NOAA's ship, the Hi`ialakai, visits Midway

The Hii`ialakai left Midway this morning about 9 a.m., after having been here a few days.  They had several science projects that they were studying here in the Midway area, as well as other areas in the NW Hawaiian archipelago.  Here are 2 of them:

• Dr. Carl Meyer from the Un. of Hawai`i and the Hawai`i Institute of Marine Biology is interested in the movements of top/apex predators among the Hawaiian islands.  On this expedition, I think he's attaching acoustic (sound) tags to fish known as groupers, probably the endemic Hawaiian grouper, Hapu`upu`u or Epinephelus quernus.  Dr. Meyer and his fellow scientists will be able to track these individual fish by following their tag's sound.

• Dr. Kelly Gleason maritime archaeologist with the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument conducts annual resurveys of known wrecks, as well as surveys in areas suspected to be locations for undiscovered historic wrecks.

The Hi`ialakai, and other research ships, are like floating communities.  Compare a ship to a house with this fun matching activity!