Tutuila

Tutuila is the largest and the main island of American Samoa in the archipelago of Samoan Islands. It is the third largest island in the Samoan Islands chain of the Central Pacific located roughly 4000km northeast of Brisbane, Australia and over 1200km northeast of Fiji. It contains a large, natural harbor, Pago Pago Harbor, where Pago Pago, the capital of American Samoa is situated. Pago Pago International Airport is also located on Tutuila island. Its land expanse is about 68% of the total land area of American Samoa and with 56,000 people accounts for 95% of its population. The island has six terrestrial and three marine ecosystems.The mountainous regions (highest point at 653m) of the island, its beaches, coral reefs, World War II relics, and the sporting activities such as scuba diving, snorkeling and hiking activities make it attractive to tourists.LegendA popular island legend is that, upon the issuance of a particular call, a shark and a turtle will appear. The underlying story is that, in order to escape the pangs of starvation, a blind old lady and her granddaughter jumped off a cliff in the island of Vaitogi, into the roiling ocean below. According to this legend, they were reborn as a shark (old lady) and a turtle (young girl). In support of this legend, the villagers utter a particular chant by which the shark and the turtle promptly make an appearance.