Here is a third page of photos from Suwarrow brought to you courtesy of our good friends Scott and Mary Malone on Whisper. We spent all of our time hanging out with the crew of Whisper and some days they had a camera when we didn't so we swapped some of our favourite shots. All of the photos on this page are shown here with their permission.

Suwarrow, also known as Suvarov is an isolated atoll located between the Northern and Southern Cook Islands. The atoll is a National Park belonging to the Cook Islands. The only way to visit this little slice of paradise is to arrive in your own boat. There is a Park caretaker and his family resident there for five months of the year. They live a very simple life and welcomed us into their home and their lives for an unforgettable experience.

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The highlight of an event-filled stay in Suwarrow was finding a 51 foot long dead sperm whale on the reef! The next day, the boys went back to retrieve part of the jaw for John, the park caretaker. He plans to donate it to a museum in Rarotonga when he returns there at the end of the season. Hopefully there's nothing left but bones at that point as it was a pretty smelly project at the time.

Daydream at anchor as seen from the top of Whisper's mast.

Love these coconut crabs which look like a large combination of crab and lobster wearing tie-dye colours. I also like to borrow a term from Stephen King and call them lobstrosities.

The Samuela kids from the island and Timothy from Whisper show that you have to be fast when you catch a fish here or the sharks will take a big bite.

The nesting sea birds on the reef islands have no natural predators and rarely see humans. As a result, they show no fear of us.

It's really hard to believe that we became used to (if not totally comfortable) with the large number of sharks that populate the area. Scott took these photos from the top of his mast where you can spot our friendly black tip reef sharks that patrolled amongst the boats hoping for fish scraps. Both Wayne and Scott actually landed on top of an unsuspecting shark when jumping over the side of the boat. In both cases, the shark was outta there in an instant. Check out the fascinating optical illusion caused by the waves on the surface.

More Suwarrow Photos!

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