8. PIG ISLET (7.21 ha) (Figs. 29,44; Pis. 27,41,52,60,61) 



Number 5 down the chain. Pig was named prior to 1883. 

 Domestic pigs were introduced to Caroline in 1 828 by Captain 

 Stavers but evidently died out before 1834. Reintroduced in 

 1848 with the first recorded settlers, it is not known how long 

 they lasted. One would expect that they were only on South 

 Island, but the statement that "about one-third the distance up 

 the lagoon a canvas hut exists on one of the smaller islets on the 

 eastern side of the lagoon" (Holden & Qualtrough, 1884) 

 suggests that perhaps domestic animals also inhabited Pig. 

 Though this is weak evidence, there must have been some 

 reason for this curious name. Today, fortunately, no pig 

 devastation is evident here or elsewhere on the atoll. 



Physiography : Pig, shaped like a fat kidney bean, is 

 330 m long and 255 m across. It is separated from North Pig 

 by a channel 60 m wide. 



Vegetation : The islet has 1 1 plant species (4 trees, 1 shrub, 

 6 herbs), 4 1 % of Caroline' s flora. Cocos, the only introduction, 

 is rare (0.03 ha). In 1920, 538 palms were planted (Young, 

 ca. 1922), which covered approximately 79% of Pig's usable 

 area (Table 13). 



Pig's vegetation profile (Fig. 45) is classic: a wide, 

 windward herb mat, bordered by Tournefortia and Cordia, 

 which, in turn, grades rapidly into an outstanding Pisonia 

 forest (to 21 m tall, 3.36 ha), one of Caroline's best groves. 

 Measurements from five trees, mostly multiple-trunked, 

 averaged 16 m in height, 338 cm in circumference (at 1.5 m), 

 and 282 cm in base circumference (Table 12). This Pisonia 

 also occupies the largest proportion (46%) of any islet area. It 

 is striking that such quality forests could regenerate in about 

 65 years (see section on Plant Communities, Pisonia Forests). 

 In the Cordia forest (PI. 27), also the finest on Caroline, six 

 trees averaged 12.6 m in height, 1 16 cm in circumference (at 

 1.5 m), and 99.8 cm around their bases. On the lee side of Pig, 

 Tournefortia extends directly to the lagoon shore. 



Birds : Five species of seabirds bred: red-footed booby 

 (14 pairs), great frigatebird (118 pairs), brown noddy 

 (82 pairs), black noddy (1,928 pairs), and white tern (164 

 pairs). 



Comments : Rats and coconut crabs were common. In 

 1 990 agrayish gecko (possibly mourning gecko, Lepidodactylus 

 lugubris) was seen by A. Garnett. 



9. SKULL ISLET (0.02 ha) (Figs. 27,44; Pis. 46,49) 



Sixth in the windward chain, we named Skull Islet after 

 finding the skull, tail feather, and eggshell of a red-tailed 

 tropicbird, the first evidence that this species bred on the atoll. 

 A low shelf of coral rubble and sand, barely above high tide 

 mark, this motu is barren except for a small herb mat under five 

 Tournefortia bushes ( 1 m high) on the lagoon side. Only 2% 

 of the surface area is vegetated. There are three plant species 

 (one shrub, two herbs), 1 1% of the atoll's flora. Although 

 appearing young, the islet must be more than 100 years old, as 

 it is marked on Arundel' s chart (Fig. 4). After February 1990, 

 several large reef fragments had washed into the channel close 

 to Skull Islet. 



In 1988 there were no birds. However, in March 1990, a 

 colony of 150 brown noddies was in a prelaying phase, 

 accompanied by 6 sooty terns, a brown booby and a wandering 

 tattler. 



70. NORTH BROTHERS ISLET (1.71 ha) (Figs. 29.44: PI. 60) 



The seventh windward motu, we named this islet North 

 Brothers because of its location directly north of the named 

 motu, Brothers. 



Physiography : North Brothers is shaped like an oval that 

 curves lagoonward toward Brothers, 40 m away. The concave 

 shorelines and lack of herb mats on the opposite shorelines of 

 these 2 islets suggest that they might have been 

 formerly connected. Composed primarily of rubbly substrates, 

 with slightly better soils centrally, it is 95 m long and 250 m 

 wide. 



Vegetation : Plant species number 10 (3 trees, 1 shrub, 

 6 herbs), 37% of Caroline's flora. A few Cocos trees are 

 present, remains of the 180 planted in 1920 (Young, ca. 1922), 

 which covered 100% of all available land on the islet 

 (Table 13). Plant communities on North Brothers are simple: 

 Tournefortia (more open in the west) rises to an excellent 

 Pisonia forest, 80 m wide and 18 m tall, on the east end. 

 Average measurements from three Pisonia trees were height 

 18 m, base circumference 314 cm, and number of trunks, 2.3 

 (Table 12). 



Birds : Five species of seabirds bred on the islet in 1988 

 (pairs): red-footed booby (25), great frigatebird (9), brown 

 noddy (23), black noddy (40, plus hundreds of old nests), and 

 white tern (69). In September 1989, sooty terns nested on the 

 windward beach (Anne Falconer, personal communication), 

 and in May 1990, a prebreeding swirl of thousands of sooty 

 terns swarmed above Brothers and North Brothers. 



Comments : Gecko eggs were seen on Pisonia trunks in 

 1990. 



77. BROTHERS ISLET (4.31 ha) (Figs. 29.44.46: Pis. 30.60) 



The eighth windward motu. Brothers Islet was named last 

 century after Captain Brothers, who managed a stock-raising 

 venture on Caroline. In 1 873, his rights to the atoll passed into 

 the hands of John Arundel. 



Physiography : Shaped like a molar tooth, with roots 

 extending toward the lagoon, Brothers Islet lies about two- 

 thirds of the way down Caroline's windward reef. It is 198 m 

 long x 178 m wide through the center. A Tridacna reef extends 

 westward from it almost completely across the lagoon. 



An interesting aspect of Brothers' structure is that Arundel's 

 chart (Fig. 4) indicates a tiny, separate motu off the southwest 

 point. Our survey and the 1985 aerial photos show that this 

 motu is now joined to Brothers Islet. Its former identity is 

 marked by a small patch of Tournefortia, around which the 

 recently deposited sand and rubble is sparsely dotted with 

 native herbs. 



Vegetation : There are 1 1 plant species (4 trees, 2 shrubs, 

 5 herbs), 41% of Caroline's flora. Cocos, along the leeward 

 shore, is the only introduced plant. Three distinct plant 



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