Acteon Group


The Acteon Group is a rather isolated and uninhabited subgroup in the far southeast of the Tuamotu atoll group in French Polynesia. It is located about east-southeast of Tahiti at latitude: 21° 17' 60 S, longitude: 136° 29' W.

Atolls

The Acteon Group includes four atolls of relatively small size:
None of the islands on these atolls have permanent inhabitants.

History

The first recorded European to sight the Acteon Group was Pedro Fernández de Quirós on 5 February 1605. He described the group as "four atolls crowned by coconut palms". On the different texts describing his voyage by other members of this Spanish expedition they were charted as "Las Cuatro Coronadas", "Las Cuatro Hermanas", "Las Virgenes" or "Las Anegadas".
The rediscovery of Acteon Group is generally credited to Thomas Ebrill, captain of the Tahitian trading vessel Amphitrite, who discovered these islands in 1833. However, they were sighted by Hugh Cuming on his ship Discoverer, Captain Samuel Grimwood, on 14 March 1828 .
They were named four years later by Lord Edward Russell – commander of – after his vessel.
In 1983 these atolls were struck by a cyclone.

Administration

Administratively the four atolls of the Acteon group belong to the commune of Gambier.