Escape from the Jaws of a Tiger

On the boat ride over to Eastern Island today we saw a Tiger Shark attacking a fledgling Laysan Albatross. The Albatross bit the shark in the nose........and lived.



A welcoming committee waited for us on the pier.



Thousands of these Japanese Emerald Beatles were swarming around everywhere.



We were there to do some restoration work on the wetlands. The Laysan Ducks were interested in all the activity.



Very interested.



The Terns were out in full force.


This thing is a firing position from the 2nd World War. It is made out of the top of a tank from the 1st World War. When the Japanese fleet was bearing down on Midway, some 18 year old soldier would have been inside there aiming his machine gun at the beach and waiting to die. Lucky for him, the Battle of Midway actually took place in the open ocean several miles from the Atoll Itself.

Another relic of the War.



This Brown Noddy chick supervised the whole thing from the stump of an old Ironwood Tree.

The People's Atoll: Vol 2 "Death From Above"

These two F-18 Hornets made an emergency landing on Midway today. Evidently one has a broken engine. If you have ever seen a movie about fighter jets, you know that you never abandon your wing-man.



Scary, kind of like the Marines that came out of the cockpit.


They are armed and ready to go make some freedom.

Chicks Man.

A ruthless, and feared predator......If you're a small fish


Yeah, that never really gets old.


Ah.......cute too.......in a pterodactyl sort of way.

Celebrity Albatross: Part II

The CHAIRMAN MAO




The GLEN PLAKE




The MOBY



The FIRE MARSHALL BILL




The FRIDA KAHLO

The Peoples Atoll Vol: 1

This will be the first in a ten part series that explores Midway Atoll from the people's perspective. In other words I will try to show the parts of Midway that are here strictly for the Human residents.


This is my "street". It is the only street in my "neighborhood". Other residents include the Atoll's Biologist, Mechanic, and 2 seasonal technicians. Bio technicians as a matter of fact. The path is barely wide enough for a golf cart, but even this requires constant stops to move birds out of the way. Bikes work best. It is not unusual to wake up in the morning and find out a neighbor from further down the lane, returning home late, decided to park a cart in your front yard rather that contend with dozens of angry snapping Albartoss chicks. Been there, done that. The chicks are getting old enough to cause damage with their beaks. Most all of the vegetation seen here, while wildly exotic, fragrant and pretty is not native and takes up valuable nesting habitat for the Albatross. My favorite is the fluffy pink thing that has been flowering non-stop since I got here.

Molesting Chicks........For Science.

Bird banding requires the bander to crimp a metal ring around a birds leg. Birds have hallow bones, making their legs particularly delicate. Why then would you ever consider using pliers and stainless steel bands anywhere near them? The answer is simple. Birds, unlike humans have faces that look exactly the same. All birds in a given species look virtually identicle. Given our species affinity for aggressive land use, we need to be sure that our activities do not interfere with the vitality of wildlife populations. It is important than to be able to recognize the individuals.

Hence, bird banding. To a birder, this is like making the haj, of touching the wailing wall. It is the closest you can really interact with a bird, and have a good reason to do it. Of course we can tell ourselves that we are doing the good work, and helping people learn the good knowledge. The real reason though? Glory, its all about the glory. Yes, those are my hands on the pliers, and the glory goes to me.......What about those other hands in the picture? I said me, all me.


This is what is inside that towel.


This one is still a little young to get a band. Besides if you get close to a parent like this, they will go for the jugular.............or eyes depending on what kind of mood they are in.

Walk it Off

So, it's tough out there for the Albatross. Foraging bouts lasting days and covering thousands of miles, stormy seas, tiger sharks etc.

However, we the capitalist Uber-consumers make it worse. Much Worse.


This Albatross chick is surrounded by Vebensina sp, an invasive that was introduced during the European invasion of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The plant grows fast in the summer creating a canopy around the chicks. This has several consequences:

1) Parents may have a difficult time finding and feeding their chicks
2) Nesting density in decreased in areas with the invasive plant. This is a big deal when the
nesting colonies are located on islands that are only a few acres in size.
3) Chicks like this one are not able to stretch, and flap their wings. This practice is crucial for
chicks that have a chance of fledging.

This particular chick was daylighted during an intensive ecological restoration effort. (weed pull)


Another problem associated with the European Invasion is the Mosquito. They spread avian pox, which although not usually lethal has the potential to deform the eyes and beaks of infected chicks. The Albatross did not evolve with this pressure, and have no natural defence. Occupation of these remote atolls by people increases the pooling of fresh water (in our piles of garbage), and in turn the number of mosquitos.



Albatross eat our plastic. This decomposing carcass is barely recognizable. It will soon turn to dust. The plastic will be there forever, maybe even be consumed by a curious chick that is unfortunate enough to walk by.


All Albatross eject a bolus before they fledge. Alot like an owl pellet, it contains the undigestible parts of their diet. Things like squid beaks. There is one squid beak visible in this bolus which is comprised mainly of plastic. The Albatross whos cause of death is known to be plastic impaction have an average of 1.5 oz. of plastic in their system. The average amount of plastic in an Albatross that fledges from Midway is 1.0 oz.

Albatross eat squid, flying fish eggs etc. These things float on the surface of water like plastic. This stuff was all brought to Midway by Albatross parents.

So was this stuff.

And this stuff. SO, I think to myself, I don't throw my garbage in the ocean, I am not resposible for this. Then I remember that awesome seared Mahi Mahi I had once, and think about the fisherman I support who does throw his garbage in the Ocean. Ever taken a cruise, before recent legislation, they threw all their crap overboard too. Ever shop at Walmart. Capsized cargo vessels on their way from Asia to the U.S. heavily supplement the plastic eaten by the Albatross. Childrens toys for example are unusually common.

This unfortunate chick is one of many called "droop wings". They have lead poisoning from eating the lead paint chips peeling off the "historic" navy buildings left over from the war days. It will not survive. It has been estimated it would cost the government around 4-5million dollars to fix this problem permanately by removing the lead paint. Lets take a moment to think about what we currently spend our tax dollars on. Remember "Shock and Awe"? God Bless America!


To end on a positive note. Many Albatross like this black-foot will survive, live for decades, and possibly provide some of the inspiration for the change we need.