Another two nights and a day brought us to Chesterfield Reef, yet another uninhabited large atoll in the middle of the Coral Sea, belonging to New Caledonia. The Coral Sea is full of such reefs, treacherous to navigate without reliable charts and GPS. We anchored in the shelter of an island in 20 feet of crystal clear aquamarine water on a wide sand shelf studded with coral heads, in front of yet another bird rookery, this time with lots of boobies, noisy brown terns (I think) and frigate birds. At first we thought the terns were blue, then realized their white underbodies were reflecting the color of the water. The lagoon and surrounding ocean must teem with fish to support such big seabird colonies. It's nice to know there are areas of the world where the marine life is thriving undisturbed.

As soon as the anchor was down we launched the dinghy and went ashore to take advantage of low tide, Burger's last chance to find lobster before we reach Australia. While I waited on the beach, he waded waist deep across the shallow lagoon on the windward side of the islan!d, since that's where the lobsters can usually be found. "Shark!" I shouted as I saw three black-tipped fins fast approaching him, but we both then saw that they were just little ones, evidently curious to see the intruder. They then swam away, frolicking and splashing playfully with each other.

While I waited I started walking up the beach to look for shells, but didn't get far before huge flocks of birds took flight and soared and circled around me, clearly displeased with my presence. With thoughts of the movie "The Birds" in mind, I beat a quick retreat back to the dinghy, amazed that I made it without being hit with droppings. When Burger returned we returned to the boat and went snorkeling.

Alas, no lobster to be found. Burger wanted to return at night with a flashlight, since they're easier to find after dark, but my protests were strong enough to dissuade him. Exciting as it is to have the whole place to ourselves, hundreds of miles from anywhere, it's also a wee bit creepy.