Journeys
The expeditions, reassembled
Every dated label is a diary entry. Read a collector’s labels in order and the voyage comes back: the islands in sequence, the days at each, the specimens from every stop. 15 journeys so far, 1930 to 2004, 18,570 specimens between them.
11 collectors and expeditions559 days in the field97,089 km between stops14,883 photographed specimens
15 journeys match



Donald Anderson
34 islands · Apr – Oct 1934
Donald Anderson across 34 islands, April – October 19348,872 specimens · 35 stops · 202 days · 16,221 km



Clarence H. Cooke Jr.
26 islands · Apr – Oct 1934
Clarence H. Cooke Jr. across 26 islands, April – October 19343,369 specimens · 39 stops · 184 days · 14,736 km
F. Raymond Fosberg
32 islands · Apr – Oct 1934
F. Raymond Fosberg across 32 islands, April – October 19342,503 specimens · 85 stops · 201 days · 23,387 km

Martin L. Grant
8 islands of French Polynesia · Nov 1930 – Feb 1931
Martin L. Grant across 8 islands of French Polynesia, November 1930 – February 1931822 specimens · 31 stops · 90 days · 1,081 km
F. Raymond Fosberg
6 islands · May – Jul 1982
F. Raymond Fosberg across 6 islands, May – July 1982691 specimens · 46 stops · 88 days · 10,015 km
W.R. Sykes
5 islands · Apr – Jul 1992
W.R. Sykes across 5 islands, April – July 1992414 specimens · 16 stops · 75 days · 4,191 km
Steven L. Montgomery
9 islands of French Polynesia · Jul – Oct 1988
Steven L. Montgomery across 9 islands of French Polynesia, July – October 1988277 specimens · 18 stops · 73 days · 10,669 km
Betsy H. Gagne
7 islands of French Polynesia · Jul – Sep 1988
Betsy H. Gagne across 7 islands of French Polynesia, July – September 1988267 specimens · 15 stops · 68 days · 10,816 km
Jacques Florence
5 islands of French Polynesia · May – Jul 1990
Jacques Florence across 5 islands of French Polynesia, May – July 1990302 specimens · 8 stops · 60 days · 929 km
Jacques Florence
5 islands of French Polynesia · Mar – May 1992
Jacques Florence across 5 islands of French Polynesia, March – May 1992227 specimens · 6 stops · 49 days · 2,824 km
M.-H Sachet
5 islands of French Polynesia · Jun – Jul 1982
M.-H Sachet across 5 islands of French Polynesia, June – July 1982169 specimens · 12 stops · 28 days · 297 km
Jacques Florence
3 islands of French Polynesia · Oct – Nov 1992
Jacques Florence in Huahine, Tahaa and Raivavae, October – November 1992256 specimens · 2 stops · 8 days · 54 km
R. Tahuaitu
3 islands of French Polynesia · Oct – Nov 1992
R. Tahuaitu in Huahine, Tahaa and Tahiti, October – November 1992238 specimens · 2 stops · 8 days · 54 km
A. Mouly
5 islands of French Polynesia · Jun – Jul 2004
A. Mouly across 5 islands of French Polynesia, June – July 200460 specimens · 17 stops · 37 days · 1,785 km
Jacques Florence
Tahaa and Raiatea · 13–22 Sep 1983
Jacques Florence in Tahaa and Raiatea, 13–22 September 1983103 specimens · 4 stops · 10 days · 30 km
How a journey is found
Every specimen with a full date and a known collector is a diary entry. The days are read in order; a gap of more than three weeks ends one journey and starts the next. Days spent where a collector lived most of their life are home, not travel, and are left out.
A journey needs at least five days, forty specimens and two places. Within it, a run of days spent within about ten kilometres is one stop; the stop’s point is the middle of the labels that carry coordinates, or the island’s centre when none do.
Companions are the people whose own labels put them in the same place on the same days. Staff can name a journey, write about it and feature it; everything else here is read straight off the specimens, and is rebuilt as the records improve.
