Working in paradise

As I lay in bed at night listening the all the birds, I think about what a privilege it is to be able to do research on this remote atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. With a relatively small staff on site, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) does a great job supporting the needs of my team as we work.

After TNC purchased the property from a private owner, they turned over all but Cooper Island to U.S. Fish & Wildlife to manage. It is a National Wildlife Refuge for both the terrestrial and the marine environments. The coral reefs surrounding Palmyra are one of the few remaining pristine reefs in the world with lots of top predators (ie. sharks). For scientists, it provides a unique opportunity to study a coral reef system that has not been significantly altered by man.

The terrestrial system is not so pristine since it was heavily altered by the U.S. Navy when it took over the atoll during World War II. One can see the remains of old bunkers along with an assortment of non-degradable trash left by the military. Also the military was probably responsible for introducing rats to the islands. The good news is U.S. Fish & Wildlife along with TNC and Island Conservation took on the heroic task of eradicating all rats from the islands. The project was a great success, and it is hoped that some of the ground nesting birds that stopped reproducing on Palmyra because of the rats will eventually return. In the meantime there are currently 11 species of seabirds that nest on the islands primarily in the native Pisonia trees.

There is a Fish & Wildlife Manager on site whenever research is being done either on land or in the ocean. All projects both underwater and on land require approval through a permit process. Special care is taken to keep any impact on the environment to a minimum with special attention given to preventing the accidental introduction of non-native species of plants and animals.

Sand Island is in the top center, Strawn Island is the long island along the bottom
the three small islands in between are Lesley, Dudley, and Ainsley named after the children of the previous owner