THE GHOST FLEET OF BIKINI LAGOON
THE LAGOON IS AS BEAUTIFUL AS MICRONESIA GETS, A GIANT WHITE-SAND ATOLL SURROUNDED BY A WIDE RING OF SHALLOW TURQUOISE WATER. THE DEEPER BLUE OF THE LAGOON IS SO SATURATED THAT IT TILTS TOWARD PURPLE, AND IS FULL OF MARINE LIFE. SURROUNDED BY THIS PARADISE, IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE THE DEVASTATION THAT TOOK PLACE HERE MORE THAN 70 YEARS AGO. ONE HAS TO REMIND ONESELF THAT BIKINI ATOLL REMAINS MILDLY POLLUTED BY RADIATION AND IS NOT CONSIDERED SAFE FOR HUMAN HABITATION.
While we gear up, the welcome committee circles the boat: two young tiger sharks. The lagoon is a big nursery for sharks, its shallows brimming with juvenile white- and blacktips. In the coming days, we will see sharks on every wreck — gray reef, whitetips and several silvertips come to inspect the rare visitors. The Marshall Islands is the world’s biggest shark sanctuary, established in 2011 with a total ban on shark fishing. Ironically, in a place synonymous with utter destruction,
