Vatulele is a raised coral limestone island that lies to the south of Fiji's main island of Viti Levu. It is known for prawns known as
ura-buta (cooked prawns) or
uradamudamu (red prawn). The islanders treat the prawns with great respect, consider them sacred and are forbidden to kill or harm them in any way. Legend records that anyone who tries to take them away will suffer a shipwreck. The prawns live in
anchialine habitats - pools some distance away from the sea but which still maintain tidal influence. Most of the pools are brackish due to interactions between the lens of freshwater under the island and the tidal influence. Linked with these anchialine pools is a network of caves and passages. Vatulele has many makers of
tapa cloth (
masi). The
masi comes from the bark of the paper mulberry tree, and all over the island there are small clearings in the forest which have been planted with this tree. There are
petroglyphs on Vatulele dated at 3000 years old. They were painted using dye made from
haematite, and subjects include human figures, turtles, and abstract symbols. == References ==