by Kevin McBride Pahanaumokuakea Marine Debris Project 2025
Most of the islands in Papahānaumokuākea are low, sandy and ephemeral. The ocean moves them around from year to year like a potter moves clay. Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll), for the entire duration of my adult life, has had three islands within the atoll: Sand Island, Eastern Island, and Spit Island. Sand Island is (artificially) the largest island, with all the infrastructure and a 10,000 ft runway which is kept open for transpacific emergency plane landings. Eastern Island is the second largest island, and was the primary runway during WWII, however, has been stripped of its infrastructure and has been allowed to return to a natural state. Spit Island, the smallest, was a coal depot for steamships in the early days and was separated from Eastern Island by a small channel which we deemed the “lazy river”.
When Covid hit, we did not visit Kuaihelani for a few years, and the atoll took the opportunity to change a few things around. When we returned for the first time post-covid, Eastern and Spit Islands had joined forces. Gone was the lazy river, and the vegetation from both islands began to merge. Our long-standing NOAA shoreline accumulation plots, (300m segments which allowed us to measure annual accumulation) were thrown into chaos as the beaches blended. Today was no exception. Because we are cleaning Kuaihelani exactly 1 year since our last cleanup here, we have a unique opportunity to measure exactly 1 year of accumulation. So naturally, we resurrected the old NOAA shoreline plots, only to discover how far off they now were from reality…
New shoreline segments were required to accommodate the new shoreline, and the team soldiered on in the gray icy wind, cleaning all [the island formerly known as Spit] in one day. We were happy to note that the debris accumulation on Spit was light. This was nice, considering that many of the Hawaiian monk seal moms with new pups like to hang out there, and the primary ‘ewa'ewa (sooty tern) colony is located on Spit. With our cleanups today, that's a wrap on all Eastern and Spit Islands. We now turn our attention to Sand Island and will work to finish surveying the fringing reef in the coming days.
Mahalo to Kau'i Aguiar for more daily food-for-thought:
ʻŌlelo Noʻeau o ka lā: I kanaka no ʻoe ke mālama I ke kanaka
Translation: You will be well served when you care for the person who serves you
Blurb: This ʻŌlelo Noʻeau, reminds us that true humanity is shown through reciprocal care and respect. It emphasizes the importance of valuing those who support us and the joy of responding in kind. By nurturing others, we strengthen our communities and affirm our own humanity in the process.
ʻŌlelo o ka lā: ʻOhana
Translation: Family
Blurb: We spend a lot of time together in harsh conditions and remote places. It is natural that we develop familial relationship with one another. One of the best thing about working for PMDP is being able to collaborate with the folks who you trust and care about.
Today's Numbers:
1,730 lbs removed
Running Total:
26,840 lbs
Mahalo for following along! For more media and tidbits, take a look at our storymap here: https://www.pmdphawaii.org/follow-the-journey
-Kevin, James, and the PMDP Team