Rose Atoll

The earliest Western sighting was June 13, 1722, during the voyage of Jacob Roggeveen, who called it Vuil Eiland "useless island."Augustin Kraemer. Samoa Islands. Vol.2, Pg.5. The name Rose Island comes from its sighting by Louis de Freycinet in 1819. He named it after his wife Rose. While the second woman to circumnavigate the globe, Rose de Freycinet was the first to tell her tale.{{cite web |url=http://202.14.152.30/collections/maritime/march/treasures/uranie/rose_etc.html |title=Rose_etc |access-date=2010-10-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110704075059/http://202.14.152.30/collections/maritime/march/treasures/uranie/rose_etc.html |archive-date=2011-07-04 }} In his official report Louis de Freycinet records that 'I named Rose Island, from the name of someone who is extremely dear to me'.Rivière, M.S., 1996, A Woman of Courage: The journal of Rose de Freycinet on her voyage around the world 1817–1820. National Library of Australia. Canberra: xxi Soon afterwards, in 1824, it was seen by the expedition under Otto von Kotzebue, who named it Kordinkov after his First Lieutenant.

Apollo 10 returned to Earth in the ocean near Rose Atoll on May 26, 1969. The three astronauts were treated to a lavish welcome at Pago Pago International Airport before being flown to Hawai’i.Sunia, Fofō Iosefa Fiti (2001). Puputoa: Host of Heroes - A record of the history makers in the First Century of American Samoa, 1900-2000. Suva, Fiji: Oceania Printers. Page 138. ISBN 9829036022.

The island was protected as the Rose Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in 1973 with {{convert|39,066|acre|sqmi sqnmi km2|2}}, only {{convert|20|acre|ha}} of which is emergent. The wildlife refuge is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.{{Cite web |title=Rose Atoll National Wildlife Refuge {{!}} About Us {{!}} U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |url=https://www.fws.gov/refuge/rose-atoll/about-us |access-date=2024-10-03 |website=www.fws.gov |language=en-us}}

Rose Atoll Marine National Monument is a United States National Monument covering {{convert|8,571,633|acre|sqmi sqnmi km2|2}}. It was established in 2009.[https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/pacific-islands/habitat-conservation/rose-atoll-marine-national-monument] At the signing of the order establishing the monument, President George W. Bush noted that "the waters surrounding the atoll are the home of many rare species, including giant clams and reef sharks—as well as an unusual abundance of rose-colored corals".{{cite web |date=6 January 2009 |title=Bush Conserves Vast Areas of Pacific Ocean as Monuments |url=http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2009/2009-01-06-02.html |access-date=24 November 2010 |work=Environment News Service International Daily Newswire |publisher=ENS}} The monument's marine areas were incorporated into the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa in 2014; they are co-managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, a component of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

File:Pink coralline algae Rose Atoll.PNG at Rose Atoll.]]

Rose Atoll contains the largest populations of giant clams, nesting seabirds and rare reef fish in all of American Samoa. The fish population is different from the rest of the region due to a high concentration of carnivorous fish and low concentration of herbivorous fish. Almost 270 different species of fish have been recorded in the last 15 years. Tuna, mahi-mahi, billfish, barracuda and sharks reside outside the lagoon. In deeper waters, tunicates and stalked crinoids have been spotted by scuba expeditions. Sea mammals such as the endangered humpback whale and the dolphin genus Stenella also use the waters.{{cite web| title = US Fish & Wildlife Rose Atoll Marine National Monument| url = http://www.fws.gov/roseatollmarinemonument/|date= August 25, 2009| access-date = August 25, 2009}}

The atoll is a critical nesting habitat for the threatened green turtle and the endangered hawksbill turtle. The turtles migrate between American Samoa and other Pacific island nations. Their nesting season is between the months of August and February.

It is a nesting site for rare species of petrels, shearwaters, and terns. Approximately 97% of American Samoa's seabird population resides on Rose Atoll. Each of the 12 bird species is federally protected. Red-footed boobies and greater and lesser frigate birds nest in the buka trees. Black noddies and white terns nest in the middle and lower branches. The root system is used by reef herons and red-tailed tropic birds. Other birds can be found in the Pisonia forest, the only one left in Samoa.{{cite web| title = US Fish & Wildlife Service Rose Atoll Wildlife and Habitat| url = http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/WildHabitat.cfm?ID=12514|date= August 25, 2009

| access-date = August 25, 2009}} The atoll has been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports a breeding population of some 400,000 sooty terns, as estimated in 1974.{{cite web |url=http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/rose-atoll-iba-american-samoa|title= Rose Atoll|author= |date=2021|website= BirdLife Data Zone|publisher= BirdLife International|access-date= 14 February 2021}}

{{Portal|Islands}}

• Rose Island Concrete Monument
• List of national monuments of the United States

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.fws.gov/refuge/rose_atoll_marine_national_monument/ Rose Atoll Marine National Monument] – FWS
• [https://www.fws.gov/refuge/rose_atoll/ Rose Atoll National Wildlife Refuge]
• [https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/pacific-islands/habitat-conservation/rose-atoll-marine-national-monument Rose Atoll Marine National Monument] – NOAA Fisheries
• [http://www.fws.gov/roseatoll/RoseAtoll%20Planning%20Update%201.pdf Rose Atoll National Wildlife Refuge Planning Update]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20121026073139/https://www.latimes.com/media/acrobat/2009-01/44374653.pdf Copy of official map] of National Monument designation (PDF)
• [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2009/01/20090106-7.html White House Press Release on Monument Designation]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060913085754/http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/duffy/ARB/028-30/029.pdf A Summary of Information on Rose Atoll (Atoll Research Bulletin #29)]

{{American Samoa}}{{Protected Areas of American Samoa|uncollapsed}}{{National Monuments of the United States}}{{National Wildlife Refuges of the United States}}{{Authority control}}

Category:Uninhabited islands of American Samoa

Category:Atolls of American Samoa

Category:Important Bird Areas of American Samoa

Category:Important Bird Areas of the Samoan Islands