Crew Blog

The Emperor Chain

22 March 2008

Remote, uninhabited and intriguing are the chain of atolls, reefs and small islets forming the “Emperor Chain”. With an overwhelming desire to discover such places, it takes great strength to resist their temptation. As we make tracks past the ten Leeward Islands, there is an urge to sail quietly in, witness these remote, natural wonders and then sneak on out again.

Amongst this incredible ridge of underwater mountains, some have popped their heads up enough to support vegetation, unique ecosystems and endangered species, so we have to respect the vulnerability of these places and read of others’ experiences. Tales of Laysan Island, Maro Reef and Gardner Pinnacles in “Isles of Refuge” (Mark J. Rauzon), tell of the damage caused when poachers, fishermen, guano miners and feather hunters plundered the flora and fauna that resided here in days gone by.

One such tale spells the fate of Green Turtles, “…during 1959 fishermen harvested 25% of the population on French Frigate Shoals”. Fortunately this slaughter caught the eyes of the Government, bringing action and they are now a protected species.

The good news is that life is now thriving, carefully managed by the US Fish & Wildlife Service, and this natural wonder remains a safe haven for the Noddies, Boobies and Gooneys that live here. Somewhat reluctantly, we sail on by, admiring their beauty from a distance and dreaming of the treasures that lie around.

“O ka mea i kupono i ko kakou no’ono’o aku, ‘oia ka kakou e malama” (Polynesian)
“What is suitable for us to reflect on is what we should preserve”

Marty, one of the explorers on the BBB
(Martin Silk, skipper of westernaustralia2011.com)

1. Norma laing, Blackpool 26 March 2008

Hello W.A, this particular leg has turned into an expedition rather than a fast race, glad to see you are now well on your way ‘again’ and will soon be in Hawai where a crack team of repairers are waiting for you. Hopefully you have some compensation in the fact that you have been to a place so protected and special that even less folk probably go there than sail round the word. Nature does have it’s compensations ( I have a Wren sitting on my fence singing her heart out as I type). Anyway if you were actors it would be ‘break a leg’ but we don’t want any of that do we, so good luck and fair sailing to port.
Norma & Grahame

2. Jadranka Lota, Maidenhead, UK 26 March 2008

Well marty you are full of wonders mate… When did you learn Polynesian? Or… you got that off the internet…

3. Mo, Morpeth, Northumberland 26 March 2008

With one of those weird coincidences ,the BBC News for the last two nights has featured Midway in a piece about plastic pollution. We saw the albatross colony and the devastating effect bits of plastic have on the chicks and the huge amount of clearing up that is done by the team there. It also featured John and Matt of the Wildlife and Fisheries service. It had of course extra interest for us knowing that the BBB had just been there. Glad to know you are well on the way to Hawaii. Mo and Keith (NY).

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