Cyclone Garry was a Near Miss

We had another near miss with a cyclone this weekend. While the rest of the U.S. was celebrating MLK Day and the President's second inauguration, Cyclone Garry swept north of our island. The big concern was if the storm was going to turn south. The storm kept its easterly course and we never got more than a drizzle and some light breezes, despite warnings of 70mph winds and flooding. Next it looks like Cyclone Garry is off to the Cook Islands.

A Win for Sanctuaries in AmSam

Too often in law, the results of your court victories don't come to much, a paper judgment that will never get paid, a dismissal that bounces around on appeal for years or motions that the judge sits on until they forget about it. So for once it's nice to see a postive, actual result for one of my cases. Back in December 2011, I had to defend the America Samoa Government's ability to revoke the clearance of a fishing boat accused of pollution violations in an injunction hearing. Maybe all the news outlets didn't get my name right, but it was a nice win in a preliminary injunction hearing on only a few days notice.

Jump ahead a year, and now ASG is looking to receive half-a-million dollars for its Nation Marine Sanctuaries Foundation from the criminal conviction of that pollution case. So there's a few years of funding for the Marine Sanctuaries of American Samoa that I had a small hand in securing. Yay!

Ofu Coral

A little follow up on our July trip to Ofu. The coral reefs of Ofu were recently the subject of a study on coral bleaching, specifically how the coral there has avoided coral bleaching, despite the high water temperature.

We were able to enjoy the snorkelling there without appreciating the unique biochemistry that keeps it lush, but still pretty cool to learn.