SakshiMaking History
It was something unbelievable! The crew dropped their anchor and their eyes fixated at the very sight. In a matter of moment, that had become one of those rare people who witnessed nature doing miracles. All their fear and suspicion faded away. Now their mind had been occupied by the sight they were beholding. Initially, they could not tell what was that but soon they realized they were witnessing “history in making”.
Smoky Stuff
Fransson stated, “It was kind of a smoldering, smoky stuff. It looked like coal, and when there was an eruption, we could see the new material piling up on it.” Fransson along with his crew noticed that something very giant had come up on the surface of the water.
A Strange Sight Still
Clearly, something had popped up above the surface of the sea. With that came another mystery that they needed to solve. Nothing about the new formation was clear. The crew had to rack their brain to figure out what was that. Finally, after a while, the truth dawned upon them.
Land Ahoy!!
It was an island. The crew had actually witnessed the birth of an island. It was an astounding moment for each of them. Nature has its own way of amazing people and this was one of them. They looked at each other and then turned towards the unbelievable sight to confirm.
Higher And Higher
Since there are two active volcanoes south of Late island, adjacent to Metis shoal and Home reef, Fransson’s chart displayed an underwater seamount close to Home Reef from where the smoke was originating and he realized that that pillar was nothing but a 240-foot-tall volcano that was growing from the sea floor towards its surface- they were witnessing the birth of an island.
What To Do?
Larrson explained in his blog, “Since we didn’t know which one had erupted, the extent of the eruption and it was getting dark the we decided to anchor in Vaiutukakau bay outside Vava’u for the night. The sky darkened fast from rain clouds over Vava’u and we sailed leaving the stone sea onto darkness towards a perfect rainbow ahead, like a big welcoming arcade. It was completely dark when we anchored close to land at 25 meters depth. In the morning we woke to birds song. Lot of birds nesting on the steep hillside next to us. After checking the motor and boat we set out again. We decided to go south of Metis reef to go clear of the stony debris. Just after leaving Vaiutukakau bay we encountered three whales, probably two males and a female, playing in front of us. They circled around the boat only meters away for a while, seemingly interested of Maiken, before swimming away.”