Home Reef volcano forming a new island as its eruptions bring it above sea level. The birth of this new island was photographed from the yacht Maiken on 11th August 2006. The day before, the yacht had encountered huge floating pumice rafts (see images E417/290-292) produced by the eruption. Before this eruption, Home Reef was a submerged volcano. It lies southwest of the Tongan archipelago of Vava'u. The Pacific Ocean is a very active volcanic region, and most of the islands there, such as the Hawaiian islands, were formed by undersea vulcanism. How long Home Reef remains above the waves depends on the duration of the eruption and type of material ejected.