Pipes and other shipwreck debris at Palmyra Atoll Refuge

Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge is home to some of the most pristine coral reefs in the world, but portions of the reef were being smothered by an invasive organism as it gained nutrients from the iron leaching off shipwrecks. Removing the wrecks gives the reef its best chance to resist impacts of global climate and oceanographic changes into the future.