Video at end
Niuafo’ou is the northernmost island in the Kingdom of Tonga (also spelled Toga). The island’s name means “many new coconuts.” It is also known as Tin Can Island, especially among stamp collectors, because of the way mail was sent from and delivered to the island until 1947.
A good overview of that practice is given in a pair of videos by Graham at Exploring Stamps, and I’ve got a link in the description (or at the end of the blog post).
According to island folklore, the island originally had a mountain in the middle, rather than a pair of lakes, but the mountain was stolen by Samoan spirits. The fish god didn’t like that, and managed to trick and frighten the spirits so they dropped the mountain before they got to Samoa, and the mountain became the island of Tafahi.
Until 1983 the stamps of Tonga were used for the island, but since then the Kingdom has issued stamps for the island. This happened to coincide with the building of the airstrip, which greatly improved access.
Among those stamps is this set issued March 12, 2012. They were surcharged for the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), also called the World Wildlife Fund. The fund has been working with over 200 postal administrations since 1983 to produce stamps that raise money to protect wildlife.
These stamps were printed using offset lithography, and perforated 14 ½ x 14.
Each stamp presents a different image of the Zebra Shark, Stegostoma fasciatum.
I mentioned this species in the last video on the stamps from Tanzania.
The $3.40 stamp here shows a juvenile shark, which shows the stripes that inspired the zebra name. The banding on the young sharks helps keep them camouflaged on the reef. The shark changes to its adult color pattern when it reached about 30 inches (85 cm).
The adult’s pattern is quite striking, but looks nothing like a zebra. The light background covered with small dark dots is well shown on this $2.40 stamp. The fish is shown resting, which they usually do during the day, because they are nocturnal.
They are one of the few sharks that can rest on the bottom to sleep, because they have the ability to force water over their gills by pumping their mouth. Many sharks are unable to do that, and must swim with their mouth open in order to get water in and out through the gills.
This $2.00 stamp shows a night swimming shark illuminated by the camera lights. They forage for fishes over the reefs and neighboring sandy flats. They frequent waters down to a depth of about 200 feet (62 m).
Zebra Sharks occur around the Indian Ocean, and along the coasts of neighboring areas of the southwester Pacific. In many areas they have become used to divers, and may even allow themselves to be fed or touched.
This is not a good practice, as they remain wild animals and may still bite. Many bites are provoked by divers that touch Zebra Sharks that have not become acclimated. They also may become dependent on humans for food, and if the divers move to another area, they sharks may face starvation.
This 45-cent stamp pictures a Zebra Shark from underneath, clearly showing the flat underside that allows them to rest comfortably on the bottom.
Zebra Sharks are oviparous, meaning they lay eggs. Up to several dozen egg capsules are laid by mature females each year, the capsules attaching to coral or underwater plants.
They are commercially fished, and are considered endangered, and the population seems to be falling.
Nia pronunciation examples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCaNgZAo6p4
Exploring Stamps Tin Can Mail Episode 1: https://youtu.be/ilKCDP2norU
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