Marine Debris Pickup on Midway's Turtle Beach

Petra (holding her data table) has been surveying Midway's Hawaiian Monk Seals and monitoring the births of their babies, called "pups."  Pups is a good name, especially since the seal's Hawaiian name is `Ilio-holo-i-ka-uaua, which means "dog that runs in rough water."  (scientific name -- Monachus schauinslandi)   

Because the pups sometimes like to play with objects washed up on beaches where the seals come to nurse with their mothers, Petra organized a specialized beach cleanup.  Our goal was to pick up anything that might entangle a playful Monk Seal, as well as other marine animals for that matter.  We worked on Turtle Beach, a favorite haul-out site for the seals.  (Check the "Midway Map" tab at the top of the page; Turtle Beach is along the north shore of Sand Island, to the east of the Old Seaplane Ramp.)  There certainly was a lot of marine debris! You can see Ray and Adam collecting bunches of it.  We piled it high in the vehicle, and Petra drove it away...

...to the marine debris center, where Adam helped her sort it.    Here's a close-up of one of the bins.

It was a lot of work, but we were happy to help, since we all love the Monk Seals, and want to do our best to help them survive!  The nets in the bin will most likely be transported to Honolulu, where they will be cut into smaller pieces.  Then they will be taken to Hawaiian Electric Company's H-Power plant, where they will be burned for energy.