Another Medevac

Aside from the normal things going on this week, we also had a medical evacuation.  Someone needed to be evacuated from a container ship that was passing by.  We've also had a few more Laysan ducks become sick from botulism.  So far we've been able to cure them all with antitoxin and food.  We have to check for sick and dead ducks daily, since botulism can spread through maggots from an infected carcass. 
It's the quiet season around here now, until the albatrosses come back in October.  It's quite a bit easier to get around the island now that the birds aren't blocking the roads.  The birds are great, but it's nice to have a little break.  Just like with the seasons, you appreciate the summer a bit more after the winter.

 We're pulling away from the ship after picking up the patient.  It was a bit rough, but at least they had steps for the person to get down to our boat.

 Our fancy state of the art ambulance.

 There are few enough birds around now that the planes can land in the daytime.  The Coast Guard was nice enough to bring us a few supplies when they came.

 The heat waves coming off of the runway give a kind of cool effect on the photo.  You'll have to double click on the picture to make it bigger to see that.

 The brown noddy chicks are starting to hatch.

 Here's a convex crab I found out on the beach. These usually aren't out on land.

This Laysan albatross climbed up on a pile of marine debris.  Maybe it's climbing out of the verbesina to try to catch the wind.

This is the parade field now.  There are only a couple of albatrosses out there.

This was from almost the same spot back in April.