Field Notes: Science and Stewardship in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

On April 15, the NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette departed for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to support research and recovery of endangered Hawaiian monk seals and green sea turtles. During its voyage, the Sette will deploy field biologists and their equipment at five sites: French Frigate Shoals, Laysan Island, Lisianski Island, Pearl and Hermes Reef, and Kure Atoll. For the next three to five months, these dedicated researchers will assess populations of Hawaiian monk seals and sea turtles from remote island locations in the middle of the Pacific. 

Here are their notes from the field:

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Partnering with USFWS

Biologist David Link from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service joined the Sette's latest expedition. He helped us load equipment from each field camp, and surveyed seabirds and endangered land birds, invasive plants, and ant species on each island refuge. He even revisited this 1961 photo study on Laysan Island, showing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's native vegetation outplanting. NOAA and U.S. FWS will use this information to advise management and prioritize biological research of these remote islands.

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Picking up the field camps

We are happy to report that we picked up all field camps scheduled on this voyage of the Sette: Pearl and Hermes Reef, Lisianski Island, and Laysan Island. Our field biologists have been living on deserted islands (literally!) for the past four months. It's a rewarding job: collecting valuable data, tagging seals, and rescuing seals in need. But these biologists sacrifice a lot when they leave the comforts of home to spend an entire field season in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Check out the following updates to find out what the field biologists missed the most about home and how they enjoyed passing their time on the deserted islands.  

Pearl & Hermes Reef 

The biologists stationed on Pearl and Hermes Reef missed hot, freshwater showers, fresh crisp salads, ice cream, and above all, family and friends. Their favorite camp activities included dinners on the beach during sunset and "Blue Planet Tuesdays" with tea and popcorn.

Lisianski Island  

The Lisianski Island biologists missed their pets and road trips. If you've ever had island fever, just think how much you would miss road tripping on an island only three miles around. Their favorite camp activities included crafting, movies, and cooking up creative dishes from the camp provisions.

Laysan Island

On Laysan Island, the team missed fruits and vegetables or really, any textured food. Canned foods may be nutritious, but they lack the crisp and crunch of fresh produce. Their favorite camp activities included making up and celebrating holidays. "Christmas in July" was a real camp pleaser with holiday carols, crepe cake, and presents made from marine debris gathered off the beaches.

French Frigate Shoals

Most of the team on French Frigate Shoals will remain at camp until the next Sette mission picks them up in October. However, we did swap out one crew member this time. He missed beer the most alcohol is not allowed in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. His favorite camp activities included catching every sunset of the season and having Sunday morning coffee on the pier with the sharks. 

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The Beginning of the End (of the field season)

On her return mission to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, the NOAA Ship Sette stopped at French Frigate Shoals to resupply the camp, trade out staff, and conduct a few science projects. Some juvenile seals don't get enough food to thrive at these remote islands, especially at French Frigate Shoals, so it is important for scientists to research how seals use their habitat and search for food here. To study their behavior, we deploy satellite trackers and special underwater cameras designed for marine mammals. Our team retrieved two of those seal cameras earlier this year.

We outfitted one subadult male seal (Y76F) with a camera and a satellite tracker and we hope to get the camera back on the Sette's return visit to French Frigate Shoals. Stay tuned to find out if the French Frigate Shoals team can find the seal and the camera before the ship returns (Video: NOAA Fisheries). 

Juvenile male seal (Y2JU) took a long foraging trip from French Frigate Shoals to Brooks Banks (about 40 miles away). This video shows Y2JU stopping to forage along his all-night journey (Video: NOAA Fisheries).

In this video, we get the seal's-eye view of the colorful variety of fishes populating the reefs and banks of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (Video: NOAA Fisheries).

This video shows juvenile male seal Y2JU swimming and diving as he searches the reef for prey to eat (Video: NOAA Fisheries).

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Turtle Measurement

NOAA Fisheries sea turtle researchers, Lindsey Bull (left) and Marylou Staman (right), measure the length of a female green sea turtle (honu) basking on Tern Island. They can often identify the sex of a turtle by the length of its tail; male turtles have significantly longer tails. On Tern Island, 2T is the second female (short tail) and 17TM is the 17th male (long tail) identified. The field research team is spending 6 months on the main nesting beach in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and will tag all females nesting on French Frigate Shoals. This will show us the abundance of turtles in Hawai'i.

When it isn't breeding season, many of these turtles call the main Hawaiian Islands home and can be seen foraging in water or resting on beaches near you! We want to know where they're spending their time. Please email respectwildlife@noaa.gov if you see a sea turtle with a number on its carapace; include (1) the turtle number (photograph the turtle with its number from a safe distance) and (2) location (GPS coordinate preferred). #HonuCount2018

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Turtle ID

NOAA Fisheries sea turtle researcher, Jan Willem Staman, sneaks up on a green sea turtle basking on East Island within French Frigate Shoals to give her a unique identifier - a number on her shell. Each day, the field researchers conduct surveys of all sea turtles basking on the island and give each of them a number. They etch the number into the carapace of a green sea turtle with a tool like a Dremel drill at a nail salon, and top it with non-toxic paint so it "pops" (so it's easy to see).

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Madame Lancelot

In their regular rounds around the Atoll, the field biologists at Pearl and Hermes observed a juvenile female Hawaiian monk seal (DH24) with an abscess roughly the size of a grapefruit between her shoulder blades. An abscess is a pocket of infection that can contain cellular debris, fluid, and bacteria; a combination also commonly known as "pus." Lancing abscesses on monk seals is far from glamorous work, but it makes a big difference for the seal's comfort and welfare. Sometimes, when abscesses grow too large, they impair a seal's movement (and can thus impact feeding). Abscesses can even erupt internally, leading to a full-body infection. For DH24, we grew concerned when her abscess had not started to drain on its own and she started to show signs that it was impacting her day to day life. So the field scientists lanced it (opened it and drained it) and administered antibiotics. UPDATE: DH24 was resighted on 5/31. Her abscess had drained even further and she is moving around comfortably and looks bright and healthy!

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A Rare Mother's Day on Laysan Island

Early news from the field! We had a rare sighting of a 5-year old female with a pup on Laysan Island. The youngest known age for a monk seal to become a mom is 5 years. The last time this happened on Laysan was 27 years ago! We only have seven other records where a 5-year old female gave birth in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, though some moms outside the range of our study remain a mystery.

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The Seals of Mullet

On this expedition alone, our UAS team has performed 26 flights totaling over 270 minutes, producing over 2700 photos of seal habitat and over 100 individual Hawaiian monk seals. These photos provide valuable information on size, age, number, and condition of the seals. Some photos have allowed us to identify seals that have been tagged. Others will allow us in the years to come to identify seals by their unique coloration and distinct markings. We're still experimenting to find the best altitude. This photo was taken at an altitude of 10 meters (~33 feet) above Mullet Islet, French Frigate Shoals. This mission's UAS team consisted of Pilots: Mission Commander Rory Driskell (PIFSC); Pilot in Command Mark Sullivan (PIFSC); Visual Observer Allie Northey (PIFSC); NOAA Ship R335 Oscar Elton Sette Crew: Lead Fisherman Mills Dunlap as Small Boat Coxswain and GVA Jeremiah Howard as Small Boat Crewman.

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Days 20 and 21: The Cliffs of Nihoa

As the NOAA Ship Sette transited down the island chain toward Honolulu, we had an opportunity to survey Nihoa for Hawaiian monk seals with the unmanned aerial system (UAS). Carefully navigating through fog and around 900-foot vertical cliffs, the team scanned all sectors of the island where there might be monk seals. While the UAS team piloted the drone above, the shore team powered through the rain, applying bleach marks and flipper tags to identify individual monk seals. Back onboard the ship, Doc's spicy tom yum soup warmed our bellies and we prepped to return home.

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Days 17 and 18: Seal TV

Earlier this week, our French Frigate Shoals team retrieved the "seal cam" (video camera mounted to the back of a Hawaiian monk seal) from seal YR29 while aboard the Sette. Seal cams are valuable instruments for documenting monk seal foraging behavior and habitat use. When the ship returned to French Frigate Shoals, we downloaded the video and enjoyed an evening of entertainment watching seal TV starring YR29 and his monk seal friends!

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Day 12: Kure Atoll

We arrived at Kure Atoll, the most remote of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, and the northern-most coral atoll in the world. Our lone scientist Keelan set up his tent and essential gear to settle in safely for the night. The other scientists on island (from the Hawai'i Department of Land and Natural Resources) were super helpful as usual getting Keelan settled in. The vet team searched, but did not find any rehab candidates on Green Island.

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Day 11: Midway Atoll