National Park of American Samoa

For those fortunate enough to make the trek to the far side of the world to visit the National Park of American Samoa, one animal you can look for is the Spinner dolphin, also known locally as mumua.

If the recent winter months have you wishing for some time on an island in the South Pacific, here's a unique approach: the Home Stay Program at National Park of American Samoa lets you sample some beautiful scenery while living like a local in a Samoan village setting.

The still life of the beach was like many others – rocks and shells, flotsam and jetsam. But the view! I had just emerged from a tree-shaded walk and stood on a rocky beach with waves crashing in not 20 feet away. In every direction I could see ocean, or tree covered hills, and what I couldn’t see was any sign of man. This was part of the National Park of American Samoa.

While it's perhaps easier to monitor natural resources rooted in the earth in the national parks of the Pacific Islands, that doesn't mean those below the ocean's surface get ignored. This short video looks at some of those resources and explains how National Park Service researchers keep track of their health.

For a quick primer on issues confronting birds on the national parks in the Pacific Ocean, take five-and-a-half minutes to watch this video.

Getting to Hawaii and the national parks that dot the Pacific Ocean is no easy task. But you can get some great information and virtually visit the parks by following the National Parks of the Pacific Islands' website.

Some good news out of the South Pacific today. The tsunami wave train that smacked the National Park of American Samoa last month didn't damage park artifacts as much as first thought. And that's largely because of the park staff's efforts to rescue the items from the waters that inundated park headquarters.

Large chapters of Samoan history were washed away when a tsunami wave train inundated the headquarters of the National Park of American Samoa in Pago Pago on September 29.

A series of tsunami waves triggered by an earthquake in the South Pacific slammed into the U.S. territory of American Samoa shortly before 7 a.m. Wednesday, local time, killing nearly three dozen islanders and reportedly demolishing the headquarters and visitor center of the National Park of American Samoa.

If you mention whale watching, many people immediately think of prime coastal locations in Alaska, California or New England, but probably not the South Pacific. Biologists at the only U. S. national park south of the equator recently noted the birth of an endangered humpback whale.

Solitude. Who doesn’t treasure some from time to time? And some of the greatest draws of national parks is their peacefulness and the ability for you to pass through an entrance gate and escape the pressures of day-to-day life. Where can you find some of the best solitude in the National Park System? Read on for some of the Traveler’s top picks for solitude.

A tiny clutch of islands in the South Pacific harbors not only the National Park of American Samoa, one of the National Park System’s oft-overlooked delights, but also some of the last vestiges of the many-Colored Fruit Dove, a colorful bird that long has captivated those lucky enough to spy it.