As summer fades, Hōlanikū hums its September refrain of storms, seabirds, and stars. Check out our latest field blog from Nick!
Aloha kākou,
Do you remember? The 21st night of September? This week’s blog installment is all over the place, as it was a spectacular week here on Hōlanikū. The sky this week, both night and day, was absolutely wondrous. We had some passing thunderstorms in the distance that presented some special views of lightning over the lagoon and off the reef. One of the uniquities of living on a 200-acre coral atoll in the North Pacific is that you can witness huge rain events pass you by with not even a drop falling on your head.
Two marine debris conglomerates washed up this week on the eastern shore, posing an entanglement hazard for our wildlife species. We quickly took to action and brought up the lines out of the surf. We’ve recorded a fun video showcasing our hard work, which you can check out on the Kure Atoll Conservancy Facebook page if you haven’t already. While removing the debris, a brightly colored Fivestripe wrasse swam by (I think haha), or it might have been a Surge wrasse. This is the first observation that I personally have made of this species on Hōlanikū. One more to add to my fish list.
Camp life updates! I made pizza this week, which is always a hit. BBQ chicken, pineapple, honey, and bacon bits made for some fun toppings. We watched two really awful movies, one recommended by myself and the other by Jordan. Early 2000s romcoms don’t really stand the test of time, do they? We also watched The Prestige and Memento, two Christopher Nolan classics, which were good, of course. We’re also in the process of finishing the Legend of Korra, which we will watch after I send this blog out. Jordan made some delicious pulled pork and, in the process, used six different bowls, two cutting boards, and four pots. Dwight won our weekly game of Wingspan, and Kayla was on duty for pancake making this weekend.
Also on the work side of things, we successfully detected a Verbesina plant in dense naupaka with a UAS, which is exciting. We continually seek to implement new tools and techniques that enable us to perform our work while minimizing potential impact on wildlife. We treated my least favorite restoration area this week, but wasp stings were avoided, which was also sweet.
As for birds, no new arrivals or visitors. The wind wasn’t exactly blowing in a favorable direction this past week, but the upcoming forecast looks promising. Seriously, where are the Pectoral Sandpipers!? Bonin Petrel numbers continue to increase, and Christmas Shearwaters are fledging all over the place! As the last day of summer comes to a close, I’ll be listening to some Earth, Wind, and Fire — and catching the sunset accompanied by the coolest birds in the world.
A hui hou!
Nick
