Vanua Balavu Outer Reef

Vanua Balavu in the northern Lau Group has one of Fiji's most remarkable reef structures — a horseshoe-shaped barrier reef enclosing the Bay of Islands, with the outer wall exposed to the South Pacific swell and nutrient-upwelling from the deep ocean trench to the east. The outer reef crest starts at 3 metres and falls vertically for over 50 metres, the wall face broken by caves and overhangs sheltering large Spanish mackerel and resident potato grouper. Oceanic whitetip sharks cruise the blue water beyond the wall edge during the austral winter and silky sharks are occasionally recorded. The hard coral on the outer crest is unusually robust, resistant to bleaching events that have impacted western Fijian reefs, likely due to the upwelling-cooled water temperatures.