Prepare to be appalled at the devastation, impressed by the heroism of the refuge staff, and amazed by the unfathomable resilience of some of the native birds and chicks at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. Once you’re prepared, check out this remarkable post and gallery by Pete at Midway. Tip of the hat to our own Duncan Wright, who used to work on Tern Island.
Mike is a leading authority in the field of standardized test preparation, but he's also a traveler who fully expects to see every bird in the world. Besides founding 10,000 Birds in 2003, Mike has also created a number of other entertaining but now extirpated nature blog resources, particularly the Nature Blog Network and I and the Bird.
I’m trying to find out what has happened on the other Hawaiian Islands. The Islands hold important populations of Monk Seals as well as all the world’s Laysan Ducks and Laysan Finches. The islands of French Frigate Shoals are also considerably less substancial than Midway. I see Kure was also badly hit.
http://www.suite101.com/content/oldest-albatross-survives-tsunami-damage-to-midway-atoll-a358474
My boss from Tern has let me know that Laysan apparently suffered “significant loss of wildlife and some damage and loss of infrastructure and equipment.” Not good. That said, given the history of the islands I imagine the wildlife will recover with time. It could have been worse, and for the people on the coast of Japan it certainly was.
@Duncan: yes, there is definitely the hope that single catastrophic events will be compensated over time as long as the ecosystem stays largely intact and there is a core population left that has the ability to expand again.
I am still crying from viewing the photos……….. So much loss Thanks Pete for saving what you could… i don’t know you, but i will never forget this bravery as long as i breathe air……and to Duncan as well……….. Be well you are great men!
Thanks so much for the posting and photos; I checked for news about Midway the day of the tsunami and found only the buoy readings. Midway was my favorite post as a Navy brat. We rode out a night-time “tidal wave” there, must have been early 1965. We couldn’t all spend the night on the hill so we were told to sleep upstairs in our former-barracks townhouse (“Splinterville”). Thanks for caring for the birds — my beloved fairy terns, bosun birds, boobies, goonies. I hope I will be able to return someday.
Morlene Midway 1964-65
Midway Island was my first island in my 20 years of Navy life and I spent both 1965 and 1966 there. I DJ’d on KMTH radio and I remember that night-time tidal wave alert that Morlene mentioned. Nothing really happened then but wow, all the pictures I’ve seen from the 2011 tidal wave prove the theory wrong (that we were taught) that said the reef would protect us from the wave. Oops! That’s obviously not so!
Glad to see so many dedicated people there have dug out the surviving birds and I’m thrilled that so many of them survived. People who have never sat on the beach and watched Gooney Birds soar have really missed something. Aloha