Christmas Island - More Pacific Goodness!

Today Silver Shadow arrived at  and anchored off Christmas Island or Kiritimati, just 2 degrees north of the equator and part of the Republic of Kiribati.  Like Fanning Island yesterday, it is a coral atoll in the Pacific and at 150 square miles has the largest land area of any coral atoll in the world.

Sadly, I guess due to the remoteness of these islands, they were subject to nuclear tests back in the 1950s and 60s by the United Kingdom and United States and locals, as well as servicemen are said to have suffered from exposure to the radiation in the blasts.

Thankfully, nowadays the island is a wildlife sanctuary.  A much better use of such a beautiful location!