be less alert, aware, or watchful.