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and hermes atoll
Pearl
and Hermes Atoll
(Holoikauaua)
 Pearl
and Hermes Atoll is a true atoll that is primarily underwater and has
numerous islets, seven of which are above sea level. While total land
area is only 0.36 square km (80 acres), the reef area is huge, over
450 square miles (194,000 acres). The atoll is ever-changing, with
islets emerging and subsiding.
The atoll
was discovered by Westerners in 1822 when two English whaling ships,
the Pearl and the Hermes, wrecked on the reef during a storm. Since
then at least six other vessels have been lost in the area. In 1854,
King Kamehameha III claimed the atoll for the Hawaiian Kingdom.
Due to the atoll's small land base, it was largely spared the
ravages of
miners
and
feather
hunters.
 When Westerners
first arrived, the atoll abounded with birds. Presently, about 160,000
birds from 22 species are seen. They include Black-footed albatrosses,
Tristram's storm petrels, and one of two recorded Hawaiian nest sites
of Little terns. Endangered Laysan Finch were introduced in 1967 in
an attempt to establish a "back-up" population in case disease,
natural disaster, or other calamity exterminated the only other population
in the world at Laysan.
The sandbar
islets support coastal dry grasses, vines, and herbal plants, including
13 native species and 7 introduced species. The plants survive because
they are salt-tolerant and able to recover from frequent flooding events.
Many fish species abound at the
wreck site of the Quartette, ex-USS James Swan, a WWII Liberty ship lost
in 1952. Though vessel losses and wreck deterioration often cause
extensive mechanical damage to reefs, some remains can serve a more
benign role as "artificial" fish habitat.
 Hawaiian
monk seals and sea turtles breed and feed at Pearl and Hermes, and
it is a mating area for spinner dolphins. The atoll has the highest
standing stock of fish and the highest number of fish species in the
NWHI. These include saber squirrelfish, eels, Galapagos sharks, sandbar
sharks, ulua (big jacks), angelfish, aweoweo (bigeyes), uhu (parrotfish),
and numerous lobsters. In addition, angelfishes considered rare in
the rest of the Hawaiian archipelago, such as the masked angelfish
(Genicanthus personatus) and the Japanese angelfish (Centropyge
interrupta)
are commonly seen at Pearl and Hermes Atoll. Hiding between the unique
reef and lagoons are very
unusual
invertebrate
habitats. For example, several sponges collected recently may be new
to science! Thirty-three species of stony corals have been documented
here.
 Black-lipped
pearl oysters, at one time very common, were harvested in the late
1920s to make buttons from their shells. Over-harvested, the oysters
were nearly eliminated, and today only a handful remain even long after
their harvesting was declared illegal in 1929.
While there has been less human impact on this atoll than others in
the NWHI, problems with marine debris and the occasional shipwreck still
occur. In 2003 over 90 tons of marine debris was removed from the reefs
at Pearl and Hermes. Minimizing human contact may preserve the wildlife
and marine life in this extensive reef ecosystem.
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