Vailulu'u Seamount

The underwater Vailulu'u Seamount, discovered by Chief Scientist Stan Hart, was formerly called Fa’afafine seamount.

An article ‘Voyage to Vailulu'u’, describes how Hart named it Fa’afafine, as meaning “a wolf in sheep’s clothing”, because ‘the size of the volcano was a surprise and wasn’t at all what it appeared to be’.

Hart associated the word ‘Fa‘afafine’ with deceit; a common misconception perpetuated over the centuries through early accounts of Western explorers, missionaries, and merchants.

The Fa‘afafine volcano was later given a new name Vailulu'u, meaning ‘sacred rain that supposedly fell with every gathering of the last king of Sāmoa, which came as a result of a naming competition among high school students in American Sāmoa in 2000.