Midway Atoll’s volunteer community lost a beloved and valued member on March 26 with the passing of Shirley Doell (right). Shirley’s deep-seated love of the ocean and its winged inhabitants started young. Her sister Kerstin recalls, “She learned to sail as a kid on San Francisco Bay in El Toros ... more
Kupu Interns: Two Paths, One Destination
By Barbara Carr Whitman Two resilient and impassioned women, literally worlds apart. Both instinctively guided to a tiny speck of coral sands in the vast expanse of the Pacific. ʻʻ One traveled over marble floors through huge museum halls adorned with rich textiles and priceless ... more
Ke Alanui Polohiwa a Ka̅ne (Summer Solstice Celebration)
written by Barbara Carr Whitman Ke Alanui Polohiwa a Ka̅ne, or summer solstice, was an occasion of celebration on Pihemanu, which means “din of loud birds” (oh so appropriate!) and is one of two Hawaiian place names for beautiful Midway Atoll. A group of volunteers are learning how the Native ... more
Disappearing Seals: the Mysterious Discovery of Midway Atoll
By Thomas J. Eley, Jr., Ph.D. The discovery of Midway Atoll is clouded in mystery. A sealing expedition by the brig Aiona, which set sail from Hawaiʻi, was thought to have taken the last Hawaiian monk seal (Neomonachus schauinslandi) in 1824. However, an 1859 edition of The Polynesian ... more
