Tenararo

Tenararo is located {{convert|6|km|mi|0|abbr=off}} west of Vahanga, the nearest island, {{convert|115|km|mi|abbr=off}} west of the Gambier Islands and {{convert|1,370|km|mi|abbr=off}} southeast of Tahiti. It is a circular atoll with a land area of {{convert|1.6|km2|1|abbr=off}} and a land area of {{convert|2|km2|1|abbr=off}}. The atoll has a landing place on its NW side between the small boulders which encumber the reef. There is no entrance to the lagoon.

The first recorded sighting of this atoll was made during the Spanish expedition of the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernández de Quirós on 5 February 1606 under the name Las Cuatro Coronadas (the "four crowned" (by coconut palms)),Brand, Donald D. The Pacific Basin: A History of its Geographical Explorations The American Geographical Society, New York, 1967, p.136.Kelly, Celsus, O.F.M. La Australia del Espiritu Santo. The Journal of Fray Martín de Munilla O.F.M. and other documents relating to the Voyage of Pedro Fernández de Quirós to the South Sea (1605-1606) and the Franciscan Missionary Plan (1617-1627) Cambridge, 1966, p.39,62. however these observations were not fully documented. As such, the first unambiguous approach to the island was made on 14 March 1828 by the explorer Hugh Cuming in his ship the Discoverer captained by Samuel Grimwood. The next visit was in 1833 by navigator Thomas Ebrill on his merchant vessel Amphitrite and again in 1837 by Lord Edward Russell, commander of the H.M.S Actaeon, the name given to the group.Pacific Island: Eastern-Pacific - Geographical handbook series, James Wightman Davidson and Naval Intelligence Division, editions Naval Intelligence Division, 1945, p.224. It was previously owned by a man named Captain Nicholas but was redeemed in 1934.Archaeology of Mangareva and neighboring atolls by Kenneth Pike Emory, editions Kraus, 1971, p.58-60.

In the nineteenth century, Tenararo became a French territory, with a population of about 20 Aboriginal people in 1850.Notices sur les colonies françaises, Étienne Avalle, éditions Challamel aîné, Paris, 1866, p.642 [https://books.google.com/books?id=5n4ZmLlXQM8C&pg=PA642 Google Books]

The atoll is an important habitat for many endangered species. Species such as the Polynesian ground dove (of which there are less than 120 remaining in the wild), atoll fruit dove, Tuamotu sandpiper, bristle-thighed curlew and Murphy's petrel live on the island.{{cite book|last=Dahl|first=prepared by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Commission on National Parks and Protected Areas; in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme; based on the work of Arthur Lyon|title=Review of the protected areas system in Oceania|year=1986|publisher=IUCN|location=Gland, Switzerland|isbn=9782880325091|edition=Sept. 1986.|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/reviewofprotecte0000unse}} The atoll is free of introduced mammalian predators, making it an essential conservational habitat.

{{Portal|Islands}}

• Matureivavao
• Tenarunga
• Vahanga
• Acteon Group
• Desert island
• List of islands

{{reflist}}

• Sailing Directions, Pub 126, "Pacific Islands" NIMA 2002; page-12

• [http://www.pacific-image.pf/pages/boutic/dboutic_cdrom_sp132.html Atoll list (in French)]

{{Tuamotus}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Atolls of the Tuamotus

Category:Islands of the Gambier Islands

Category:Uninhabited islands of French Polynesia