Wildlife & Habitat
wildlife & habitat includes:
Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge supports an abundant and diverse fish and wildlife fauna:
- 18 seabird species - nearly 2 million individual birds - that nest on virtually every square foot of available habitat on Midway's three islands
- endangered Hawaiian monk seals that pup and rear their young on Midway's beaches and nearshore waters
- threatened green turtles that haul out to rest on island shores
- a resident pod of nearly 300 spinner dolphins that spend each day within Midway's protected lagoon waters
- a complex community of coral reef fishes and invertebrates
What the numbers don't show is the unique manner in which Midway's wildlife, in particular the diverse seabirds, have adapted to the presence of the human residents and visitors. Whether it's nesting albatross on your doorstep, white terns on your windowsill or bonin petrels underneath your lawn...thousands and thousands of birds, everywhere you turn.
Midway's wildlife landscape paints an ever changing vista of sights and sounds. As the nesting season of one species comes to a close, another begins in earnest. Many of our human visitors return in different seasons, just to experience the changing wildlife spectacle.
