Manuae is an uninhabited atoll in the southern group of the Cook Islands 100 kilometres south-east of Aitutaki. It comprises two horseshoe-shaped islets, Manuae to the west and Te Au O Tu to the east, with a total area of 6 square kilometres on either side of a lagoon about 7 km x 4 km. Highest point on the island is 5 metres above sea level. Manuae is a true atoll sitting on the peak of a submerged volcano which descends 4000 metres to the ocean bed. The lagoon is shallow and subject to large shifting sand banks. An Atoll is a type of low, coral island found in tropical oceans and consisting of a coral-algal reef usually surrounding an interior body of water called a lagoon or peninsula. ... Aerial view of Aitutaki Aitutaki, traditionally known as Araura, is one of the Cook Islands, north of Rarotonga. ...

An aerial view of Manuae. North is approximately on the top of the image.

The island is a marine park and is an important breeding ground for seabirds and marine turtles in the Central Pacific. The offshore waters of Manuae are good fishing grounds. The research vessel Bounty Bay carries visitors from Rarotonga to Manuae as part of its Pacific Expeditions venture and specialises in diving, eco-tourism and filming. Rarotonga Island from space, September 1994 A picture taken in Rarotonga. ...

Captain James Cook sighted Manuae on September 23 1773, the first of the Cook Islands he voyaged to. Initially he named it Sandwich Island but changed it to Hervey Island in honor of Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol, then a Lord of the Admiralty when he decided instead give the name of "Sandwich Islands" to the Hawaiian Islands. This name was later corrupted to Hervey's Island, or Hervey's Isle, and later applied to the entire southern group, as the Hervey Islands. This name remained popular until 1824 when the islands were renamed the Cook Islands by the Russian cartographer von Krusenstern, in honor of Capt. Cook who had died in 1779. Captain James Cook may refer to: James Cook - British explorer, navigator, and map maker Captain James Cook (TV miniseries) - 1987 Australian television miniseries This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ... Augustus John Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol (19 May 1724 – 23 December 1779) was a British admiral and politician. ... The office of Lord High Admiral had been created in about 1400 to oversee the Royal Navy. ... Map of the Hawaiian Islands, a chain of islands that stretches 2,400 km in a northwesterly direction from the southern tip of the Island of Hawai‘i. ... Ivan Kruzenstern Adam Johann Ritter von (knight of) Krusenstern (born November 19, 1770 in Hagudi, close to Rapla, in the Russian province of Estonia, died August 24, 1846 in Reval, now Tallinn, Estonia) was the Baltic German admiral and explorer in Russian Service who in 1803-1806 led the first...

Norwegian author Erlend Loe writes humorously about an expedition to Manuae in his 1999 novel "L". Erlend Loe (born May 24, 1969 in Trondheim) is a Norwegian novelist. ...

External links

• Manuae web page
• Manuae information and pictures