While sailing on his yacht Cookoos' Nest, Captain J. McInnis passed through the edge of a roughly 1-hectare area of small pieces of pumice on 6 April at 1206. He reported some "bubbling" but noted no smells. His location at the time of the sighting was fixed by satellite at 27.58°S, 177.40°E, several hundred kilometers W of the Kermadec volcanic trend. Previous pumice rafts in the area have drifted generally toward the W. Water depths in the area of the sighting are in excess of 4,000 m. Seismic records in New Zealand (roughly 1,400 km from the site) showed no earthquakes associated with the activity, and nothing was reported by the observer on Raoul Island (in the Kermadecs and about 460 km from the site).

Geological Summary. Reports of floating pumice from an unknown source, hydroacoustic signals, or possible eruption plumes seen in satellite imagery.

Information Contacts: I. Everingham, Mineral Resources Dept., Fiji; W. Smith, DSIR, Wellington.