I had the rare opportunity to visit Tern Island through my work. Tern island is located in Northwest Hawaii in the French Frigate Shoals about 550 miles Northwest of Honolulu. This is in the Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary (here's more information about it
https://www.papahanaumokuakea.gov/visit/ffs.html). I went there with researchers with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife, NOAA and the U.S. EPA.
I was there at the perfect time of year, nesting seabirds, giant green sea turtles laying eggs, monk seals mating season. It was a giant wildlife orgy going on. It's very difficult for people to visit any of the islands in the sanctuary. You have to do it under a permit that requires you to have a legitimate reason to go there, like scientific research. Sometimes they let the media film there like they recently did for the David Attenborough BBC show, Plan Earth.
This set of photos was all shot with an Olympus Stylus 120 using expired Kodak Gold 200.
There is only one way to get to Tern, by ship. Even though it used to be an airport, the runway is no longer in use. There's a lot of birds laying eggs on the runway now. On the day before we departed on the Imua we had to load supplies on the ship. We spent the night on the ship at the harbor so they could depart very early the next morning. The ship stopped first at Tern, then at Midway to drop off fuel and supplies then took another team of researchers to Kure Atol. Kure is another 800 miles beyond Tern. My ride back to Honolulu was on the same boat when they came to pick me up on the way back, 9 days later.
Loading the Imua by
Bryan Chernick, on Flickr
First load of people to Tern in the Alewa, a small boat that was brought on the deck of the Imua. There were 8 of us that were staying on Tern, others went to help offload supplies.
Untitled by
Bryan Chernick, on Flickr
Approaching the dock on Tern. In the background you can see the Imua. To the right of the Imua is the 120-foot-high La Pérouse Pinnacle, the last remnant of the volcano that created the shoals.
Alewa approaching Tern Isalnd by
Bryan Chernick, on Flickr
Approaching the dock. You can see the Alewa is loaded with 5 gallon buckets. All the supplies that will fit in buckets is brought there that way. They have very strict biosecurity protocols that required everything to be purchased new, cleaned, and frozen to prevent the transfer of invasive plants and animals. I had to purchase all new clothing for the trip. I brought two cameras, the one I'm using here is an Olympus Stylus 120, I also cleaned an Olympus OM-1 really well and packed it in a bucket with my film. Since the Stylus is water resistant and can easily be cleaned I was able to use it before we got there, then I cleaned it on the Imua prior to leaving for the island. I brought the Stylus as a backup in case something happened to the OM-1.
Alewa Docking at Tern Island by
Bryan Chernick, on Flickr
White Tern at sunrise on the dock.
White Tern at Sunrise by
Bryan Chernick, on Flickr
Nesting Frigatebirds. That's a female with two males behind her. They take turns on the eggs while the other gets food. All the trees on the island were destroyed when the storm surege from the last hurricane swept over the whole island. They still use the remains of the trees to nest, otherwise they nest on the ground. The island is only a few feet above sea level to it's not hard for a storm surge or tsunami to sweep over it.
Nesting Frigatebirds by
Bryan Chernick, on Flickr
Black Noddy and nesting Frigatebird. One thing that struck me is how the different species interact and tolerate each other. I guess they have to it's so crowded. You literally have to tiptoe around the island watching every step so you don't step on an egg or chick. Many of the birds, especially the Terns and albatross, don't make nests, they just lay their eggs on the ground.
Black Noddy and nesting Frigatebird by
Bryan Chernick, on Flickr
Stay tuned for many more photos, I was a true Filmwaster while I was there.
