Midway Atoll Photos
I am posting some of the many photos taken on Midway in the past 4 days. We have been engaged in three areas: albatross conservation, Hawaiian monk seal counts and marine debris cleanup. See what you think.
Tracy getting up close to ID a monk seal on West Beach. Most monk seals are tagged but they use body scars as a second way to track the animals.
Duke team removing a trawl net off the beach. This one took 5 people to carry out to the recycling center.
Juvenile monk seal with ID K26 on its back. NOAA scientist use Clairol hair bleach to mark the seals. This animal has been bitten by a shark – see the tooth incision marks on its side below the K26.
Dragging a large rope to the recycling center. Midway receives over 20 tons of marine debris a year. 8 tons wash up on the beach. An additional 8.6 tons are fishing gear and nets that wash onto the coral reefs surrounding the Atoll and a whopping 4.5 tons of plastic are brought to the Atoll by the Albatross.
Being 1200 miles from Honolulu means all food arrives on a barge 4 times a year except for fresh vegetables which are grown in a hydroponic garden. The garden produces 200 lbs a week that are consumed by the 70 residents on the island.
Finally, Midway Atoll was a major navy base during WWII and the scene of the turning point in the war. After shelling the island on December 7, 1941, the Japanese returned in June 1942 to subdue the island. In a battle lasting 3 days, the US sank 3 Japanese carriers and inflicted heavy damage on the fourth. The PBY (long range float planes) hangar is still standing on Midway and still bears the scars of that battle. Since the war ended and the Navy left Midway in the late 1980s, the struggle to return the island to its former natural state has been ongoing. The albatross population is thriving, the monk seals declining and the endangered Laysan duck has made a remarkable recovery. Human intervention in a natrual ecosystem seems justified given Midway’s historic role in the history of the US.
I will try to talk more about a few more topics this coming week: longlining, human intervention to protect endangered species and the role of innovation in conservation projects. Peace.
