598 Free Photos of Midway Atoll

midway atoll national wildlife refuge usfws national wildlife refuge papahanaumokuakea marine national monument papahanaumokuakea pacific pacific ocean northwest hawaiian island bird animals

A bullethead parrotfish (Chlorurus sordidus) swims through Midway's fringing reef

A mother white tern (Gygis alba) and her chick, conveniently located on my walk to the Clipper House dining hall

A mother white tern (Gygis alba) and her chick, conveniently located on my walk to the Clipper House dining hall

A brown noddy (Anous stolidus) sits in a dead branch

A less common tern species, probably a little tern or least tern, flies over Catchment

Three juvenile great frigatebirds (Fregata minor) sit in a beach naupaka (Scaevola taccada) bush, panting to keep cool

A Hawaiian monk seal (Neomonachus schauinslandi) swims in Midway's lagoon. Photo taken from a distance of at least 50 feet.

animals mammals

Fish swimming through Midway's fringing reef

An adult red-footed booby (Sula sula) in flight

An ornate butterflyfish (Chaetodon ornatissimus) swims through Midway's fringing reef

Two U.S. Coast Guard C-130 aircraft parked in front of the NAF Hangar

aircraft vehicle

North Beach on Sand Island as seen from just outside the fringing feer

landscape water

Plastic bursts from an albatross carcass as it decomposes. This particular bird had 558 pieces of plastic in its stomach when it died, which was likely the cause.

A green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) swims beneath the Cargo Pier

underwater animals

An adult Laysan duck (Anas laysanensis) wanders across Eastern Island, surrounded by sooty terns (Onychoprion fuscatus)

A juvenile brown booby (Sula leucogaster) in flight

A green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) swims in Midway's lagoon

A green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) hauls up on the appropriately named Turtle Beach

A mother white tern (Gygis alba) and her chick, conveniently located on my walk to the Clipper House dining hall

Two U.S. Coast Guard C-130 aircraft parked in front of the NAF Hangar

aircraft vehicle

A nesting area near the runway with a particularly high concentration of black-footed albatrosses (Phoebastria nigripes)

PMNM - Hawaiian Monk Seal - Midway Atoll

Short-tailed albatross decoys placed on Eastern Island by USFWS in an attempt to establish a breeding population of the species outside of Japan

landscape animals

A green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) pokes its head just above the gentle waves in Midway's shallow lagoon

Close-up of a juvenile brown booby (Sula leucogaster) in flight

One of the largest endangered pōpolo (Solanum nelsonii) plants on Sand Island: BEFORE non-native plant removal non-native plant removal

Size difference between adult male and female Laysan ducks (Anas laysanensis) and the vagrant female northern pintail

A sooty tern (Onychoprion fuscatus) in flight

A flock of Pacific golden plovers (Pluvialis fulva) bathes in Catchment as sand contaminated by lead paint is taken to the abatement area

An adult female Laysan duck (Anas laysanensis) forages in front of the Chugach office among the fallen nuts

The sun sets over the western part of North Beach

landscape water

Looking north, toward the Finger Piers, from the north side of the harbor entrance

landscape water

Extreme close-up of a juvenile red-footed booby (Sula sula) eye

A juvenile Laysan duck (Anas laysanensis) on the beach on Eastern Island

Marine debris, largely composed of plastic, washes up on Midway's south shore

A juvenile red-footed booby (Sula sula) snaps at another booby flying too close

Full moon in the sunset as seen from the cargo pier

landscape water

A flock of ruddy turnstones (Arenaria interpres) plus one Pacific golden plover (Pluvialis fulva) flies over Eastern Island

A cloud of adult and juvenile red-footed boobies (Sula sula) gliding over Eastern Island

NOAA/USFWS field staff on Laysan and Lisianski Islands and Pearl & Hermes Reef, facing two hurricanes and a supertyphoon, are evacuated to Midway Atoll by two MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft from U.S. Marine Corps Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 163.

military vehicle

NOAA/USFWS field staff on Laysan and Lisianski Islands and Pearl & Hermes Reef, facing two hurricanes and a supertyphoon, are evacuated to Midway Atoll by two MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft from U.S. Marine Corps Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 163.

military vehicle

A juvenile brown booby (Sula leucogaster) in flight

A Hawaiian monk seal (Neomonachus schauinslandi) rests on the beach. Photo taken from a distance of at least 50 feet.

Eastern Island as seen from Spit Island

landscape travel

NOAA's marine debris ship, the Hi'ialakai, docked at Midway's cargo pier

A Hawaiian monk seal (Neomonachus schauinslandi) rests on the beach. Photo taken from a distance of at least 50 feet.

Brown noddies (Anous stolidus) and a juvenile great frigatebird (Fregata minor) sit in a dead tree on Eastern Island

Two juvenile red-footed boobies (Sula sula) squabble over a perch

Atlantic canaries (Serinus canaria) bathe in the Clipper House gutter. Midway is home to the only self-sustaining population of yellow canaries outside the Canary Islands, stemming from 11 individuals released in 1910 by cable company employees.

Wisdom and newest chick 2018. Photo credit: L. Sullivan/USFWS

Juvenile Laysan ducks (Anas laysanensis) swim in a seep on Eastern Island; in the background, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kukui has arrived to translocate some of these ducks to Kure Atoll as part of the species conservation plan

One of the first black-footed albatrosses (Phoebastria nigripes) to return for the mating season flies over North Beach

A fish feeds on Midway's cargo pier

An adult female Laysan duck (Anas laysanensis) exhibiting the characteristing squinting associated with botulism. This individual was captured, treated, immunized, banded, and re-released.

An adult red-footed booby (Sula sula) and a brown noddy (Anous stolidus) share a dead branch on Eastern Island

A wedge-tailed shearwater (Ardenna pacifica) chick is barely visible under the rubble its nest has been built under

black and white bird

Juvenile gray-backed tern (Onychoprion lunatus) in flight

A great frigatebird (Fregata minor) attacks a red-tailed tropicbird (Phaethon rubricauda) mid-flight in an attempt to steal its food

An Ulua, or giant trevally (Caranx ignobilis) swims along Midway's fringing reef

Red-footed boobies (Sula sula) and great frigatebirds (Fregata minor) gliding over Eastern Island

A Hawaiian monk seal (Neomonachus schauinslandi) rests on the beach. Photo taken from a distance of at least 50 feet.

reptiles animals

I watched this white-tailed tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus) settle into this tree cavity as though it was considering nesting there but couldn't confirm. The vertical white stripe in the top right is its tail

A white tern (Gygis alba) parent waits so long for its fledging chick to return for a meal that an ant climbs into the mouth of one of the fish it's holding

A great frigatebird (Fregata minor) attacks a red-tailed tropicbird (Phaethon rubricauda) mid-flight in an attempt to steal its food

A white tern (Gygis alba) incubates its egg next to "R2," an old water treatment area that has been repurposed as a lead paint abatement enclosure for contaminated soil

Two Ulua, or giant trevally (Caranx ignobilis) swim through Midway's fringing reef

A juvenile brown booby (Sula leucogaster) in flight

A brown noddy (Anous stolidus) flies over Naupaka (Scaevola taccada) bushes on North Beach at sunset

A white tern (Gygis alba) incubates its egg next to "R2," an old water treatment area that has been repurposed as a lead paint abatement enclosure for contaminated soil

A green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) rests on North Beach, beside Midway's beautiful lagoon

Two unnamed seamounts located southwest of Midway Atoll

Three nests in one photo: white tern (Gygis alba), brown noddy (Anous stolidus), and red-tailed tropicbird (Phaethon rubricauda)

A great frigatebird (Fregata minor) attacks a red-tailed tropicbird (Phaethon rubricauda) mid-flight in an attempt to steal its food

An adult female Laysan duck (Anas laysanensis) exhibits the characteristing squinting associated with botulism. This individual was captured, treated, immunized, banded, and re-released.

A juvenile Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) sits on North Beach under a moonbow (a rainbow formed by moonlight)

A mixed flock of Pacific golden plovers (Pluvialis fulva) and ruddy turnstones (Arenaria interpres) flies over Eastern Island

80-G-451086 (22157749694)

historical history

A green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) rests on the appropriately named Turtle Beach, next to a friendly crab

A juvenile sooty tern (Onychoprion fuscatus) in flight

A Hawaiian monk seal (Neomonachus schauinslandi) on North Beach at sunset. Photo taken from a distance of at least 50 feet.

A juvenile red-footed booby (Sula sula) snaps at a juvenile brown booby (Sula leucogaster) landing on its perch

A juvenile Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) sits alone in a field, long after most of the other chicks have fledged. It will likely not survive.

A great frigatebird (Fregata minor) attacks a red-tailed tropicbird (Phaethon rubricauda) mid-flight in an attempt to steal its food

180605-N-HG258-1031 (42699566971)

historical history

Wisdom's chick

2013 Wisdom laying her egg.

wildlife national

This photo of a Hawaiian monk seal (Neomonachus schauinslandi) resting on the beach was published in the Dec. 2014 issue of WIRED Magazine. Photo taken from a distance of at least 50 feet.

2013 Wisdom laying her egg.

wildlife animals

2014Wisdom and her egg (December). Photo credit: Greg Joder

Wisdom incubating her egg (December 2014). Photo credit: Daniel W. Clark/USFWS

Wisdom incubating her egg (December 2014). Photo credit: Daniel W. Clark/USFWS

Wisdom incubating her egg (December 2014). Photo credit: Daniel W. Clark/USFWS

USS Proteus (AS-19) and USS Aegir (AS-23) at Midway in 1944

historical history

Wisdom's mate Akeakamai incubating their egg 2017

Wisdom incubating her egg, December 2018. Photo credit: Madalyn Riley/USFWS Volunteer

Wisdom incubating her egg, December 2018. Photo credit: Madalyn Riley/USFWS Volunteer

Debris Removal

Deep Reef Endemic Species of Midway Atoll

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