m/s Paul Gauguin

July 5-14, 2017

Rangiroa, Tuamotu Islands, French Polynesia

Rangiroa means extended sky

Of all the Tuamotu Islands, Rangiroa is the most popular,
located only 200 miles northeast of Papeete.  Rangiroa
is a series of islands around a lagoon, making it the
largest atoll in Polynesia and the second largest in the world.
 The island of Tahiti will fit inside its reef. 240 motus sit on this reef.
Marine life includes: sharks, manta rays, jack, surgeon fish, mullet,
pompano, parrot fish, grouper, puffer fish, butterfly fish, trumpet fish, and eels.

A word about porpoises and dolphins

Porpoises, along with whales and dolphins, are descendants of land-living ungulates
(hoofed animals) that first entered the oceans around 50 million years ago.

Dolphins and porpoises are cetaceans — marine mammals — that are closely related to whales.
Dolphins belong to the Delphinidae family and are up to 30 feet long.
Porpoises, belonging to the Phocoenidae family, are smaller and stouter, with other anatomical differences.
Though both animals are very intelligent, dolphins are deemed to be more social and live in larger, more stable groups.

The m/s “Paul Gauguin” is almost always greeted by a school of playful dolphins upon arrival at Rangiroa.