Large hurricane turned out to overturn Hawaiian isolated island where rare animals live overnight

Although the danger that the island of the southern island disappears by sea level rise due to the progress of global warming is said to be scouted, it turned out that the remote island of Hawaii received the attack of a large hurricane and disappeared in just one day.

This Remote Hawaiian Island Just Vanished - Honolulu Civil Beat
https://www.civilbeat.org/2018/10/this-remote-hawaiian-island-just-vanished/

A large-scale hurricane " Walaka (Waraka) " hit the Hawaiian Islands in early October 2018. The huge hurricane brought about great damage to the entire Hawaiian islands, but it turned out that the uninhabited island "East Island (East Island)" which was in the largest atoll "North French gate island" at the Northwest Hawaiian Islands was erased It was.

Satellite picture of East Island before the hurricane came.

After the hurricane has left, you can see that the sand has disappeared from East Island.

The state of East East as of July 2018 can be confirmed in the following movie.

1 EastIslandFlyBy, Drone Pilot Kristian McDonald, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa - YouTube


Dr. Chip Fletcher of the University of Hawaii who was studying about East Island said that East Eastland had been decreasing in area year after year and believed that it will sink below the sea decades after being affected by global warming Thing. However, it was not surprising that the island was annihilated by the hurricane in just one day, "I was wondering, the island has disappeared, because of the crack of the barrier that had divided the diverse ecosystems It is one. "

Dr. Fletcher is concerned about the impact on the ecosystem because East island is an important living animal of rare animals. 96% of the endangered species of green turtles in Hawaii inhabit the French gate reef where East island was, and 1/7 of the whole green turtle inhabited the East Island. Dr Charles Litnan, a biological environmental conservation expert at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), says, "East Island is definitely an important island for the nest of the sea turtle."

In addition, the French gate reef is a breeding ground of the rare species Hawaiian Monke Seal, and in recent years it has been estimated that about 16% of the total population inhabited the French gate reef, despite a decrease in the number. And 30% of them were believed to live in East Island, and in 2018 they confirmed 220 seals. Due to the disappearance of East Island, the concern about the ecology of rare seals that are threatened with extinction is concerned.

In addition, according to a research team at the University of Hawaii that studies the migratory pattern of Iti Shark, it has appeared in the waters surrounding the East island for about two weeks a year, predisposing albatrosses floating on the sea surface. If the albatross does not drop in due to the extinction of the island, it will have an impact on the Itched Shark and related ecosystems. Also, according to Dr. Littonan, Hurricane Walaka seems to have taken over coral reefs spreading in a crescent shape, and it is believed that corals were also affected.

Dr. Litnan points out the possibility that ecosystems will be rebuilt by organisms being dispersed elsewhere as the species is elastic. At the same time, he says, "However, the future may come when the elasticity no longer works sufficiently."

Dr. Randy Kosaki of NOAA says, "Even if the East Island reappears, it will take time before the environment stabilizes.When surrounding coral reefs were destroyed it will take several years to recover Today there are many more questions than we can answer. "