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 Kure
Atoll is the northwesternmost of the Northwestern Hawaiian
Islands and also the northernmost coral atoll in the world.
Also known as Kānemiloha‘i in the Hawaiian language, the
oval-shaped atoll measures 6 miles (10 km) in diameter and
features a circular barrier reef and a shallow lagoon in
its center with a few sand islets. To the neighboring Midway
Atoll it’s about 55 miles (89 km). Green Island is the only
significant land area and is home to thousands of seabirds,
including petrels, tropicbirds, boobies, shearwaters, frigatebirds,
terns, albatrosses and noddies.
Before 1827, about half a dozen ships visited Kure Atoll
and each time gave the atoll a different name. Starting
in 1837, several crews were shipwrecked on the atoll after
their ships ran aground on the reefs surrounding the atoll.
They were stranded there for sometimes up to nine months,
eating turtles, monk seals and birds to survive while constructing
a smaller craft to make the way back to the Main Hawaiian
Islands. Up until today, the shipwrecks remain on the atoll’s
reefs, such as some of Hawaii’s oldest known shipwrecks,
the USS Saginaw (1870) and the whaleship Parker (1842).
After the shipwreck incidents, King Kalakaua sent Colonel
James Boyd as his Special Commissioner to Kure and in 1886,
he took possession of the atoll. In 1894, Kure Atoll was
leased for guano mining; however, no mining was ever done
here. The U.S. acquired Kure Atoll as part of the Territory
of Hawaii in 1989. Twenty years later, in 1909, President
Theodore Roosevelt made Kure part of the Hawaiian Islands
Bird Reservation.
A U.S. Coast Guard LORAN station was located on Green Island
and a short coral runway still remains on the island. However,
it is not being used or maintained any longer.
Even though Kure Atoll lies far to the north of the Main
Hawaiian Islands and in relatively cool waters, there is
still a lot of coral growth. In fact, 28 coral species have
been documented. Large invertebrates such as crustacean,
mollusks and crustacean can be found here as well. The near-shore
reefs are also home to sharks, dolphins, jacks, monk seals,
goatfish, chub, dragon morays, masked angelfish, knifejaws
and the rare native grouper.
 A
constant threat to Kure Atoll is marine debris, since the
atoll lies in the path of a major Pacific current. This
brings tons of debris to the atoll, washing up on the reefs
and beaches posing the threat of entanglement for turtles,
monk seals, fish, lobsters and birds. Debris includes fishing
nets and cigarette lighters, which are frequently swallowed
by the birds, whose skeletons are often found with plastic
in their stomachs. In 2003, 2,700 pounds of debris was removed
from the atoll.
Photo credit: Photos courtesy of Northwestern
Hawaiian Islands Multi-Agency Education Project |
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ALA MOANA BEACH, OAHU
 Ala
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WAILEA BEACH, MAUI
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which means “red hot” or “glowing” in the Hawaiian language, is the name
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