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Antoine uses a stick to draw explanations of shark behavior in the sand and to point out the small dark shadows of baby sharks swimming in the shark nursery on the northernmost tip of Ouvea. He says that long ago his ancestors were shark worshipers and considered the sharks to be reincarnations of their ancestors. He takes visitors on a 6 km round trip walk from St. Joseph along the beach to the shallow cut where sharks come to have their young. Along the way - coming and going - he tells the visitors about the traditional use of the local plants and gives a demonstration of fishing techniques. To find out about joining his expedition, see the Ouvea section of the New Caledonia Travel guide.
Here is the official Destination Iles Loyalte website on Ouvea, Loyalty Islands
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Ouvea Atoll is the northernmost of the four Loyalty Islands. The eastern side of the atoll was uplifted millions of years ago so the whole eastern side forms one long narrow coral island with one of the world's most spectacular white sand beaches along the proctected lagoon. Ouvea is a 40 minute flight from Noumea, New Caledonia aboard Air Caledonie's new ATR turboprop planes. There is one 4 star Ouvea hotel - the Paradis d'Ouvea - two "Gites" and 6 "tribal stay" accommodation. There are also two managed campsites. Ouvea is popular with visitors - especially Japanese visitors - primarily because of the breathtaking beauty of the beach, but also because of the clear protected waters and coral reefs that offer great diving, interesting walks and annual festivals to attend. Two distinct cultural groups live on Ouvea, the Polynesian speaking people of the northern villages and the Melanesian speaking people of the southern villages. All of them also speak French and are French citizens because New Caledonia is part of France.
