4. New results from Ahe atoll
Ahe Atoll was selected by a European Fund for Development
project for its major position in the hierarchy of pearl and spat producers.
Ahe atoll is located in the North-western part of the Tuamotu
Archipelago, 500 km North-East of Tahiti. Its lagoon covers
145 km2 with a mean depth close to 40 m and a maximum depth
of around 70 m. One active pass is located in the western part of
the lagoon and several reef-flat spillways (hoa, less than 50 cm
depth) are distributed along the reef rim, mainly in the south
and west part sectors (Dumas et al., 2012). The overall aperture
is low, and Ahe can be defined as a semi-closed atoll.