Sunday, February 23, 2014

New Manager

I forgot to mention something a few weeks ago, since the news happened the night that I left for Honolulu.  We have a new manager at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.  Dan Clark will be in charge out here, and his wife is able to join him.  I worked with Dan and Kathy a couple of years ago when he came out on a work detail.   We are happy to have them.    
The wind finally slowed down for a few days, so we got a chance to go survey the reef.  We like to check things out to make sure nothing is amiss out there, so I'll have a few photos other than birds this week.  Don't despair, birders, I'll still put up a couple of bird pics.

Here is a Black-footed albatross chick asking for food.

That little dark line on the horizon is Sand Island (where we live) from the very northern tip of the atoll.  It would be even harder to see if it wasn't covered with ironwood trees.  It was sunny for the early afternoon, but got cloudy later on.  More fish come out of their hiding spots when it's cloudy, so it's not that bad.

This coral is growing very close to the ocean surface.  The water is only about 6 inches deep here.  It's too shallow to snorkel, but there are channels that are deeper that we can swim through.  

The coral in this area is beautiful and healthy.  One of the benefits of the cold winter water is that it is much clearer for photos than in the summer when it's warm.  There is a lot less micro sea life growing in it now.  A wetsuit is a must for most people.

The reflection of the coral on the surface gives a really cool effect.

 Here is a nenue swimming by.  There are a few convict tangs in the background.

There are some nice tide pools on the emergent reef.

 This obviously is the other bird photo.  It's a Northern shoveler with 2 Laysan ducks.

2 comments:

Pete Prellwitz said...

Hey, Pete!

I love the bird pictures as much as I enjoy the building/work/history pictures. And the landscape pictures. But these coral pictures were AWESOME.

Any chance you and I could work something out so you could get me some photos so I can put together a presentation to show at our monthly Dive Club Meeting? I know they'd love it. You can reach me at PeterPrellwitz at ShardsUniverse.net

I can send you whatever info you may need about the club and/or myself. There'd be about 30 divers and dive professionals at the meeting.

Pete Leary said...

Hi Pete, I sent you an email.