U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Wake Atoll National Wildlife Refuge is managed by the Fish & Wildlife Service in the Marine Monuments Program of the Pacific Islands Refuges and Monuments Office (PIRAMO). For more information contact: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Wake Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, Box 50167, Honolulu, HI 96850 808-792-9540.
Marine Monuments and Wildlife Refuges of the Central Pacific OceanAbout the NWRS
The National Wildlife Refuge System, within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, manages a national network of lands and waters set aside to conserve America’s fish, wildlife, and plants.
Learn more about the NWRS
Protecting Our Marine Ecosystem
Wake Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and six other national wildlife refuges are seemingly just dots near the equator of the Pacific Ocean, but upon a closer look these islands, reefs, and atolls are at the epicenter of Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world. These refuges host terrestrial and marine life in numbers and unique and specialized life forms beyond our imagination and they provide a safe haven for millions of birds and marine life that swarm to shallow areas and islands to rest, to feed, to mate, and to give life to their off-spring.
Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument
White tern chick
A female white tern lays her single egg - usually on a bare branch. As soon as the egg hatches, the tern chick clings tightly to the branch. Good thing it has strong feet and claws, right out of the shell! Mom or dad stays close for the first day or two, but soon, both are off on frequent fishing trips.
Page Photo Credits — Mark Rauzon
Last Updated: Mar 28, 2016