Shipping out

Dear reader, tonight I leave for Tern Island! Sadly the internet connection on the island is not working at the moment so this may be the last blog for a few days/weeks/months/the entire time I am out there, depending on how easy it is to fix. So if I don't write anything or reply to your e-mails for a while please don't be offended, or worry that I have been pecked to death by albatrosses. You will once again be subjected to my tedious ramblings just as soon as it is humanly possible.

Terrifying American foodstuff #2

Canned whole chicken

That's a whole chicken. In a can. I'm not making this up.

Hangin' around

The boat to Tern Island has been delayed due to high seas- a 20 foot swell which turns into a 50 foot surf when it hits a piece of land. Great for Hawaiian surfers, not so great for transporting large loads of food and equipment from a big boat to a small boat to a small island. All of our stuff has now been loaded so we are just hanging around waiting to go- our current departure date is Monday 7th. The ship we will be travelling on is called the Kahana. Fans of the TV show Lost might recognise it as both the ship and the crew were used during filming. It is a 180 foot cargo ship which regularly travels the length of the Hawaiian Island chain delivering supplies to the remote outposts. The trip to Tern should take 2 days, however if the sea is too wild for us to land at Tern then we will have to stay on all the way to Midway Atoll, which is so far away it is in a different time zone, and then get dropped off at Tern on the way back, a round trip of about 16 days. Given that various people have described travelling on the Kahana as 'a bit like being in prison' and 'you'll definately be throwing up the whole way', then that is not a prospect which fills me with joy.

Papahānaumokuākea

On Tuesday we had a cultural briefing by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, so that we understand the spiritual significance of the NW Hawaiian Island to native Hawaiians. This included an introduction to Hawaiian mythology. Legend has it that the Hawaiian Islands are the children of Papahanaumoku (the Earth Mother) and Wakea (the Sky Father). In honour of this, the NW Hawaiian Islands, of which Tern Island is one, have been designated the Papahaunaumokuakea Marine National Monument (try saying that after a couple of beers, or even stone-cold sober). The main islands of the archipelago, as far west as Necker Island (a.k.a. Mokumanamana) are located in 'Ao'- the light, the world of the living. The islands further west of Necker are in 'Po'- the darkness, the spirit world. Po is the source of all souls and the place to which all souls return after death. So I am quite literally going to Hawaiian heaven.


Another myth that we learned about was 'aumakua'. By performing a special ceremony, the soul of a recently deceased person can be transformed into an animal to make the journey to the spirit world, and this animal is the aumakua. Therefore any of the creatures we encounter on Tern Island might be the deceased ancestors of native Hawaiians. Sharks are a popular choice for aumakua, and aumakua are often regarded as protectors or guardian angels. So having a huge shark hanging around when you are swimming is a good sign, since it might be looking out for your wellbeing. It's nice to see sharks getting some good press for a change, however there is a caveat- not all sharks are necessarily aumakua, some of them are just sharks. They may simply be sizing you up for a quick snack.

Team Tern

All of my fellow castaways have arrived now and apart from Pete the island manager it is an all girl crew. I guess girls are just better.

This is Pete. He's the boss. That's why he gets to wear a special hat.



From left to right Sarah, Caitlin and Melinda. Sarah and Caitlin are both graduates who have been working on various field projects for the last few years, including other seabird projects. Melinda is a PhD student studying albatross foraging ecology.