Short-tailed Albatross chick survives major storm

Gale force winds, rain, thunder, and lightning rocked Midway Atoll on Friday night, Feb. 11th, leading to moderate damage and loss of wildlife. Fortunately, no island residents or visitors were hurt and no major infrastructure was damaged. For at least an hour, winds were sustained at 60 mph and gusted to 74 mph causing the following impacts: Approximately 40 Ironwood trees were toppled; an estimated 100 adult Laysan albatross and several thousand young chicks and 25 Bonin petrels were killed by downed trees and flooding; and the Short-tailed albatross (STAL) nest on Eastern Island was washed over. Image taken from USFWS Pacific Region Flickr page.