Thousands of years ago, the island began as a living coral reef jutting up from the sea floor. As great quantities of water began to freeze into glaciers at the earth’s poles, the sea level dropped, exposing the top of the reef and forming an island composed of fossilized coral rock.

As time passed, storm tides and waves left seaweed, driftwood and other organic debris stranded on the bare rock. This material began decaying, forming small pockets of soil in depressions in the coral rock. Then came a few seeds from other tropical islands Ð some floating on the sea or carried by the winds, while others came in the digestive tracts of migrating birds. Here, the seeds sprouted and began to grow, drop leaves, produce flowers and seeds, mature, die and decay. With the passing of each generation, a complex and diverse tropical hammock colonized the remains of this ancient coral reef.