Most pumice clasts became waterlogged and sank to the sea floor, while some flocks have stranded in the Tonga islands, on the northern shores of New Zealand, and eventually on the eastern coast of Australia one year after the eruption.

[6] The same group of researchers mapped the distribution of the floating pumice blocks driven by wind, ocean currents and eddies.

[7] Scientists were not aware that any eruption had occurred until a huge pumice raft was sighted and photographed at 14:40 NZST on 31 July 2012 by Maggie de Grauw while on a commercial flight from Faleolo, Samoa to Auckland, New Zealand.

Bryan then contacted Olivier Hyvernaud from the Laboratoire de Géophysique, Tahiti, who confirmed the location from Terra/MODIS imagery from NASA.

The raft was subsequently sighted by members of the New Zealand Defence Force on 9 August 2012[11]—several weeks after the eruption had occurred.