Midway Atoll
- ISS005-E-13922
- 12 September 2002
- 20:49 UTC
Midway Atoll (also referred to as the Midway Islands) is located near the end of the Northwestern Hawaiian chain, 91 km southeast of Kure Atoll and 140 km northwest from the Pearl & Hermes Atoll. The atoll which is around 10 km across consists of three islands, several shifting sandbars and an encircling reef rim — all that is left of the volcano that formed here some 28 million years ago. Its three islands located at the southern end of the lagooon — Sand, Eastern and Spit — have a combined land area of 6.18 km². The two main islands of Midway Atoll are dominated by airfields originating from WWII. On the 4.85 km² Sand Island is Henderson Field Airport with its 2 runways: runway 06/24 measuring 2409 x 61 m and the closed runway 15/33 measuring 1369 x 61 m.
Nearly two million birds of 19 species nest on Midway. The atoll has the largest Laysan albatross (Diomedea immutabilis) colony in the world. Other birds include Black-footed Albatross (Diomedea nigripes), Red-tailed Tropicbirds, White Terns, Black and Brown Noddies, and Bonin petrels (Pterodroma hypoleuca). The waters in and around the lagoon are home to a large population of Spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris), and over 250 species of fish and a huge diversity of marine invertebrates.
During World War II, Midway served as an important naval air station and submarine refit base. Used as US Navy facility after the war, responsibilty for Midway Atoll was handed over to the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 1996 to manage the atoll as the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.
image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center
