"Without a doubt Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge is a national treasure—one of the top wildlife spectacles to be found on Earth! Due to previous inaccessibility, this subtropical paradise is virtually unknown to nature photographers and wildlife watchers alike. A visit here is a fantastic opportunity for astounding wildlife experiences and incredible nature imagery!
Located 2,800 miles west-southwest of San Francisco, 2,200 miles east of Tokyo and 1,250 miles northwest of Honolulu, the “Midway Islands” are appropriately named for their strategic location at the midpoint of the Pacific Ocean. Millions of nesting seabirds and shorebirds migrating from the Arctic find refuge here as, formerly, did the US Navy. The naval presence focused a great deal of public attention on this isolated outpost in mid-ocean and, indeed, Midway played a pivotal role in the outcome of World War II.
In spite of major disruption by war, US Navy operations, installation of giant airplane runways, and several obsolete commercial interests, Midway's birds have remained a constant and amazing presence. Eighteen seabird species that number nearly three million birds nest at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge each year—and of that number almost a million are Laysan albatrosses. Considering the size of the tiny islands, this is a truly enormous population of breeding birds. Today, the refuge supports the world’s largest nesting concentrations of Laysan and black-footed albatrosses, white terns and Bonin petrels." Joe Van Os
Credit Joe Van Os www.photosafaris.com
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