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Rapa Nui has one of the highest percentages of endemism among shore fishes in Oceania. Rapa Nui, also called Easter Island, is more than 1,200 miles (2,000 km) from the closest inhabited island and almost twice that far from the Chilean mainland. This extreme isolation has helped a large number of endemic species to evolve. Warm, clear waters support reefs and abundant marine animals, which remain among the least well known in the Pacific.
Submerged volcanoes and mineral deposits line the ocean floor here. While scientists are still trying to learn more about this unique marine habitat, they do know that more than 20 percent of the nearly 130 shore fishes in Rapa Nui live only in the waters surrounding the island. Dusky dolphins swim around Rapa Nui. Colonies of seabirds, including masked boobies, gray noddies, and frigate birds, nest on the coastline and dive from the sky for fish. The waters teem with Indo-Pacific fish species such as moray eels and wrasses, among others. A scorpionfish and the scrawled filefish were recently discovered as were a new barnacle and the first sessile barnacle from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent. Two endemic species here are the Easter Island butterfly fish and the narrow-barred butterfly fish. Both Hotumatua’s angelfish and Plessi’s morwong can be found among the coral or rock bottoms here.
The marine habitats here are being harmed by activities on land, including unregulated grazing and the clearing of palm forests for agriculture. New houses and roads divert rainfall and can cause pollution. Hotels, which are built in the national park to support tourism also threaten marine life.
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