Midway on Wednesday

Up early to try to catch the fog, and peeking albatross heads, with no luck, but a pleasant day all around.

Wayne and I started out on our rental bicycles and pedaled back to the War Memorial and the docks. The sheer number of albatross on this island is amazing.  The memorial itself is kept remarkably clean of goony poop, with twice daily hosings  We were up early enough and on our bikes so that the initial cleaning hadn’t been done here yet.  We came back a little bit before the group met up, transferred over our photos to our MacBooks, charged up our iPhones (we are only using them for the GPS tracks to add into our photos), and checked email.  Surprisingly, we are getting connectivity for free; however, the lines are via satellite, so slow and expensive for the Fish and Wildlife operation.

After that, the group went up to the water collection tanks (there are three to support the island, in addition to the natural aquifer) to see a man made lake for the highly endangered Laysan ducks -- there were 7 ducks, but we had to stay 100 feet away.  We may get lucky in the next night or two, though, as there appears to be a mating pair that sleeps near Midway House, which is literally a stone’s throw away from Charlie Barracks. Then we went up to Frigate Point, where we saw nesting frigate birds and brown albatross doing mating dancing, getting great photos and videos. Then our cart limos took us up to the West Beach entry path, where there was a munitions bunker and hundreds of albatross with a beautiful white sand beach.  The goonies there looked to be the healthiest on the island, likely because the foliage is most like the original native habitat, not overtaken by imported plants and pests. After our lunch, we headed back to the pier to spend the afternoon snorkeling in the COLDEST water I have ever felt.  Lots of turtles, jacks, goat fish, a few eels (can I go anywhere without finding those?) and other critters to look up.  Nice, but cold.  At the end, we saw about 15 turtles on Turtle Beach, and took photos.

Our lecture was on the Hawaiian Monk Seal, also endangered. Like the albatross, the monk seals come here for mating and giving birth. The female, typically quite larger than the male, climbs out of water to give birth to her offspring and to nurse it.  The pregnant female monk seal can weigh up to 800 pounds (compared to an adult male at 350), and the majority of the extra weight is to wean the pup.  Once weaned, the pup is left on its own as the mother gets ready to go back into estrus (constant pregnancy, yuk). If the pup survives into adulthood, there is the possibility of him/her living for over 50 years, and they keep returning to their birth island annually.  Unfortunately, the “weanies” seem to be dying off here at 2-3 years of age, apparently starving to death. There is a 5% population decrease annually up here due to tiger sharks and human disturbances (fishing line, floating nets(, hopefully countered by growth on the main islands. There is a school of thought, though, that thinks they will be extinct in the next 50-60 years.  :( This was followed by a presentation from a divemaster from Jack’s Diving Locker in Kona - Pelagic Magic.  Wonderful video!  Although the thought of hanging at 40 feet of water with a bottom of over 1000 feet is a little intimidating, it looks like it might be worth it.

Side note - let me tell you about the food here.  With the closing down of the Navy base and tourism, the old dining facility was abandoned, and the little French restaurant became a buffet where you eat all three meals.  The chefs are all from Thailand, and the meals are a mixture of Thai and US dishes.  I’m eating up the Thai food for sure, and it’s wonderful. 

I may have a chance to give a talk about the Sanctuary Ocean Counts this weekend, we shall see.  Loving this trip!

Ah, Midway

Last night’s arrival was a blessing.  5 hours spent in a Gulfstream that was not in the best of conditions to begin with, waiting to get to our destination.  We had to arrive at night in order to avoid albatross strikes (very common in daylight hours since they believe the runway is theirs), so we touched down in darkness (EXCELLENT landing), and walked down the ladder to our waiting golf carts.  The air was redolent with the aroma of bird poop - I had forgotten what a bird sanctuary smelled like!  Our naturalist, Wayne Sentman, lived on Midway for several years, before the island was pretty much shut down except for the Fish and Wildlife services in 2001.

We were met by Ranger Mark Stewart, who took us to Charlie Barracks, went through his initial spiel, and then gave us our room assignments.  We fell asleep to the chatter of birds.

Today was nice, we spent the day in our limo golf carts (ha!) touring some historical areas, securing our bicycle rentals, and getting used to the day’s schedule.  We saw tons of Laysan albatross, a Laysan duck (on the extremely endangered species list), and a monk seal (also extremely endangered species) on the beach.  They strictly observe the distance rules here, so it looks like I’ll learn about my new zoom lens quickly.

Our lecture was about the albatross and its history here in Midway.  Albatross, believe it or not, are mated for life.  Their initial pairing happens on the island where they were born, and to which they return annually.  The mating process involves a detailed courtship with unique dances, mating calls, and posturing.  When accepted, the two mate, and the female produces one egg.  After that, she disappears for over a month while the male tends the egg.  Upon her return, the male disappears (they are feeding, not cheating!) until a few weeks prior to birth.  When the male returns, he finishes out the gestation sitting.  The chick is born, and a parent stays with it at all times.  The male and female take turns going out, feeding, and returning, usually within a four day timespan.  When either gets back, they call for their mate and child, find them, and feed the chick.  The chick needs nutrition at least every four days both for food and for fluids.

Albatross used to nest here in great amounts up until the Navy had its installation (to include its former top secret sub base).  As the number of people swelled to 3000, the albatross (Laysan and Black Footed) mating pairs dwindled drastically.  Once the Navy began to leave, clean up, and turn over the island to the Department of Interior, the numbers climbed drastically, and there are now approximately 1.9 million on the island during mating, birthing and maturing season.  Approximately 30% of the albatross chicks are lost over the course of the season due to starvation (think of them as big, empty stomachs with heads), ingestion of awful plastic from the Pacific Ocean, dehydration, abuse, or abandonment.  But, despite that, the numbers continue to grow.

Tomorrow more exploring, snorkeling, and a lecture on monk seals.