Rapid assessment surveys were conducted during a 21-day marine biological expedition to the Phoenix Islands, Republic of Kiribati, from 29 June to 11 July 2000.This study includes new data on the biological diversity and abundance of the region and research and management recommendations. We conducted surveys and over 300 research SCUBA dives among the remote Phoenix Islands: Nikumaroro (Gardner), McKean, Manra (Sydney), Kanton (Aba-Riringa), Enderbury, Orona (Hull) and Rawaki (Phoenix), only excluding Birnie Island due to time limitations.

Corals, benthic and mobile invertebrates, fishes, algae, sea turtles, sea birds, and marine mammals were surveyed at each site. Deep-sea life was sampled during seven deployments of an autonomous digital video camera system to 1,000 m depth at Kanton, Manra, and Orona. Coral reef and fish communities were surveyed using rapid assessment methods, small benthic fishes were collected using rotenone as a stunning agent, marine algae were collected by hand primarily during SCUBA dives, and a deep-drop collecting net was deployed to sample deep-sea animals.

The reefs show evidence of the extreme isolation of these islands, pounded on three sides by the large ocean swells of the Pacific with only a narrow-protected side to the west providing protection for anchorage. Coral species diversity of the islands was moderately high. While lacking in some corals dominant in other major reef areas, the reefs have interesting species assemblages, with prolific growth of some species normally subdominant in other reef areas. The reefs were in an excellent state of health, at the time of these surveys free from the bleaching that has plagued reefs in other parts of the Pacific recently and with no evidence of any coral diseases. Our data include new distribution records for species of algae, coral and fishes.