Big, Green Machine: Midway Atoll's Fire Truck

from left to right: firefighters Keith, Dave B. and Dave G.

It takes a lot of people with different skills to support Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.  The Refuge is about 1200 miles northwest of Honolulu.  Some visitors and scientists arrive by ship, but most arrive by plane.  Which means the Atoll has an airport.  Which means it has an airport fire department.  Which means firemen Keith Castellano, Dave Buczek and Dave Gellert, Jr. are here.

Dave B. and Keith are recent arrivals on Midway, and they are proud and happy to be helping the Refuge.  Dave B. started work at his hometown Bullhead City, Arizona airport as an aircraft fueler.  He was selected for more training and became an airport fireman.   

When Keith was 8 years old growing up in Albuquerque, New Mexico he loved tires; the bigger, the better.  He wanted to have a job with tires, but one day something happened that changed his mind.  Keith had an uncle whose house caught fire.  How wonderful that another uncle was a firefighter and came with the town’s fire crew to put out the first uncle’s fire.  No wonder Keith grew up to become a fireman! 

Dave G., Keith and Dave B.

Now the 2 Daves and Keith work in Midway airport’s fire department.  Look at their huge airport fire engine.  The guys look short, standing next to the 12-foot tall Oshkosh Striker fire truck!  Their tools have been made especially for airplane fire rescue.  Remember: Midway Atoll is in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean, far away from anybody else.  These men have the best truck and equipment to be able to handle airport emergencies all by themselves.

Come with Dave B., Keith and me as we perform a daily check with the Striker.  Dave will sit in the driver's seat, while Keith is outside to take some pictures.  Dave and I test the heat-detecting camera, and there’s Keith on the monitor.

This photo, the one on the left, and the one below are by Keith.

In the left-hand picture you can see the Striker's two turrets, or high-powered water hoses.  One is on top of the truck, and the other is at the center of the truck's front.  These turrets can really shoot out water; great fire-fighting!

photo by Keith

The Striker accompanies planes as they taxi down the runway.  If there's an emergency the fire truck is right there.

Say, look how big those truck tires are.  For scale, we put a can of soda on top of one tire.  Keith is lucky: he's a fire fighter and he gets to work with one of his favorite things: tires!

Kure Atoll: Part of the `Ohana

Hawaiian Islands

Midway Atoll isn't the only island northwest of the populated Hawaiian Islands.  There's a whole chain of islands.  A few are rocky, but most are sandy atolls stretching for more than 1200 miles away from Honolulu.

About 30 million years ago a volcano was built over Hawai`i's hot spot.  No one was here to see it, but there must have been quite a show when the volcano finally erupted above the ocean's surface.  There would have been huge explosions of red-hot lava, clouds of seawater steam, and blobs of pumice shooting out in all directions.  Wow!

As millions of years passed, the volcano began to change; it slowly grew older and older.  The volcano was part of the Pacific Plate, a piece of the Earth's crust, and the Plate was moving away from the hot spot.  The volcano had no more lava building it, so it stopped growing.

Also, the wind, rain and ocean waves hit the volcano and began to break it down.  Incredibly huge chunks of the volcano, the size of buildings and bigger, broke off and tumbled into the depths of the ocean.  The volcano was getting smaller and smaller

But the volcano had developed a lei of coral around it.  As the volcano itself got smaller and smaller, the coral lei grew larger and larger.  The coral always grew enough to stay just below the ocean surface.

This drawing of an atoll represents both Midway and Kure Atolls

Finally the volcano disappeared beneath the sea surface, and coral sand started to fill in on top of it.  Seawater came in and formed a shallow lagoon.  The volcano had become what we call an "atoll."  And this 30-million-year-old atoll is Kure Atoll (say "cure-ay"), the oldest land mass in the Hawaiian Islands.  Kure is Midway's older sister, about 50 miles away to the northwest.

Kure Atoll is owned by the state of Hawai`i.  Jason Misaki and Syd Kawahakui, Jr. work in the state's Division of Forestry and Wildlife within the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR.)    Jason and Syd will spend 3 days on Kure to see for themselves that Kure is kept as natural a place as possible...that its resources are kept intact.

satellite view of Kure Atoll

Visiting Kure means a lot to Jason and Syd because both are kama`aina, born and raised in Hawai`i.  They truly are stewards of their homeland.  Jason comes from Kualapu`u, Moloka`i, and grew up in a family that worked for conservation on his island.  Jason earned a degree in botany with a minor in environmental studies at the University of Hawai`i, Mānoa.  He has the job of Wildlife Manager, and is supervisor of the Kure Atoll project.

Syd was born and raised in Waialua on O`ahu; he attended Kahuku High School, graduating from Kamehameha Schools.  He earned a double major at UH, Mānoa in Hawaiian Studies and Hawaiian Language.  As a young man, Syd began 10 years of volunteer service with the Protect Kaho`olawe `Ohana (PKO.)  He became what is called an Access Guide, or Kua.  Kua is the Hawaiian word for backbone.  Just as your backbone supports your whole body, so does a Kua support PKO.

Here's a picture of Jason (left) and Syd (right.)  The picture on the right shows Syd following proper Hawaiian protocol by blowing the pū (shell.)  The small boat will take them to NOAA's ship, Hi`ialakai, which is outside Midway Atoll in deeper water.  The ship will travel overnight, taking Jason and Syd to Kure.  They will take these 3 values with them:

• aloha `aina (love of the land)
• mālama `aina (taking care of the land)
• ho`oulu `aina (re-growing the land)

Just as Kure and Midway are part of the Hawaiian chain, an `ohana of islands, so we people are an `ohana of stewards, or care-givers, for our land.  All our best wishes go with Jason and Syd!

Carbon Dioxide and Global Warming

The dotted black line shows carbon dioxide increasing.

Breathe in; now breathe out.

When you exhale, your breath has more carbon dioxide in it than the air you breathed in.  That's because your body makes carbon dioxide as it burns the food you eat to operate your body.  Carbon dioxide is a waste product.  Your body gets rid of it with each outgoing breath.

Carbon dioxide is building up in the Earth's air.  Although some of it comes from your breathing, most of it comes from the burning of fossil fuels, like gasoline in cars and oil in electric power stations.  Carbon dioxide is the most important gas causing the problem of global warming.

This map shows the places where NOAA collects air samples.  

FOAM's July 25 post entitled "Is the Sea Level Rising?" talked about global warming.  The Earth is predicted to warm to the point where lots of ice in glaciers and ice fields will melt, causing the sea level to rise.  If the sea level rises enough, it could flood coastal cities, like Honolulu, New York, San Franciso, and many others around the world!  We need to stop global warming!  To do that we need to know how much carbon dioxide is in the air.

What does all this have to do with Midway Atoll?  The Atoll is on this map; it's the red dot in the center of the North Pacific Ocean.  Midway is part of a world-wide network to measure how much carbon dioxide is in the Earth's air.  Every week US Fish and Wildlife Biological Technician Greg Schubert takes a sample of Midway's air.  Then he sends it to the federal government agency called NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and they measure the carbon dioxide (and methane and other gases) in Midway's air sample.

Greg is setting up the equipment on Midway Atoll.  The air will go in the opening of the white tube at the top of the pole.  Then it will be pumped through both of the blue tanks. 

During collection, Greg is far away because he doesn't want the carbon dioxide he's exhaling to go into the blue tanks.  (The albatross doesn't put out much carbon dioxide!)

When he's done with the field collection, Greg writes down the information, such as pressure and flow rate, in his field notebook.  Later he transfers the information to the official NOAA data sheet that he will mail with the blue tanks.  Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge is helping to solve the problem of global warming!

Satellite Tag Backpack for a Laysan Albatross

FOAM's July 23 post was entitled "The Albatross are Gone!...but Where?"  We learned that satellite tags attached to Laysan Albatross sent information about where they were.  A map showed us the locations of 2 birds in April 2009.

Naturally, I was really excited when John Klavitter, Manager and Biologist of Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, asked if I'd like to see satellite tags attached to a few of this year's albatross fledglings (chicks)!!

In the lefthand picture above I'm holding a transmitter so you can see the entire thing.  It's like a small backpack with thin straps.  The closeup picture shows what the actual satellite tag, or transmitter, looks like.  You can't really see it in detail because it's all wrapped up in black electrical tape for protection.  It's small, about the size of a pack of gum.  The USFWS doesn't use anything that weighs more than 3% of what an albatross weighs.  In both pictures you can see the antenna, which is about 8" long.

John (on the left) and Biological Technician Greg Schubert (right) look for just the right "candidate" fledgling.  They look for a healthy, full-size albatross.  When they find it, they work together quickly and carefully to put the satellite tag backpack on the bird.  It's sort of like helping someone put on a jacket.  They make sure the transmitter fits snugly against the bird's body and the straps go between rows of feathers.  Looks like a good fit!

Can you spot the satellite tag on the albatross in the picture below?!  No? --that's because John and Greg did such a good job!  I'll bet all you can see, if you look closely, is the transmitter's antenna.  This bird is all set; it's ready to fly away from Midway Atoll!  As it flies, the satellite tag will transmit information about where it is.  And the battery is good for a whole year!

Katie: US Fish and Wildlife Service Volunteer

It was a lot of fun having high school senior Katie on island for a week!  She helped with her mom's Hawaiian Monk Seal beach surveys.  In addition, Katie worked as a volunteer in various wildlife management projects for Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.  She helped:

• observe and record the growth stage of young Laysan Albatross and Red-tailed Tropicbirds, 
• sort and measure marine debris, 
• pull up the alien invasive plant Verbesina, and
• gather and wrap albatross boluses (albatross barf!) for classroom dissections.  (Yes; that's a real bolus she's wrapping in the right-hand picture.)

But perhaps her favorite work was checking on the health of Laysan Ducks (LADU.)

photo by Kittipong Janthasang

For the weekly all-atoll wetlands survey, Katie got very good at using binoculars to see the ducks.  With the binocs, she could often read the code on colored bands that some individual ducks wear on their legs.  [Challenge yourself to read LADU bands in FOAM's "Activity: Laysan Ducks #1 -- Bands" and Activity: Laysan Ducks #2 -- Who's Who!"]  Then Katie entered the data into an Xcel spreadsheet in the Refuge's computer.  Every morning she also helped check each of the wetlands for any ducks affected by the disease, avian botulism.

Each of us needs to help take care of the living things around us.  Katie certainly is a good steward!  How can you volunteer for plants and animals in your community?

Is the Sea Level Rising?

Our planet Earth is getting warmer, causing the environmental problem we call Global Warming. As Earth warms, the ice fields and glaciers melt, sending water into the oceans, causing the sea level to rise.  How much is the sea level rising?  Let's find out by using advanced laser and computer technology from a plane!  
As with many difficult questions, it takes teamwork to get the answer.  In this case, the team is made up of 2 private companies in Hawai`i and 3 departments of the federal government.  The government team members are: United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), US Geological Survey (USGS), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA.)

The picture above shows the private companies' side of the team, from left to right -- Robert Szabo, owner of Szabo Aerospace from O`ahu, Thomas Pattison, owner of Aerial Surveying, Inc. from Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawai`i,  and his son Kiel.  Rob will fly his plane over Midway Atoll and nearby islands while Tom and Kiel take pictures using a technology called LiDAR.  LiDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging.  Let's get a look at the equipment while the plane is being fueled.

Kiel is welcoming us aboard Rob's Beechcraft Queen Air plane, nicknamed "Makalani," Hawaiian language for "eyes of the skies."

Inside the plane Kiel shows us the LiDAR equipment.  Tom's company has modified the typical LiDAR rig, which weighs about 150 pounds and would be TOO much weight for the plane.  Next to Kiel's left foot, the 3 silver-colored items are used to send out the laser from the plane.  The laser reflects, or bounces, off the ground, returns to the plane, and that distance between the plane and ground is measured.  Near Kiel's right foot is the black computer.  The computer takes the laser data and calculates how high above sea level Midway's ground is.  The computer also matches up the exact GPS location for each elevation measurement.  And it will be correct to within 6 inches!!

The LiDAR data that Kiel, Tom and Rob are collecting will help answer the question, "Is the Sea Level Rising?"  They can compare the maps they make today with maps from years ago to see how much the sea level has already come up.   In the years ahead LiDAR can be used again to get new data.  Having accurate knowledge about sea level will help all the people on Earth work together to solve the Global Warming problem.

Before we leave the plane, do you notice something blue on the plane's flight deck?  When the hula doll dances, that tells Rob his plane's propeller engines are vibrating too much, and it's time to re-balance them.  The pretty hula dancer has a job to do; she's part of the LiDAR team!

Dr. Mimi Olry, Monk Seal Conservation Scientist

Interesting people come to Midway Atoll.  One of them is Dr. Mimi Olry, from the island of  Kaua`i in the state of Hawai`i.

For as long as she can remember, Mimi has loved animals.  When she was less than 2 years old, she often sat on the floor next to her cocker-springer pet dog during mealtimes.  At least once Mimi enjoyed sharing a bowl of kibble with her!

As Mimi grew older she learned more and more about all kinds of animals.  For example, she learned to-–

• trim the claws and beaks of pet birds
• put the correct dose of medicine into an aquarium of sick fish
• understand the body language of her horse by sitting quietly on his back in a sunny field and watching other horses in the pasture.

From these experiences, Mimi decided that she’d like to work with animals when she grew up.  She wanted to be a conservation scientist, to help endangered animals, but her teachers advised her to become a veterinarian.  Vet school was haaaard!  Mimi’s area of interest was zoo animals, so guess where she went to work when she graduated?...

…AFRICA!  The African animals she worked with were serval cats, various antelope, and elephants; she also worked with the domestic cattle, goats and camels belonging to tribes people.  Mimi ended up spending a year and a half in various countries in Africa.  But when she began missing her family, she left Africa and returned to Kaua`i.   
Mimi now works for the state of Hawai`i  as the Kaua`i Marine Mammal Response Specialist and volunteer coordinator for the Hawaiian Monk Seal project.  And so, she has become what she always wanted to be…a conservation scientist helping a very rare and endangered seal!  (That's a skull of a Monk Seal to the left of her laptop in the top picture.) 

I wonder what you'd like to be when you grow up?!  You'll find something that fits you exactly right!

What's a Bolus Burrito?

UPDATE, May 10, 2011:  

In response to a comment that accompanied this post last June, I gave a source for boluses for classroom dissections.  That source is no longer active.  The Fish and Wildlife Service currently has the bolus dissemination project on hold until further notice.  We all hope that one day FWS can start up the collection and dissemination of boluses again, after the Refuge has a chance to complete tsunami recovery projects and a Visitor Services position is filled for Midway Atoll.  Iʻll certainly add to this post as information becomes available.

In the meantime, as part of a collaborative education partnership, a non-profit organization Oikonos is distributing a limited number of boluses to school groups.  The Oikonos website has a wealth of educational activities!  Contact Michelle Hester who will connect you with the albatross bolus coordinator for more details.

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No...you wouldn't want to eat a bolus burrito!

As albatross grow up, they begin to be able to toss up out of their stomach any objects they can't digest.  (See FOAM's "Albatross Barf" video.)  These indigestible objects are tightly packed into what's called a bolus. You've probably heard of fur balls that cats make, and maybe you've known that owls get rid of mouse fur and bones in pellets; so a bolus is like a cat fur ball or owl pellet.

photo by Mike Neal

Albatross feed on flying fish eggs and squid. Squid are mostly digestible, except for their hard mouths, called beaks, that feel like your finger nail. Flying fish eggs are completely digestible, but they're often attached to natural objects -- like floating sticks or volcanic rocks called pumice -- which are definitely not digestible. So albatross come equipped to toss up boluses to get rid of these unwanted items.

Nowadays, many boluses have plastic in addition to squid beaks, sticks and pumice. The picture on the top left shows pieces of plastic, fishing line, a bottle cap, and even a toothbrush in a loosely packed bolus! The bolus on the right is much more tightly packed.

It is educational to see what a real bolus looks like; it helps people understand why they need to be more careful how they get rid of their trash. Many teachers ask Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge for boluses for their students to dissect, or take apart. Take a look at bolus dissection activities on the Oikonos website, or a recent dissection on FOAM's post "Marine Debris: Aunty Moana's Little, Green, Square Things.

photo by Mike Neal

That's why Marty and I are making "bolus burritos."  We put a bolus on a piece of scrap paper that's being reused as a paper tortilla. Then we roll up the bolus in the paper and fold in the paper ends --> a bolus burrito!  Now we label the burrito with the date when the bolus was collected and from which island of the Atoll it came.  How many bolus burritos are in the picture, not even counting the boluses in the plastic bag by my right foot?! Lots! -- all for teachers and their students!

PA`A -- E Ala E!

The extraordinary group of educators and community leaders -- PA`A 2010 -- has departed.  They came to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, this "window" of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, and have joined a growing network of people around the world who love this special place.  The participants have now left the Refuge, returning to their corners of the world to carry out the mission of educating people, young and old, to become stewards of the Monument, as well as of their own home environment.  E ala e!

Just Rolling Along

My friend Marty and I helped take out heavy-duty black plastic liner from an old fuel tank area.  After a chunk of the liner was cut, we rolled it up, tied it, and then put it in storage.

Not all the work in maintaining a wildlife refuge is with wildlife.  Sometimes the work means removing something that no longer belongs in a refuge.

Before Midway became the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, it was a military post.  The military needed huge tanks to store their jet fuel; you can see part of a tank in the upper left corner of this early morning picture.  The area around the tank, as well as the cement wall, were lined in a thick, black plastic; you can see some of the plastic in the picture.  The purpose of the enclosed area was to keep any accidentally spilled fuel in a contained area.

But the military is no longer here, the fuel tank is empty, and the plastic is not good for the wildlife.  Folds in the plastic trap Laysan Ducks, and the albatross chicks can't walk very well on the shiny, slippery plastic. 

So, Marty and I helped remove some of the plastic.  In the future, the whole cement wall will come down and be used as part of the seawall to protect the island, and the fuel tanks will be taken apart and shipped away.  The island is becoming a better and better refuge for wildlife!