Marine Debris!

Eh, Barb. We get plenny marine debris heah. Whachoo gonna do 'bout it? Look at dis one picha of da poor Hawaiian Monk Seal; da frenz at NOAA* took it.  Check out dere marine debris blog and da Marine Debris 101.

Poor braddah! He mebe starve if no can take 'em off!  Yeah, so Barb: whachoo doin' 'bout marine debris here on Midway?

[*Photo from marine debris blog; taken under MMPA/ESA permit #848-136 by NOAA Fisheries, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center]

"Make Way For Ducklings"

I hope lots of you FOAM readers know the classic book Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey.  In that make-believe story, policeman Michael stopped Boston traffic to allow Mrs. Mallard and her ducklings (Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack) to cross a busy street safely into Boston Public Garden to meet Mr. Mallard.

Today Adam, Greg and I cleared algae from one of the Midway ponds to "make way for ducklings;" we want them to be able to swim freely in the pond.  Nothing is controlling the limu (algae); it's very thick, from the bottom of the pond to the top.  We think that all this limu could trap ducklings, causing them to drown.  When the limu rots, it could cause an outbreak of botulism, which could cause many ducks to die.  The picture on the right shows me in waders just starting to remove algae.  Look how much there is!

Now take a look at the last picture; it shows what one of the ponds looked like right after our work.  Isn't the surface clear; didn't we "make way for ducklings?!"

And you know what?!  Just as we finished, a Laysan Duck flew in and landed right in the water.  It seemed to like the open surface; I think it had a smile on its face, but I couldn't be sure....

Edward's Chick -- 6/7/10

Edward's chick, a Black-footed Albatross

Perhaps it would be interesting for our blog readers to see a picture of Clarissa's and my chick, taken on the same day as Auntie Moana's chick picture.  Notice that our chick is darker -- of course, because it's a BLACK-footed Albatross.  But it's also closer to fledging; see that there is less down on the chest  than Auntie's chick.  Generally speaking, most of the Black-footed Albatross (BFAL) chicks will have fledged and left Midway before the  Laysan Albatross (LAAL) chicks.

I would say our chick is quite a handsome fellow, too.

Auntie Moana's Chick -- 6/7/10

Aunty Moana's chick, #P303, a Laysan Albatross

Aloha!  Here's a new picture of my chick, P303, just taken today by Barb.  Notice how much he's changed in just a week!  In the last post he was at the DFC stage (downy feathered chick); he's now a PFC, partially-feathered-chick.  Kanoa and I, we so proud!  We think he's plenty advanced over other chicks, but maybe that's just because we're his parents.  Isn't he beautiful, with all the white feathers growing in?!

I goin' put dis picha on my Facebook page and let all my friends know my son special!

Auntie Moana's Chick -- 5/29/10

left: Aunty Moana, right: Kanoa; middle: their chick

Here they are: pictures of my `ohana!  I'm on the left, my partner Kanoa is on the right, and of course that's our chick in the middle.  We haven't named him yet; we'll wait until he fledges.  ("Fledges" means a bird loses his down and gets regular feathers, and can fly.)
     The reason why we wait on naming our chick is cuz... well, every time we lay an egg, Kanoa and I wait...because sometimes our chick passes away before it fledges...and that's very sad. I'll try and talk more about that in another post..

Aunty Moana

Anyway, here's how it works; the US Fish and Wildlife Service runs our Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. They can't study every single one of us birds on the whole island; so what they do is measure out smaller sections of the island and study all the birds of a particular kind that are in that section. Try look at "Midway Map" tab on the top menu bar of this blog. You'll see the red-numbered areas are for Red-tailed Tropicbirds: 1, 7 and 8.  Albatross areas are in green; Black-footed in B1, B7 and B8, and we Laysan have L7 and L10.
     I live in L10, and I love it here; you can see on the map that it's right in town, not far from the National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center. I know everything that's going on. Many of my friends say I'm nīele (nosy, a busybody), but I don't think so.  Here's a close-up of me, with band F344 on my right leg.  Can you see the aluminum band on my left leg?  You don't get that until you're just about ready to fledge.

When our L10 neighborhood was first set up, the biologists put bird bands on all us Laysans that were in here. My band is F344; nice, huh? Every year since then, when Kanoa and I set up a nest, the biologists come around and put a stake in the ground near our nest. There were a lot of nests in L10 this year; our nest was #79. Then the scientists know that the egg in that nest, and the chick that hatches out of it, is ours! When he was old enough, they put band P303 on our chick; here's a picture of him taken about a week ago, on May 29; cute, ya?!  Lotsa down; the biologists call it the "DFC, downy feathered chick" stage.

So I'm F344 and our chick is P303. Kanoa and I are working hard to keep him alive and healthy. Here's a picture of me feeding the little guy.  I'll try and post lotsa pictures of him; that way, all you folks following this blog can see my chick grow up!

Aunty Moana feeding her chick, #P303

Battle of Midway 68th Commemoration

The  June 4-7, 1942 Battle of Midway marked the turning point toward victory for the U.S. and its Allies in World War II.  On June 2, 2010 two American veterans returned to Midway to attend the 68th commemoration of this important battle.   The left picture shows Sargent Paul Crook in the red hat and blue shirt.  He was on Midway's Eastern Island during the battle.  Sargent Crook recounted his memory of the night following the first day of battle.  He and all the men had orders to dig deep holes in the sand for themselves.  They were told to take their guns with them and be prepared for a night-time battle.  Meanwhile, Lieutenant George Bernstein (dark blue hat, far right) was stationed on the Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Hornet offshore from Midway.   

Among the Japanese veterans attending the commemoration were Mr. Kaname Harada (seated at the far left) and next to him, Mr. Jiro Yoshida.  These two men piloted Japanese airplanes called Zeroes during World War II.  Mr. Harada actually flew his Zero at the Battle of Midway, shooting down several American planes.

Both American and Japanese veterans of the Battle of Midway, men who fought against each other 68 years ago, sat down together to honor the young men who gave their lives on both sides of the battle.  At the end of the day of remembrance, flowers were on display at both the American (below, left) and Japanese memorials on Midway's Sand Island.

June 1942

American planes during the Battle of Midway; photo from US Navy archives

Sixty-eight years ago, in early June 1942, a terrible battle between the United States and Japan took place on Midway Atoll.

On December 7, 1941 the Japanese military conducted a surprise attack at Pearl Harbor on the Hawaiian island of O`ahu.  It was a terrible loss for the United States, and caused the country to enter World War II against Japan.  But 6 months later, June 4-7, the Americans won the Battle of Midway against the Japanese.  After 3 more years of fighting, the United States and her allies finally won the War.

Japan is now one of America's best friends.  Tomorrow all of us on Midway, including both Japanese and American World War II veterans, will commemorate the Battle of Midway...and will continue to work together for peace.