Laysan
- ISS006-E-37905
- 12 March 2003
- 20:06 UTC
Laysan Island lies around 1,300 km northwest of Kaua'i, 105 km west from Maro Reef and 220 km east of Lisianski Island. With an area of about 4.1 km² it is the second largest island in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (after Sand Island at Midway Atoll), and the largest in the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge.
The island is roughly rectangular in shape, with a hypersaline lake of 0.7 km² occupying the centre of the island — which is one of only five natural lakes in the entire Hawaiian Archipelago. Laysan is surrounded by a fringing reef varying from 100 to 500 m in width. The reef, the smallest in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, is most extensive at the northwest end of the island. Inside the reef is a narrow, shallow lagoon-like channel which nearly encircles the island except for the south and southeast sides.
In the 1890's and early 20th-century Laysan and its ecosystem were severely damaged by guano mining, and the collecting of birds feathers and wings, and by the introduction of rabbits. Now the island and its surrounding shallow-water reef system are strict nature reserves, managed as part part of the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge.
Large populations of seabirds and migratory shorebirds nest, breed or feed at Laysan Island — up to 2 million birds can be on the island, including Black-footed Albatross (Diomedea nigripes), Laysan Albatross (Diomedea immutabilis), Wedge-tailed Shearwaters (Puffinus pacificus), boobies and frigatebirds. Laysan is also home to 2 endemic bird species: the Laysan Finch (Telespiza cantans) and the Laysan Duck (Anas laysanesis). The island has the second largest breeding population of the endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal (Monachus schauinslandi). It is also a site of Green Turtle nesting and supports a very healthy reef fish abundance and diversity.
