NOAA and partner scientists recently completed a 22-day expedition aboard the NOAA Ship Rainier in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
NOAA and partner scientists recently completed a 22-day expedition aboard the NOAA Ship Rainier in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. They were surveying and monitoring coral reefs and associated reef fish communities, and searching for new species and habitat types on deep coral reefs. Researchers documented several new species of algae as well as an entirely new form of coral reef habitat. However, while conducting research dives, they observed reef destruction from Hurricane Walaka at French Frigate Shoals, and an invasive alga overgrowing native corals and other algae at Pearl and Hermes Atoll. Monument staff are now working to understand and respond to these impacts to the monument.
French Frigate Shoals
French Frigate Shoals is home to abundant wildlife and one of the most significant coral reef systems in the monument. In October 2018, Hurricane Walaka passed through the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands at French Frigate Shoals as a Category 3 hurricane. The hurricane caused major damage to the islands of this atoll.
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Photo: Fish school at Rapture Reef in French Frigate Shoals in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument prior to Hurricane Walaka. Photo: Greg McFall/NOAA
