Tepuka is an island eighteen kilometers west of Fongafale, in the northwest of Funafuti,[1] the main atoll of the Oceanian nation of Tuvalu. Te puka, or Pouka, is the name of a tree - Hernandia peltata.[2]
Map of Funafuti with Tepuka on the top left
There is a well-preserved underground bunker on the island, which was an American communications outpost built during the Pacific War, which was connected to the military airfield on Fongafale.[3][4]
The island lies between the smaller islet of Tepuka Vili Vili in the southwest, the smaller islet of Te Afualiku in the northeast, the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Funafuti lagoon called Te Namo on the east. In recent years the island has been majorly eroded. Te Ava Tepuka and Te Avua Sari are two neighbouring passages through Funafuti atoll in the northeast, between the islets of Te Afualiku to the northeast and Tepuka to the southwest.[5]
Tepuka is to the north of the Funafuti Conservation Area, which encompasses 33 square kilometers (12.74 square miles) of reef, lagoon and six motu (islets) to the south of Tepuku: Tepuka Vili Vili, (also called Tepuka Savilivili); Fualopa; Fuafatu; Vasafua; Fuagea (also called Fuakea) and Tefala.
Lepidodactylus tepukapili is a species of gecko, which has been located on Tepuka and on Fuagea (also called Fuakea).[6][7]
^Lal, Andrick. South Pacific Sea Level & Climate Monitoring Project - Funafuti atoll(PDF). SPC Applied Geoscience and Technology Division (SOPAC Division of SPC). p. 57. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-02-03.
^Hedley, Charles (1896). General account of the Atoll of Funafuti(PDF). Australian Museum Memoir 3(2): 1–72. pp. 17, 31–32.
^Telavi, Melei (1983). "Chapter 18 - War". In Laracy, Hugh (ed.). Tuvalu: A History. Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific and Government of Tuvalu. p. 142.
^"Funafuti". Tuvaluislands.com. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
^George R. Zug; Dick Watling; Tataua Alefaio; Semese Alefaio & Claudia Ludescher (2003). "A new gecko (Reptilia: Squamata: Genus Lepidodactylus) from Tuvalu, South-central Pacific" (PDF). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 116 (1): 38–46. S2CID 38959270. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-04.
^"Lepidodactylus tepukapili Zug, Watling, Alefaio, Alefaio & Ludescher" (PDF). polynesian diversity. 12 February 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
Tepuka is an island eighteen kilometers west of Fongafale, in the northwest of Funafuti, the main atoll of the Oceanian nation of Tuvalu. Te puka, or Pouka...
Tepuka Vili Vili or Tepuka Savilivili is an islet of Funafuti, Tuvalu. Tepuka Vili Vili is part of the Funafuti Conservation Area, established in 1996...
in order from north to south, with their estimated areas in hectares: Tepuka Vilivili, 3 Fualopa, 2 Fuafatu, 0.2 Vasafua, 0.5 Fuakea, 1.5 Tefala, 1 There...
language) are included in the Funafuti Conservation Area: Tepuka Vili Vili, (also called Tepuka Savilivili); Fualopa; Fuafatu; Vasafua; Fuagea (also called...
winds and also whether a cyclone coincides with high tides. Funafuti's Tepuka Vili Vili islet was devastated by Cyclone Meli in 1979, with all its vegetation...
Today they call that new tapere, "Tepuka". The new village of Nikao has three new tapere (Panama, Atupa and Tepuka). Black Rock (Tuoro) is also located...
included an airstrip, control tower and facilities, with a radio station at Tepuka, connected by cable to the airfield. The base headquarters buildings were...
the Funafuti atoll of the western rim, south of Te Ava Tepuka Vili, between the islets of Tepuka Vili Vili to the north and Fualopa immediately south....
Fuakea) and on Tepuka. Lepidodactylus tepukapili's naming is based upon the Tuvaluan language words for "small lizard" and the island of Tepuka, where specimens...
to Funafuti during the 1972–73 South Pacific cyclone season. Funafuti's Tepuka Vili Vili islet was devastated by Cyclone Meli in 1979, with all its vegetation...
Islands. It lies on the south-eastern edge of the atoll, between Atutahi and Tepuka. Liu Chuang; Shi Ruixiang; Chen Lijun (January 2019). "Penrhyn Atoll". Institute...
islet of Funafuti, Tuvalu. It is the smallest island of Tuvalu. Te Ava Tepuka and Te Avua Sari are two neighbouring passages through Funafuti atoll in...
cyclone-resistant design would be about A$84,000 (US$63,000). The whole of Tepuka Savilivili was left uninhabitable, as coconut trees and other vegetation...
cyclones can strip the low-lying islands of their vegetation and soil. Tepuka Vili Vili islet of Funafuti atoll was devastated by Cyclone Meli in 1979...
tepukapili is a species of gecko, which has been located on Fuagea and on Tepuka. Admiralty Nautical Chart 2983 Tuvalu - Funafuti atoll. United Kingdom Hydrographic...
highest coral cover estimates were recorded on reef slopes off the islets of Tepuka (58%), Fualefeke (35%) and Fuafatu (34%).The coral cover on the reefs at...
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