MIDWAY ATOLL >> No one seems to know exactly who came up with the name, or when it first was used, but they all seem to agree that it fits: gooney. Gooneys star in
Midway air circusThe Laysan albatross clearly rule
the roost on this Pacific atoll1942 battle turned the tide of war
By B.J. Reyes
Associated PressAs in gooney bird.
More precisely, the Laysan albatross -- about 1 million of which call Midway Atoll home.
"I suppose that (terminology) was during the military days," said Tim Bodeen, the national wildlife refuge manager at Midway. "I suppose they were kind of gooney."
Like thousands of little statues they dot every acre of the landscape and transport visitors smack into what seems like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds."
These birds don't attack, but they don't seem to want to budge. They are quick to peck at a human being's feet -- simply because they're there.
Returning to Midway for the first time in almost two decades, Navy Rear Adm. Anthony Winns made sure to give the birds their due: "It's good to see that the gooney birds are still in charge here."
Consider: One of the most prominent statues on the island doesn't pay homage to the pivotal Battle of Midway, which was fought offshore in June 1942 and proved to be the turning point in the Pacific during World War II.
It's a statue of a gooney bird -- a 20-foot tall depiction of an adult albatross situated in what once was one of the more high-traffic areas at this former Navy outpost.
Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge also is nesting ground for 14 other species of migratory seabirds and the endangered Hawaiian monk seal.
After more than two decades off the island, Richard Kelley remembers the birds. He was a weather officer for the Navy and lived on Midway's Sand Island with his wife and two young sons from 1976-78.
Of his youngest son, who was about a year old: "He had really blond hair -- tiny birds used to try and attack him to try and get nesting material."
Kelley also remembers watching the gooneys learn to fly. Albatrosses return to land only to breed, spending their whole life flying over the ocean or on the water.
"When the gooneys were learning how to fly, the youngsters, a lot of them, would go out toward the beach and head into the wind and you could watch them stumble," Kelley said. "They weren't too successful the first couple times."
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The focus of the battle that turned the tide in favor of U.S. forces in the Pacific 60 years ago, Midway Atoll today is a national wildlife refuge. 1942 battle turned
the tide of warAssociated Press
Some facts about Midway:
>> Background: The United States took formal possession of Midway in 1867. The laying of the trans-Pacific cable, which passed through the islands, brought the first residents in 1903. Following the Battle of Midway on June 4-6, 1942, the islands served as a naval station until 1993. In 1996, the atoll was turned over to the Interior Department to be managed as a wildlife refuge. In 2000, the atoll was designated the Battle of Midway National Memorial, as authorized by Congress.
>> Location: Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, about 1,200 miles northwest of the main Hawaiian Islands and one-third of the way from Honolulu to Tokyo. The atoll includes Eastern Island, Sand Island and Spit Island.
>> Total area: 2.5 square miles, about nine times the size of The Mall in Washington, D.C.
>> Population: No indigenous inhabitants; approximately 30 people make up the staff that oversees the atoll under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
>> Roads: 10 miles paved and two miles gravel.
>> Buildings: Nearly 120 buildings, including cable company buildings, maintenance shops, hangars, warehouses, barracks, residences, cold storage, theater and gymnasium. Most built between 1941-60.
Sources: Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook 2001, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.