Magic and Midway

Local fish biologist gets up-close look at tiny islands that house world’s albatross population

Section:Gallery

Sat., March 30, 2019

A remaining historic World War II naval gun on the shores of Eastern Island/Midway Atoll, surrounded by nesting Laysan albatross. During the war Eastern Island was defended by six coastal batteries, armed with 3, 5 and 7-inch guns.

Genny Hoyle Courtesy
Albatross fly with the prevailing winds along the north shore of Sand Island/Midway Atoll over the native naupaka (Naupaka kahakai). Volunteers and U.S. Fish and Wildlife staff have been working on eradicating non-native vegetation and replanting native species such as naupaka.

Genny Hoyle Courtesy
A fairy tern (Sternula nereis) follows a volunteer as they walk to work. Fairy terns often come in groups of three to six and quietly flutter over people's heads while they walk or bike.

Genny Hoyle Courtesy
A Laysan albatross flying near the Midway Atoll/Sand Island pier, with a passing rainstorm in the background.

Genny Hoyle Courtesy
Three black noddies perched on old harbor infrastructure on Eastern Island, part of the Midway Atoll.

Genny Hoyle Courtesy
Two juvenile black-footed albatross practicing their mating dance with nesting Laysan albatross in the background.

Genny Hoyle Courtesy
A juvenile great frigatebird (Fregata minor palmerstoni) sits in a patch of native naupaka near it's parents on Eastern Island/Midway Atoll. Nesting albatross can be seen in the background.

Genny Hoyle Courtesy
Built in 1904, the historic Commercial Pacific Cable Company building is the last remaining cable house on Sand Island/Midway Atoll. The crew that lived in these buildings ran the telegraph that spanned the Pacific Ocean until it was shut down in 1952.

Genny Hoyle Courtesy
Two nesting Laysan albatross situnder the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Sign at Midway. The Midway Atoll is part of the National Wildlife Refuge system, an national memorial, and part of a larger National Monument.

Genny Hoyle Courtesy
A group of inquisitive fairy terns (Sternula nereis) follow a volunteer as they walk to the North Beach on Sand Island/Midway Atoll. In the background is one of the abandoned runways that is revegetating and host to nesting Laysan and black-footed albatross.

Genny Hoyle Courtesy
A green sea turtle as seen from the old Midway Atoll/Sand Island harbor pier.

Genny Hoyle Courtesy
A nesting adult Laysan albatross checks out a census volunteer as they count the albatross nests.

Genny Hoyle Courtesy
A curious nesting albatross checks out a census volunteer as they wait on the census line. The albatrosses can be very inquisitive birds. A census volunteer can be seen in the line in the background.

Genny Hoyle Courtesy
A hybrid of the Laysan and black-footed albatross, taken on Sand Island near Midway Atoll. Sometimes the two species hybridize and produce offspring that are larger than a Laysan, but a mix of the black and white of the other two species. The mating dance of the hybrids is different than both species, so often they don't have a mate.

Genny Hoyle Courtesy
Two juvenile black-footed albatrosses, with a nesting Laysan albatross in the background, near North Beach, Midway Atoll.

Genny Hoyle Courtesy