FLOATING TO FIJI

THE TRANS-PACIFIC VOYAGE OF IGUANAS

with special guest Dr. Simon Scarpetta, Assistant Professor

Department of Environmental Science

University of San Francisco,

We have a true “creature feature” for October!

How does a land-dwelling, desert-loving lizard end up thriving on far-flung, verdant Pacific islands thousands of miles from home? Against impossible odds, and the immensity of the world’s largest ocean basin, iguanas pulled it off. 

No, this isn’t the plot of a new Pixar film. But it should be! This improbable journey stands as the longest known transoceanic crossing ever accomplished by a terrestrial vertebrate. A survival saga written not by humans, but by nature itself.

Join Dr. Simon Scarpetta, evolutionary biologist, herpetologist, and paleontologist at the University of San Francisco, as he unravels this extraordinary natural history mystery. Blending fossil evidence, genetics, and evolutionary biology, he’ll take us millions of years back to witness iguanas rafting from North America to Fiji—and reveal how scientists know they truly made this voyage.

But this is more than a tale of deep time. Today, Fiji’s iguanas stand on the razor’s edge of survival, facing modern threats of habitat loss and invasive species. Dr. Scarpetta will highlight how these remarkable reptiles, once castaways now endemic to Fiji, depend on urgent conservation. In their story lies a reminder that even in an age of extinctions, resilience endures, and hope is worth fighting for.

“Understanding the history of life on oceanic islands—like the origins of Fiji’s iguanas—shows why we must protect their habitats. Native forests and reefs are the only homes for these iguanas and countless other species, and local conservation is key to their survival."
           —Dr. Simon Scarpetta

Come raise a glass to science, resilience, and one of the greatest ocean voyages you’ve never heard of.

Learn more at: www.oceanhoptimism.org