KURE ISLAND 2004

Kure Island:

178 degrees 20 minutes W longitude and 28 degrees 25 minutes N latitude.

Kure Atoll is the northwesternmost island of the Hawaiian Archipelago. It is approximately 1,200 miles northwestward of Honolulu and 55 miles west of Midway Island. Currently it is owned by the State of Hawaii and is protected as a Wildlife Refuge. No one is allowed on the island without prior permission. It also has the distinction of being the northern-most coral atoll in the world.

As seen from the NOAA map above the circular Atoll is approximately 15 miles in circumference and contains two land masses, Green Island and Sand Island. Green Island reaches a maximum height of 25 feet and is about 1.5 miles long and .5 mile wide. The main entrance into the lagoon is located in the soutwestern corner of the Atoll. Since the lagoon depth is rather shallow a smaller vesell is used to transport the team and supplies from the Machias to Green Island.

Captain Kure, a Russian navigator, is said to have discovered the atoll, but no authentic account of this is available. It seems Kure Atoll has seen its fair share of ship wrecks and the U.S.S. Saginaw is the most famous. Kure Atoll's most notable habitants were the United States Coast Guard who manned a Loran C station until the late 1980's when GPS became a mainstay for navigation. Since the closure of the Loran station Green Island has been returned back to its natural state with the exception of the runway, a catchment tank, 2 small shelters, and a small pier.

Birds:

Shearwaters, petrels, tropicbirds, boobies, frigatebirds, albatrosses, terns, noddies, and migratory bird species from North America and Asia.

Marine mammals:

Hawaiian Monk seals, dolphins, jacks, sharks, goatfish, and chub, as well as dragon morays, knifejaws, masked angelfish and rare native grouper.

Main conservation issues:

The biggest threat to the island's fauna and flora is the Verbesina infestation which is under constant check. The biggest threat to marine life is man made debris. Current studies are taking a look at The Darwin Point which could affect Kure Atoll sometime in the future.

The above information was collected from several sources:

http://www.janeresture.com/kure/index.htm
http://www.hawaiianatolls.org/about/kure.php
http://ccmaserver.nos.noaa.gov/rsd/kure.html

CONTENTS:

North America/South America Pilot:
K7ER, Elliot Klein, k7er@kleinbroadcast.com

Europe/Africa/Middle East Pilot:
To Be Announced

Japan/Asia/Australia/New Zealand Pilot:
JH7OHF, Katsu Ono, jh7ohf@bd6.so-net.ne.jp

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Last updated 31 August 2004