A trip to Wake Island – One of the most remote inhabited places on earth

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Most people have never heard of Wake Island. The few who have are most likely history buffs who know of it for the significant WWII battle between Japan and the United States.

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Today, Wake is basically the quintessential tropical island: an emerald-blue lagoon, palm trees with coconuts (although not native), and a not-so-sandy beach made of several thousand feet of coral built up over tens of millions of years (it’s thought to be one of the world’s oldest atolls). The main infrastructure is a U.S. Air Force airfield used mostly for refueling aircraft transiting the Pacific, and access is nearly impossible unless you’re on official military business.

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How does this all tie into birds, you may ask? Well, the island’s remoteness makes it a critical nesting and resting spot for many seabirds in the central Pacific. A wildlife refuge established in 2009 protects the numerous species found there. Of the atoll’s three islands, Wilkes is where most of these birds nest, including an estimated 300,000+ sooty terns. Masked, brown, and red-footed boobies, blue-billed white terns, red-tailed and white-tailed tropicbirds, frigatebirds, and many others breed there. Unfortunately, during WWII, the atoll’s only flightless and endemic bird, the Wake Island rail, was hunted to extinction.

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Earlier this year I was fortunate to travel to Wake for work and during my stay, access to Wilkes was extremely limited, but I was able to visit the colony a few times with escorts. Photography on the islands is tightly controlled, though I was permitted to photograph birds. I’ve included a few of my favorites.

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I was there in May, midway through the sooty tern nesting season. Walking around the colony, we saw several young chicks and tens of thousands of unhatched eggs. Interestingly, the colony was polka-dotted with sub-areas, each at its own stage: eggs in one, very young chicks in another, and nearly fledged chicks in the next. Quite a few boobies were nesting among the terns, too.

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The number of birds simply blows one’s mind. To avoid disturbing them, we kept to the perimeter. The colony sits on the final approach to the airfield’s single runway, so it’s critical not to give the birds any reason to take flight.

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After two incredible weeks spent with the birds, walking the beaches, and snorkeling some of the most beautiful reefs in the world, the day came to leave, and I boarded the ATI-chartered flight back to Hawaii. Perhaps one day I’ll be able to return.