The diver’s world is full of surprises, and some recent ones concern the possibility of volcanic
eruptions in places long considered low-risk. In Fiji, New Zealand geologist Dr. Shane Cronin
recently announced that the Pacific island of Taveuni, known as the garden island of Fiji, is a
sleeping volcano that’s due to erupt at any time. At 183 square miles, Taveuni is the third
largest of Fiji’s 360 islands, but up till now the island’s topography, which lacks the typical
volcanic “cone” shape, has disguised the volcano hiding below. Taveuni’s last major eruption
was supposedly 300-400 years ago, but Cronin says the island has had regular eruptions about every 60 years and that the
next eruption is overdue. Warning signs could emerge as late as days before an eruption unless a seismograph network is
installed to give residents more notice. Discovery of Taveuni’s volcano is not only bad news for divers; it also could throw a
wrench in the plans of hundreds of international visitors who are expected to travel to Taveuni’s location astride the
International Date Line for millennium parties.
There may also be volcanic threats closer to home. Recent studies of groundwater temperatures on the fringe of
Saba’s dormant Mount Scenery volcano have gone up 50°. The government plans to set up an observatory on St. Maarten
this fall to monitor both Mt. Scenery and St. Eustatius’ Quill Volcano, two of the Caribbean’s 14 known volcanoes, so that
island populations can be given advance notice and have time to evacuate if an eruption is imminent.