Sharks? Heck yea man. Inside the lagoon you would spearfish around white and black tips anywhere form 4ft to 8ft. Once you got used to it they were not really a big deal and would be driven most times with a poke of your spear or a slap of the hand. Unless you were chumming up the water with fish or octopus mess, then they may get excited and you would do best to move out and find a new coral head to work. The outside of the reef was a different story.

Here be monsters! This was where the tigers patrolled and these things were 10, 12 , and sometimes 15 ft. You have to remember that this was an area of the world that was not heavily fished and abundant with food supplies for all of the predatory species. The Wahoo/Ohno, Yellow-fin and Mahi were enormous and it was not uncommon to catch 6 to 8 ft Wahoo, 5 to 7 ft Mahi, and Yellow-fin that weighed hundreds of pounds. And the buffet was open for the tigers. When you worked the reef wall it was a two man job. One person working the lobsters and the other facing the abyss for incoming waves that could shove you into the coral shredder and the tigers that could rip you up. These things would show up out of the blue, no pun intended, and you would either hide in the coral or get out of water all together. If you were not paying attention you would get a bump that felt like a car grazed you. That was them checking you out, I cant tell you about the second time because I never let that happen. Some dudes dove the wall but I cant tell you what they may have encountered because I never did. We just spear-fished and lobestered there.

If the reef had a name I do not recall it. And surfing was a no no. Officially is was not allowed due to the health hazard it posed. You have to realize that the waves, as awesome as they were came to an abrupt stop into what amounts to razor-blades. You would get chewed up when you just dragged a thigh or forearm over the coral. Hitting it at 20 of 30 mph would be a bad day indeed. There was an area of the wall that had a small break in it down on the what I think would be the southeastern end and I did boat watch one time while a few guys surfed it one morning but it was effin scary too watch. These dudes were lifetime surfers and knew what they were doing. You see the break was only about 100 yards wide. And there was no room for error. You either hit the break and followed the end of the wave into the deep lagoon or, well, use your imagination. Like I said, these dudes were pros and they each went one time and that was it. I was freaked out just looking at them. It was way cool!

The fall and winter season were the big wave months and if memory serves this was when I watched that event. As far as chemicals go... There were some areas that you didn't fish or swim. I'll leave it at that. However if you were there, and not a retard, you enjoyed the water in many ways. For those that would not get in it there were boats you could sail, fish from, or just go out for a ride. All in all it was the best water I have ever been in.

You need to Google Johnston Atoll or Johnston Island. You will get plenty of hits with pics. Check out these sites also:
http://www.johnstonmemories.com/end.html
http://www.johnstonmemories.com/
http://home.earthlink.net/~markinthepacific/index.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/91546814@N00/sets/72157600379608491/

Hope I painted a good picture for you, it was a site to see and experience.

Email