map courtesy of NOAA
Kauai to Midway is 1200 miles northwest
The section outlined is the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument
(pa-pa-HAW-now-moh-koo-A-kay-ah)
The StruggleSo we were waitlisted for 2010 (see Mahalo Laura above), no one cancelled, we were home for the holiday. This year we submitted our name right away. Once we were on the list I figured it was my job to gather what we might need for the work. It can be rainy, it is winter and there is a lot of scrub from downed trees and tall nau paka. They suggested a long sleeve shirt over a T shirt, long pants, shoes and a change of socks in the field and to bring a pack to carry water and spare paint cans. Being covered keeps the skin intact but bring blister care and bandages, too. Apparently all the work clothes gets bright orange or fuscia paint on them, so pack accordingly. But there is a Christmas party so dress up and bring a present!
And, oh by the way you need a valid passport for Midway Atoll. It is considered a US Territory and is not part of the State of Hawaii, surprise to us and most people I have mentioned it to. By now we had to expedite the passport renewal request. The post office here was no help. It was with much angst for about a week that we managed to get it sent in with online forms and photos, ugh! from Costco. Then we held our breath. Money speaks - expedite charges, express mail both ways, and the passport fee has really gone up. This is my fourth passport - I never had such a hassle with it before.
Now, call me very naive but I imagined a small plane to be somewhat like interisland planes here or like we flew in the Bahamas, seeing the islands passing below us. I have been so excited about seeing the island chain as we travelled out almost to the end. I also imagined that a small plane would stop for us in Kauai. Well my imagination and reality were not aligned on this one. The flight is out of Honolulu and they fly high, and they fly at night. This is for the sake of the birds, of course, it makes perfect sense yet I felt a real pang that I would not have that visual of the other islands in my personal data bank. Now I had to book flight to Oahu and back. And since we return in the middle of the night, we need a hotel room too. Good news, new passports have arrived, we got medical evacuation insurance and accident insurance lined up and now we we can return to gathering gear.
The objective is to work in assigned sectors and mark each nest with paint. It is estimated each volunteer will click their paint gun 30,000 times in the three weeks. We are taking gloves and tape to wrap our trigger finger. Since Midway is north of us, it is colder and the water is colder as well. Hosting volunteers year-round, they refuge has plenty of wet suits for us if we get the chance to go in. We will take our own masks since they have built in cameras.
courtesy of FWS
For a really comprehensive view of the islands and a sense of the history check out the Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) site and really maneuver around there:
