A hui ho Dwight! This is Dwight’s last blog for the season. Mahalo nui loa for all your hard work this summer Dwight. Let’s all wish him well as he prepares to journey home.
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Hi everyone!
Dwight here! This blog post will unfortunately be my last one for this field season. In just a couple more weeks a ship will come by Hōlanikū and pick me up before returning to O’ahu.
This has been an incredible summer field season, and I have learned so much since coming out here again. The summer season has been full of so many fledging birds that I didn’t get to see during my winter season out here 4 years ago. In the past few months I’ve seen our mōlī and ka’upu (Laysan albatross and Black-footed albatross) fledge and leave the island, where they’ll spend the next 4+ years at sea before returning here or maybe to another island.
On top of seeing the albatross fledge, I’ve also been able to see the ‘ao (Christmas shearwaters), pākalakala (Grey-backed terns) and ‘ewa’ewa (Sooty terns) lose their downy plumage and leave the island too!
This past week was quite eventful too. In a last-minute change, the PMDP team (Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project) made a detour to come over to Hōlanikū and remove the large marine debris conglomerates that have been sitting in marine debris sacks along our beaches. Last Tuesday, their entire team of 16 people came ashore to greet us by our pier and to exchange oli (Hawaiian chant). Having only had face-to face contact with only a couple people at a time over the last few months, it was a little overwhelming to have 16 people to ashore. Despite some of our team’s slightly-socially-awkward moments, it was such a pleasure to see so many smiling faces and pure hearts. In the two days that followed we assisted them with removing, give or take, 6700 pounds of nets and lines from our beaches (including an 800-lb steel buoy, pictured in this post). After removing the last bit of it, we bid our farewells where they then set sail for Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll) to continue their mission.
On top of our habitat restoration projects, the team has completed some other projects too! The Main House roof got some patch-work done and some new coats of elastomeric to protect it from the elements. We’ve also been creating some new video content for our social media pages. Check them out if you haven’t yet!
I also want to take a moment to thank my incredible team. It’s reassuring to know that the island will be in good hands after I leave. Nick, Kayla, and Jordan care tremendously about Hōlanikū and I’m beyond fortunate to have been part of this team. I’m definitely going to miss our board game nights as well as all of our inside jokes and laughs. I wish the team the best in the upcoming fall and winter months. With the intense summer heat behind us, a cold and rainy winter is likely ahead, along with a new generation of albatross chicks! In the meantime, I’m excited to eat some fresh fruit again and a couple dozen tubs of ice cream on my off-season before I return next summer. While I eat their share of fresh fruit when I’m gone I’ll be counting down the days till I get to see them again next year, with a new team, to relieve them from their field season.
Until next time,
Dwight