![Hawaiianislandchain_USGS](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Hawaiianislandchain_USGS.png)
The Pearl and Hermes Atoll ( haw, Holoikauaua), also known as Pearl and Hermes Reef, is part of the
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands or Leeward Hawaiian Islands are a series of islands and atolls in the Hawaiian island chain located northwest (in some cases, far to the northwest) of the islands of Kauai and Niihau. Politically, they are all p ...
, a group of small islands and atolls that form the farthest northwest portion of the
Hawaiian island chain. The atoll consists of a variable number of flat and sandy
islet
An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanent ...
s, typically between five and seven. More were noted in historical sources but have since been lost to
erosion
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...
and
rising sea levels
Rising may refer to:
* Rising, a stage in baking - see Proofing (baking technique)
*Elevation
* Short for Uprising, a rebellion
Film and TV
* "Rising" (''Stargate Atlantis''), the series premiere of the science fiction television program ''Starga ...
.
The atoll is named after ''Pearl'' and , a pair of
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
whaleships that wrecked there in 1822. It has been the site of at least eight known shipwrecks, including the
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese ''Wiji Maru'', SS ''Quartette'', and most recently the M/V ''Casitas'', which ran aground on the reef in 2005.
The atoll is an important habitat for seabirds, marine life, and invertebrate species. Twenty-two bird species nest and breed on the islands, including twenty percent of the world's population of
black-footed albatross
The black-footed albatross (''Phoebastria nigripes'') is a large seabird of the albatross family Diomedeidae from the North Pacific. All but 2.5% of the population is found among the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It is one of three species of al ...
es. The atoll has historically been included with the rest of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands in conservation efforts. It is included in the
Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument
The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM) (roughly ) is a World Heritage Site, World Heritage listed National Monument (United States), U.S. National Monument encompassing of ocean waters, including ten islands and atolls of th ...
, created in 2006.
Ghost net
Ghost nets are fishing nets that have been abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded in the ocean. These nets, often nearly invisible in the dim light, can be left tangled on a rocky reef or drifting in the open sea. They can entangle fish, dolp ...
s and other fishing debris, rising sea levels, and the invasive algae ''
Chondria tumulosa
''Chondria tumulosa'' is a species of red algae in the family Rhodomelacae. It was first discovered in 2016, growing in small patches in the Pearl and Hermes Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. By 2019, the species had spread to cover se ...
'' pose a significant risk to the atoll and its wildlife.
Geography
![Starr 990614-0877 Eragrostis paupera](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Starr_990614-0877_Eragrostis_paupera.jpg)
The Pearl and Hermes Atoll is the third northernmost
atoll
An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gr ...
of Hawaii, behind
Midway and
Kure
is a port and major shipbuilding city situated on the Seto Inland Sea in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. With a strong industrial and naval heritage, Kure hosts the second-oldest naval dockyard in Japan and remains an important base for the Japan M ...
, approximately northwest of
Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
and east-southeast of Midway Atoll.
Like the rest of the Hawaiian Islands, the atoll observes
Hawaii Standard Time
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
. In total, Pearl and Hermes has about of land and almost of coral reef habitat.
The
fringing coral reef which surrounds the atoll is roughly in circumference and open to the west.
The atoll's land area consists of several small islands which are periodically washed over when winter storms pass, along with several ephemeral sand spits.
The islets are low and flat, with an average elevation of no more than in 2012, and there are no sources of fresh water on any of them.
As of 2012, according to the
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...
(USGS), the atoll consists of five islands.
Earlier sources note the presence of other islets, including a Sand Island and a Bird Island.
From largest to smallest, the five remaining islands are Southeast Island (), Seal-Kittery () North Island (), Grass Island (), and Little North Island ().
Only the three largest islands have vegetation.
Comma-shaped North Island is the atoll's northernmost island. Little North Island lies to the southeast, less than away. Southeast Island lies approximately to the southeast of Little North. Grass Island approximately east, and Seal Kittery just under to the east of that.
Nomenclature
The atoll is named for the ships ''Pearl'' and , which were wrecked upon it in 1822.
The Hawaiian-language name for the atoll, ''Holoikauaua'', was established in the late 1990s by the
Hawaiian Lexicon Committee
Hawaiian may refer to:
* Native Hawaiians, the current term for the indigenous people of the Hawaiian Islands or their descendants
* Hawaii state residents, regardless of ancestry (only used outside of Hawaii)
* Hawaiian language
Historic uses
...
following an effort to restore traditional Hawaiian names which had been lost, misspelled, or replaced with foreign names. Because its original Hawaiian name was not known, the Committee conferred the new name of ''Holoikauaua'' to the atoll, in reference to the
Hawaiian monk seal
The Hawaiian monk seal (''Neomonachus schauinslandi'') is an endangered species of earless seal in the family Phocidae that is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.
The Hawaiian monk seal is one of two extant monk seal species; the other is the Med ...
which frequents the waters there.
History
Initial discovery
The atoll was discovered in 1822 when the English whaleships ''Pearl'' and ''Hermes'' ran aground on the surrounding reefs. The two ships had been en route to Japan from Honolulu through the uncharted waters of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Sometime late in the evening of April 24 or early in the morning of April 25, the 258-ton ''Hermes'' ran aground on an unseen reef. Shortly thereafter, the 327-ton ''Pearl'' also ran aground when it approached to provide assistance.
The combined crews of both ships, some 57 sailors, were marooned on an unspecified island nearby for several months. During that time, James Robinson, a
carpenter's mate
Carpenter's mate (CM) was a United States Navy rating throughout the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.
The rating was established in 1797, and separate pay grades were implemented in 1893. The sleeve insignia for the rating de ...
, directed the construction of a small 30-ton vessel from the wreckage. Some accounts provide the name of the vessel as ''Drift'', while others state it was called ''Deliverance''.
On July 1, before the beach-built vessel could be launched, the passing ship ''Earl of Morby'' was sighted. 46 of the sailors took passage on the ''Earl of Morby'', but Robinson and eleven others opted to purchase the vessel they had built and sail it back to Honolulu in the hopes of recovering some of the losses incurred by the wreck.
The sailors managed to sail the small vessel back to the main Hawaiian islands without further loss of life.
They sold it for $2,000
USD
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
. Robinson remained in Honolulu, and founded the James Robinson and Company shipyard there in 1827.
King Kamehameha III
Kamehameha III (born Kauikeaouli) (March 17, 1814 – December 15, 1854) was the third king of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1825 to 1854. His full Hawaiian name is Keaweaweula Kīwalaō Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa and then lengthened to Keaweaweula Kī ...
of Hawaii claimed the atoll by proclamation in 1854.
In 1857, it was surveyed by the crew of the Hawaiian
schooner
A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...
''Manuokawai''.
The United States took possession of the atoll in 1859 by way of Captain N.C. Brooks and his ship ''Gambia''. Brooks reported that the atoll had eleven or twelve islets, and that some of them had trees and coarse
grass
Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...
.
In 1867, the crew of the ''Laconda'' produced the first reliable chart of the reef, which was published by the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
.
Entrepreneurs from a rabbit canning business intentionally released rabbits on Southeast Island in 1894, where they devoured all the island's vegetation. This was the first documented instance of
mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
s being introduced to the atoll.
The
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese schooner ''Wiji Maru'' was wrecked on the atoll in 1904, destroying the ship and its cargo of feathers. There was no loss of life, however.
In 1916, crew members from the ''Thetis'' reported that they had spotted rabbits and Japanese fishing huts on Southeast Island. In 1923, the vessels of the
Tanager Expedition
The ''Tanager'' Expedition was a series of five biological surveys of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands conducted in partnership between the Bureau of Biological Survey and the Bishop Museum, with the assistance of the United States Navy. Four ex ...
stopped at the atoll and killed "all but one rabbit on Southeast Island."
Exploitation of oysters
![Pinctada_margaritifera,_Aquarium_Finisterrae,_Galicia,_Spain](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Pinctada_margaritifera%2C_Aquarium_Finisterrae%2C_Galicia%2C_Spain.jpg)
In 1927, Captain
William Greig Anderson of the Lanikai Fishing Company was fishing for
tuna
A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: ...
and in the process, discovered beds of
black-lip pearl oysters in the atoll.
He reported that they were rich with
pearl
A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...
s – the only pearl beds in the United States. Anderson formed a trading company to capitalize on his find. Over the next three years, his trading company harvested some 20,000 pearls from the atoll, with the largest of these having a reported value of US$5,000.
Some 150 tons of oyster shells, valued for their shiny
mother-of-pearl
Nacre ( , ), also known as mother of pearl, is an organicinorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer; it is also the material of which pearls are composed. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent.
Nacre is f ...
, were harvested in the process. They were primarily sold to button manufacturers on the United States mainland.
In 1929, oyster harvesting in the atoll was made illegal by the government of the
Territory of Hawaii
The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory ( Hawaiian: ''Panalāʻau o Hawaiʻi'') was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 30, 1900, until August 21, 1959, when most of its territory, excluding ...
.
In 1930, the
United States Bureau of Fisheries
United may refer to:
Places
* United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film
* ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...
decided to conduct a thorough study of the atoll, led by Dr.
Paul Galtsoff.
The
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
loaned the
minesweeper ship ''Whippoorwill'' for the five-week expedition, which covered the reef's geography, flora, and invertebrate and fish populations. A specific emphasis was placed on the pearl oyster population. Only 470 oysters were found. 320 were collected alive, and 150 were opened for examination. An estimated 10% contained pearls.
Based on those findings, the surveyors concluded that Captain Anderson must have harvested between 150,000-200,000 oysters to obtain his reported 20,000 pearls, which had significantly depleted the oyster beds.
The ''Whippoorwill'' expedition documented wildlife aside from the oysters: Dr. Galtsoff's report indicated that they had found
seals
Seals may refer to:
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, or "true seal"
** Fur seal
* Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...
,
shark
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimo ...
s,
sea turtle
Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, ...
s,
albatross
Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacifi ...
es,
booby birds, and numerous species of fish. They did not find any of the trees which Captain Brooks had mentioned in his 1857 report.
Later wrecks
![Quartette_02_noaa_casserley](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Quartette_02_noaa_casserley.jpg)
On December 21, 1952, the ''SS Quartette'', a
Liberty ship
Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass ...
weighing 7,198 tons, struck the eastern reef of the atoll at a speed of . The ship was driven further onto the reef by rough waves and winds, which collapsed the forward bow and damaged two forward holds. The crew was evacuated by the ''SS Frontenac Victory'' the following day. The
salvage tug
A salvage tug, known also historically as a wrecking tug, is a specialized type of tugboat that is used to rescue ships that are in distress or in danger of sinking, or to salvage ships that have already sunk or run aground.
Overview
Few tugbo ...
''Ono'' arrived on December 25 to attempt to tow the ship clear, but persistent stormy weather forced a delay of the rescue attempt. On January 3, before another rescue attempt could be made, the ship's anchors tore loose and the ''Quartette'' was blown onto the reef. It was deemed a
total loss
In insurance claims, a total loss or write-off is a situation where the lost value, repair cost or salvage cost of a damaged property exceeds its insured value, and simply replacing the old property with a new equivalent is more cost-effecti ...
. Several weeks later, it snapped in half at the
keel
The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...
and the two pieces sank. The wreck site now serves as an
artificial reef
An artificial reef is a human-created underwater structure, typically built to promote marine life in areas with a generally featureless bottom, to control erosion, block ship passage, block the use of trawling nets, or improve surfing.
Many re ...
which provides a habitat for many fish species.
![MV_Casitas_aground_on_Pearl_and_Hermes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/MV_Casitas_aground_on_Pearl_and_Hermes.jpg)
On July 2, 2005, the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
- (NOAA) chartered research vessel ''M/V Casitas'' ran aground on the north end of the atoll.
The ship was carrying large quantities of
gasoline
Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...
,
diesel fuel
Diesel fuel , also called diesel oil, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a result of compression of the inlet air and t ...
, and
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
, which posed a substantial risk of leaking. Leak-prevention and extraction efforts led by the
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...
(USCG) in conjunction with other
United States Government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...
and
State of Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
agencies began immediately. Although several people on board were forced to evacuate the ship, there was no loss of life. The initial grounding, combined with the rescue efforts, caused extensive damage to the reef including "breakage of coral heads, scouring of the substrate, and injury to the reef structure itself". The ship was fully removed from the atoll on August 4, 2005, but was too damaged for
salvage. She was towed to a site northwest of Pearl and Hermes Atoll approved by the
Environmental Protection Agency
A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...
(EPA), where she was sunk in waters over deep. Efforts to remove remaining debris and repair the reef began in 2011.
[
]
Site exploration
In 2004, divers from NOAA located wreckage believed to be from the ''Pearl'' during a debris removal dive. They were not able to complete a full survey at the time due to the challenging site environment. The same dive team also located the wreck site of an unknown fishing vessel during the same trip, which they nicknamed the "Oshima" site as some of the components located were similar to the Japanese "Oshima" design. Among the components located were "a six-cylinder Atlas Imperial diesel and machinery scatter, propeller shaft and propeller, a marine propulsion plant popular in the early decades of the 20th century." Researchers theorized that the wreckage was an East Asian fishing vessel that struck the reef sometime after 1918, based on the age of the components.
Maritime archaeologists from the NOAA returned to the wreck site of the ''Pearl'' in 2005 and 2006 to conduct further surveys. The 2005 survey was based on the NOAA research vessel ''Hiʻialakai''. The same group also attempted to survey the nearby site of the ''Hermes'', but were prevented by poor weather conditions. A number of artifacts were found at the ''Pearl'' site, including anchor
An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...
s, two cannon
A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
s, and large try pot
A try pot is a large pot used to remove and render the oil from blubber obtained from cetaceans (whales and dolphins) and pinnipeds (seals), and also to extract oil from penguins. Once a suitable animal such as a whale had been caught and killed ...
s for rendering whale blubber
Blubber is a thick layer of vascularized adipose tissue under the skin of all cetaceans, pinnipeds, penguins, and sirenians.
Description
Lipid-rich, collagen fiber-laced blubber comprises the hypodermis and covers the whole body, except for pa ...
. Many smaller artifacts were found actually embedded into the coral of the reef. The 2006 survey focused on completing a full site plan of the wreckage. In contrast to the scattered state of the ''Hermes'' site, the artifacts of the ''Pearl'' site are grouped roughly in the same configuration that they would have had on the intact ship, with site length being approximately the length the ship would have been.
In 2008, NOAA maritime archaeologists returned to the site of the ''Hermes'' to complete the survey begun in 2005. The site was confirmed to be located about to the west of the ''Pearl'' site. A full site plan was completed, and both photographs and high definition video were made. The site contained similar artifacts to those found at the site of the ''Pearl'', including two anchors and four cannons. At least 33 cannonballs were found, stored in linear racks, as well as stores of musket balls
A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...
. Finally, some 150 iron ballast pieces were found. The extremely scattered state of the wreckage seems to confirm that the ''Hermes'' broke apart quickly and scattered with force across the sea floor.
Flora and fauna
Plant life
The islets of the Pearl and Hermes Atoll support thirteen native plant species and seven introduced species
An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...
, including coastal grasses, vines, and herbal plants. Invasive plant species are considered a major conservation issue on the atoll, as they often out-compete and replace native species. As an example, ''Setaria verticillata
''Setaria verticillata'' is a species of grass known by the common names hooked bristlegrass, rough bristle-grass and bristly foxtail. It is native to Europe, but it is known on most continents as an introduced species and often a noxious weed. I ...
'', an undesirable noxious weed
A noxious weed, harmful weed or injurious weed is a weed that has been designated by an agricultural or other governing authority as a plant that is injurious to agricultural or horticultural crops, natural habitats or ecosystems, or humans or liv ...
, has displaced the native grass ''Eragrostis variabilis
''Eragrostis variabilis'' is a species of grass known by the common names variable lovegrass, ''kawelu'', ''emoloa'', and ''kalamalo''. It is endemic to Hawaii, where it occurs on all the main islands plus Kure Atoll, Midway Atoll, Pearl and Herm ...
'' on Southeast Island. An illegal landing by the military in the 1960s brought invasive field mustard
''Sinapis arvensis'', the charlock mustard, field mustard, wild mustard, or charlock, is an annual or winter annual plant of the genus ''Sinapis'' in the family Brassicaceae. It is found in the fields of North Africa, Asia and Europe. ''Pieris r ...
seeds from Midway Atoll, which had to be removed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with oth ...
. The flowering plant ''Verbesina encelioides
''Verbesina encelioides'' is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. The species is native to many parts of the United States and Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern po ...
'' has been identified as a major invasive threat since at least 2001. Although it provides food and nesting space for small songbirds, it poses a significant threat of entanglement to native seabirds, so removal is considered a priority for conservation purposes.
Avian life
The Pearl and Hermes Atoll is an important nesting area for many seabirds. Approximately 160,000 birds from 22 different species are known to live and breed on the Atoll. Tristram's storm petrel
Tristram's storm petrel or ''akihikeehiale'' (''Hydrobates tristrami'') is a species of seabird in the storm petrel family Hydrobatidae. The species' common and scientific name is derived from the English clergyman Henry Baker Tristram; the specie ...
s and black-footed albatross
The black-footed albatross (''Phoebastria nigripes'') is a large seabird of the albatross family Diomedeidae from the North Pacific. All but 2.5% of the population is found among the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It is one of three species of al ...
es are among the most prominent. In 2001, it was reported that twenty percent of the world's population of black-footed albatrosses nested on Pearl and Hermes. Pearl and Hermes also hosts one of two known sites where little tern
The little tern (''Sternula albifrons'') is a seabird of the family Laridae. It was formerly placed into the genus ''Sterna'', which now is restricted to the large white terns. The genus name is a diminutive of ''Sterna'', "tern". The specific '' ...
s nest in Hawaii. In addition, the endangered Laysan finch
The Laysan finch (''Telespiza cantans'') is a species of Hawaiian honeycreeper, that is endemic to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It is one of four remaining finch-billed Hawaiian honeycreepers and is closely related to the smaller Nihoa fin ...
was introduced to the island in 1967 to provide a backup population of these birds, should a hurricane, disease, rat introduction, or other disaster wipe out the population on the island of Laysan
Laysan (; haw, italics=no, Kauō ), located northwest of Honolulu at , is one of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It comprises one land mass of , about in size. It is an atoll of sorts, although the land completely surrounds a shallow c ...
.
Invertebrates
The Pearl and Hermes Atoll provides an extensive and unique habitat for invertebrates, including various sponges and thirty-three species of stony coral
Scleractinia, also called stony corals or hard corals, are marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria that build themselves a hard skeleton. The individual animals are known as polyps and have a cylindrical body crowned by an oral disc in which a ...
s. Some invasive invertebrate species have been found on the reef, including the orange-striped sea anemone, which is native to Japan, and the Christmas tree hydroid, which competes with native invertebrates for space.
The atoll was once heavily populated with black-lip pearl oysters, but overfishing from 1927–1930 caused the population to crash to only 470 in 1930. An expedition in 1950 turned up only six live oysters, and another in 1969 only found one. Surveys in 1994 and 2000 also found only a few oysters, and a full analysis by the NOAA in 2003 concluded that the population has never recovered to pre-harvesting levels.
Other wildlife
The Pearl and Hermes Atoll supports breeding populations of endangered Hawaiian monk seals and sea turtles. Spinner dolphin
The spinner dolphin (''Stenella longirostris'') is a small dolphin found in off-shore tropical waters around the world. It is famous for its acrobatic displays in which it rotates around its longitudinal axis as it leaps through the air. It is a ...
s are known to mate in the area. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, "the atoll has the highest standing stock of fish and the highest number of fish species in the NWHI", including sabre squirrelfish, various eel
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
s, Galapagos shark
The Galapagos shark (''Carcharhinus galapagensis'') is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, found worldwide. It favors clear reef environments around oceanic islands, where it is often the most abundant shark species. A larg ...
s, Sandbar shark
The sandbar shark (''Carcharhinus plumbeus'') also known as the brown shark or thickskin shark, is a species of requiem shark, and part of the family Carcharhinidae, native to the Atlantic Ocean and the Indo-Pacific. It is distinguishable by its ...
s, giant trevally
The giant trevally (''Caranx ignobilis''), also known as the lowly trevally, barrier trevally, ronin jack, giant kingfish or ''ulua'', is a species of large marine fish classified in the jack family, Carangidae. The giant trevally is distributed ...
or ulua, angelfish, āweoweo or Hawaiian bigeyes, parrotfish
Parrotfishes are a group of about 90 fish species regarded as a Family (biology), family (Scaridae), or a subfamily (Scarinae) of the wrasses. With about 95 species, this group's largest species richness is in the Indo-Pacific. They are found ...
, and various types of lobster
Lobsters are a family (biology), family (Nephropidae, Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae) of marine crustaceans. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs ...
s. Although they are rare in the rest of the Hawaiian Islands, masked angelfish and Japanese angelfish are common in the Pearl and Hermes Atoll.
In 2016, scientists from the Bishop Museum
The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. Founded in 1889, it is the lar ...
, working with the NOAA, described a new species of butterflyfish
The butterflyfish are a group of conspicuous tropical marine fish of the family Chaetodontidae; the bannerfish and coralfish are also included in this group. The approximately 129 species in 12 genera are found mostly on the reefs of the Atlant ...
found off the Pearl and Hermes Atoll, at a depth of . It was named '' Prognathodes basabei'' in honor of diver Pete Basabe, who provided support to the dives that first discovered the species.
Conservation efforts
Because of its small size, Pearl and Hermes Atoll has typically not been singled out for individual environmental protection; historically, it has been bundled with the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as a protected region. The region was first protected in 1909 when U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
created the Hawaiian Islands Bird Reservation through , which included Pearl and Hermes Atoll. Over the next century, protection of the region increased incrementally, culminating in President George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
signing Proclamation 8031 in 2006, designating the waters of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands a national monument under the 1906 Antiquities Act
The Antiquities Act of 1906 (, , ), is an act that was passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt on June 8, 1906. This law gives the President of the United States the authority to, by presidential procla ...
.
Threats
Derelict fishing gear (ghost net
Ghost nets are fishing nets that have been abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded in the ocean. These nets, often nearly invisible in the dim light, can be left tangled on a rocky reef or drifting in the open sea. They can entangle fish, dolp ...
s) and other types of marine debris
Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human-created waste that has deliberately or accidentally been released in a sea or ocean. Floating oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the center of gyres and on coastlines, frequently washing ...
have had a major impact on the reefs and associated fauna of the atoll. Pearl and Hermes Atoll is considered a high-risk entanglement zone for monk seals. Efforts have been undertaken to lessen the threat of this growing problem, including attempts at prevention as well as recurring debris removal projects. A multi-agency study was launched in 1999 to remove and catalogue debris from the water surrounding Lisianski Island
Lisianski Island ( Hawaiian: ''Papa‘āpoho'') is one of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, with a land area of and a maximum elevation of above sea level. It is a low, flat sand and coral island about northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii. The isla ...
and Pearl and Hermes Atoll. During this project, a total of of debris was removed from reefs and beaches around Pearl and Hermes. In 2000, the joint NOAA and NMFS Derelict Fishing Net Removal Project was launched, with the objective of removing fishing debris from the atoll and identifying any non-native species. In 2003, of marine debris was removed from the Pearl and Hermes reefs. In 2014, a net tangle weighing was located in the atoll. It was long, wide, and deep, and took three days to dismantle and remove.
Rising sea level is also a major concern for the atoll due to the extremely low elevation of most of the islands. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
projects that sea level will rise by the year 2100. Southeast Island is only above sea level, and would be almost entirely submerged if sea levels rise that much. The other islets would also lose significant amounts of land area. Estimates of total land area loss range from 15% to 65% in a scenario of median sea-level rise, threatening the habitats of monk seals, sea turtles, and nesting birds.
In 2016, a mysterious new red algae
Red algae, or Rhodophyta (, ; ), are one of the oldest groups of eukaryotic algae. The Rhodophyta also comprises one of the largest phyla of algae, containing over 7,000 currently recognized species with taxonomic revisions ongoing. The majority ...
species known as ''Chondria tumulosa
''Chondria tumulosa'' is a species of red algae in the family Rhodomelacae. It was first discovered in 2016, growing in small patches in the Pearl and Hermes Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. By 2019, the species had spread to cover se ...
'' was spotted growing on the reefs. By 2019, it had smothered and killed large amounts of reef on the northeast section of the atoll. Analysis of the species and management techniques will be required to prevent the species from taking over other reefs on the atoll and the rest of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands.
Climate
Because there are no weather stations on the Pearl and Hermes Atoll, the following climate information is taken from sources for the Midway Atoll, which is approximately north-northwest of Pearl and Hermes. Like Midway, Pearl and Hermes has a tropical savanna climate
Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...
(Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
classification ''Aw''). The atoll has no cold season. Its wet season corresponds to the high-sun months, and its dry season corresponds to the low-sun months.
See also
* Desert island
A desert island, deserted island, or uninhabited island, is an island, islet or atoll that is not permanently populated by humans. Uninhabited islands are often depicted in films or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereot ...
* Lists of islands
This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water
A body of water or waterbody (often spelled water body) is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another plane ...
References
External links
Pearl and Hermes Atoll
* ttps://www.census.gov Pearl and Hermes Atoll: Blocks 1015 thru 1022, Census Tract 114.98, Honolulu County, Hawaii United States Census Bureau.
Google Street View images from the Atoll
{{Authority control
Pearl and Hermes Atoll
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
Atolls of Hawaii
Coral reefs of the United States
Reefs of the Pacific Ocean
Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain
Miocene volcanoes
Paleogene Oceania
Cenozoic Hawaii
Important Bird Areas of Hawaii