First palolo rising predicted for 16 October
This year’s initial palolo rising is predicted to take place on Sunday, 16 October with some resorts in Savai’i already in high gear to welcome the highly coveted ocean delicacy with a festival.
The predicted date is based on traditional knowledge that says the first rising of the palolo occurs seven days after October’s full moon.
Next month’s full moon is on 10 October (which is White Sunday in Samoa) so it puts the rising on Sunday, 16 October and Monday, 17 October, a weather expert at the Samoa Meteorological Service told EyeSpy Radio.
“From the night of the full moon in October and November, you count seven days so you check the palolo on the sixth and seventh days,” the weather expert explained.
“The full moon for October is on the tenth of October…so it’s either the sixteenth of the seventeenth of October.”
The second rising is predicted to take place on Tuesday, 15 November and Wednesday, 16 November.
“In November the full moon will be on the ninth…so the rising will be on the fifteenth or the sixteenth,” the expert said.
“So it’s the sixteenth and seventeenth for October and the fifteenth and sixteenth for November.”
A week of rain can be expected to precede the palolo rising “as usual,” he added.
“That is palolo weather. It’s rainy the whole week during the full moon and during those seven days,” said the weather official.
“Counting the seven days, that is traditional knowledge that we apply here at the Met Service.”
The Samoa Meteorological Service will publicise their predictions at a later date.
The Savai’i Samoa Tourism Association has announced the Savai’i Palolo Fest that runs for the entire month of October (1-31 October) according to a digital flyer published by the association.
Ten resorts and beach fale accommodations are participating in the fest that offers four-night stays for the price of three nights.
Participating resorts are: Amoa Resort, Bayview Accommodations, Lauiula Beach Fales, Le Lagoto Resort and Spa, Kukis by the Harbour, Savai’i Lagoon Resort, Stevenson’s at Manase, Seeti Beach Fales, Tailua Beach Fales and Vaimoana Seaside Lodge.
Additional activities for the annual Palolo Fest include parades and competitions, a spokesperson for the Savai’i Samoa Tourism Association told EyeSpy on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, an Inshore Fisheries team that monitors palolo and palolo-related activities under the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (M.A.F.) is currently in Savai’i where the palolo is bountiful.
The team was unavailable for comment on Wednesday, according to a M.A.F. official.
More than $222,000 worth of palolo was sold in 2019, according to a M.A.F. report.
The Inshore Section compiles a Palolo Rising Report each year.
In 2019 year, an estimated 1,127 kilograms of the delicacy was sold.
Bundles or ofu palolo were sold at $50 or $60 per bundle.
Four litre plastic barrels were sold for about $1,650.
Last year, four litre buckets were going for $1,200 each, according to media reports.
Vaisala, Asau and Satupaitea, all villages in Savai’i are known for having an abundance of palolo.
Kealoha Faumuina Ah Wong, a traveller from Hawai’i who arrived in Samoa on 8 September, excitedly refers to the palolo delicacy as the “caviar of the Pacific.”
He departs Samoa on 23 September and regrets that he will miss the 2022 palolo rising.
“As it is a by-product of a reproductive process, the taste is so pure,” Mr. Ah Wong told EyeSpy.
“It’s yummy. It’s the true taste of Samoa. It’s the caviar of the Pacific.”
Palolo season 2021.
Photo: Peace Corps Samoa/Facebook