The swell on the North side of Moorea has dropped to almost nothing. These days of flat, glassy water are very rare here, and allow us to get into some remarkable places. The ‘avas’ or small channels that funnel water off of the reef crest are rarely searchable, as is the reef flat itself. These ‘crash zone’ habitats are home to some of French Polynesia’s endemic species, including a species of Coral Guard Crab, Trapezia globosa, that is found nowhere else. This habitat is among the most likely places to find new species in any coral reef ecosystem due to the extreme inaccessibility.

-Seabird