ACS Monterey Bay Program for August 2001

Midway Atoll: Spinner Dolphin research and seabird monitoring

  • Thursday, August 30, 7:30 p.m.
  • Lecture Hall, Monterey Boatworks, Hopkins Marine Station, Pacific Grove
  • Speaker: Carol Maehr, Docent Administrator, Point Lobos State Reserve
Spinner Dolphin drawing by Robin Makowski

Twelve hundred and fifty miles WNW of Honolulu lies the remote, but easily accessible, coral atoll of Midway. A National Wildlife Refuge administered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, it harbors a resident population of 200+ Spinner Dolphins, together with Hawaiian Monk Seals and Green Turtles, both endangered. There are also 1 million or more nesting seabirds of 12 species.

Carol Maehr, together with Norma Davis, spent two weeks in May with Oceanic Society Expeditions, first studying the aspects of the ecology, behavior and social organization of the lagoon-inhabiting Spinners and for the second week working on a long-term study of five species of nesting seabirds, focusing on the two albatross species.

Carol is an energetic naturalist/traveler who has talked to us previously on an EarthWatch sponsored Hawaiian Humpback Whale study.