50 Fun Facts About National Park of American Samoa

Of the park's 8,257 acres, roughly how many are coral reef and ocean?

The park is spread across three islands: Tutuila, Ofu and Taʻū.

What geographical distinction does the park hold within the US National Park Service?

It protects coral reefs, rainforest, fruit bats and Samoan culture.

The 1984 bill starting American Samoa's path into the park system chiefly protected which animal's habitat?

Delegate Fofō Sunia introduced it at the request of the Bat Preservers Association and Dr Paul Cox.

Why could the National Park Service not simply buy the park after it was authorised in 1988?

The solution, in 1993, was a 50-year lease from the village councils.

How long is the lease the National Park Service signed with the Samoan village councils in 1993?

Congress approved a 30 percent expansion onto Olosega and Ofu in 2002.

The September 2009 tsunami destroyed which park facilities?

Thirty-four people died in American Samoa, but only one NPS staff member or volunteer was injured.

What was the moment magnitude of the 29 September 2009 earthquake that generated the tsunami?

Two magnitude-7.8 quakes followed within two minutes, making it a doublet and the largest earthquake of 2009.

The Tutuila unit of the park lies near which town, the territory's capital?

It is the only part of the park reachable by car and draws the vast majority of visitors.

The Mount Alava Adventure Trail on Tutuila is known for featuring how many ladders?

It also has 783 steps; the summit is 1,610 feet and a broadcast station was built there in 1964.

Before its closure, how could visitors reach the Mount Alava viewpoint without hiking?

The tramway ran more than a mile from the village of Utulei; the mountain is part of the caldera rim of the Pago Volcano.

The Tutuila unit's gun emplacements at Breakers and Blunts Points date from which conflict?

The ridge trail runs through dense forest above slopes that fall steeply to the ocean.

Pola Island, the basalt sea stack off Vatia that is part of the park, is also known by what English name?

Lonely Planet called it 'the most beautiful natural feature of Tutuila Island'; at least eight seabird species nest there.

According to legend, Pola Island and the nearby rocks are the petrified remains of what?

The couple were both named Pola and the daughter Faleofia; they had sailed west from Manuʻa hoping to reach Upolu.

The Vaiʻava Strait, separating Pola Island from Tutuila, holds what unique status?

The landmark covers 250 acres.

Old Vatia, a prehistoric village inside the park, was occupied between roughly which years?

It was rediscovered in 1963 by archaeologist William Kikuchi and listed on the National Register in 2006.

What does the village name Vatia mean?

The modern coastal village grew after London Missionary Society arrivals from 1830 pulled settlement down from the ridges.

The Ofu unit, the park's smallest, consists of Sunuitao Peak and a beach roughly how long?

Just 70 acres of land and 400 acres of water, yet many visitors call it the most beautiful of the three units.

How wide is the Āsaga Strait that separates Ofu from its twin island Olosega?

People waded across at low tide until a single-lane bridge was built in 1970.

Archaeological work at the Toʻaga site on Ofu suggests the island has been inhabited for about how long?

Red-slipped plainware ceramics in the Lapita tradition were found by a team including Patrick Vinton Kirch.

What does the name Olosega mean in Samoan?

Olosega is the smallest of the Manuʻa Islands and can be reached from Ofu on foot at low tide.

Which French explorer named Samoa the Navigator Islands in 1768 in admiration of local canoe skills?

Roggeveen had reached the Manuʻa group in 1722; Lapérouse was the first European known to land in Samoa, in 1787.

The Taʻū unit includes Lata Mountain, which is what?

The summit trail became overgrown and impassable without machete work.

The collapse of Taʻū's shield volcano produced sea cliffs on its north side rising more than how high?

They are among the highest such escarpments in the world.

Which anthropologist did her 1920s dissertation research on Taʻū, published as 'Coming of Age in Samoa'?

She was 23 and concluded that Samoan adolescence lacked the turmoil seen in the United States.

The sacred site of Saua on Taʻū, inside the park, is traditionally considered what?

Taʻū was the seat of the Tui Manuʻa paramount chieftaincy that once ruled all three Manuʻa Islands.

What did the Tui Manuʻa refuse to do when Commander Tilley came ashore on Taʻū in March 1900?

He acknowledged US sovereignty in general terms and accepted protection but insisted Manuʻa could govern itself.

The Laufuti Falls in the park's Taʻū unit drop roughly how far?

They lie a few kilometres southwest of Saua.

The only native mammals in the park are how many species of bat?

Two are large fruit bats and one, the Pacific sheath-tailed bat, a small insectivore nearly wiped out by Cyclone Val in 1991.

Unusually for a fruit bat, when is the Samoa flying fox mainly active?

It forages in early morning and late afternoon, roosts alone or in small family groups, and is believed to be monogamous.

Commercial export of the Samoa flying fox as a luxury food ended when it was listed under what in 1990?

The IUCN now lists it as Near Threatened; the Samoan word for the bat, peʻa, is also the name of the traditional male tattoo.

The 2020 America the Beautiful quarter for the park shows what on its reverse?

Richard Masters of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh designed the bats; the coin was released in February 2020.

Which reptile introduced by Polynesian settlers survives in American Samoa only on Taʻū?

The Brahminy blind snake, a modern arrival, is found only on Tutuila, as is the cane toad, the islands' only amphibian.

The only amphibian known on the islands, found on Tutuila, is what?

It is a modern introduction, like cats, black and brown rats and house mice.

Which bird species is endemic to the archipelago?

About 30 percent of the plants are endemic too, though overall terrestrial diversity is low because of the islands' isolation.

The waters around the park hold more than 950 species of fish and over how many coral species?

Some of the world's largest living Porites coral colonies grow off Taʻū.

The Samoan islands were built by shield volcanoes over a hot spot on which tectonic plate?

They emerged sequentially from west to east, so Tutuila is the oldest of the park islands and Taʻū the youngest.

What is the summit crater of Vailuluʻu seamount, at the Samoa hotspot, nicknamed for its inhabitants?

Its floor, starved of oxygen, is called the 'moat of death'; the Nafanua cone inside the crater formed in 2004.

The name Vailuluʻu, chosen in a student competition in 2000, refers to what?

The seamount was found in 1975 and was earlier called Rockne Volcano; eruptions were recorded in 1973.

A slump of Taʻū's Liu Bench escarpment could send a tsunami toward which islands?

Evidence of past submarine and surface landslides is found across the islands.

The Amalau Valley in the Tutuila unit is prized for what?

Local Samoans regard the two flying fox species as protective guardians of the forest and its people.

The park's Tutuila unit covers roughly what share of the island?

It stretches along the north coast between the villages of Fagasa and Afono.

What do scientists expect for the park's underwater habitat by mid-century if CO2 keeps rising?

Rising temperatures, acidification and sea-level rise are the main stresses.

Which delegate introduced the 1984 bill that started American Samoa's entry into the park system?

He acted at the request of the Bat Preservers Association and Dr. Paul Cox.

In 2002 Congress approved a thirty percent expansion of the park on which islands?

The park had been established on October 31, 1988, but could not buy land because of the communal land system.

How high is Mount Alava, which separates the Tutuila unit of the park?

The Tutuila unit covers 2,500 acres of land and 1,200 acres of offshore water and is the only part reachable by car.

Which small insect-eating bat was nearly eliminated from the islands by Cyclone Val in 1991?

It may have become locally extinct afterwards, leaving the two large fruit bats as the island's native mammals.

Tutuila, the largest and oldest island, probably dates from which geological epoch?

It formed roughly 1.24 to 1.4 million years ago, while the smaller islands are most likely Holocene in age.

A submarine eruption was detected just east of American Samoa in which year?

The Samoa hotspot remains active, building the Vailuluʻu Seamount east of Taʻū into a future island.

Across how many islands is the National Park of American Samoa distributed?

The units lie on Tutuila, Ofu and Taʻū, protecting coral reefs, rainforest, fruit bats and Samoan culture.

Roughly what fraction of Taʻū Island lies inside the national park?

The Taʻū unit is the largest and wildest of the three, with 3,700 acres of land.