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An intense hurricane in the Pacific Ocean has wiped out almost a whole Hawaiian island from the map.
East Island, about 550 miles northwest of Honolulu, was about 400 feet wide and was home to a Hawaiian monk seal that was in serious danger of extinction and threatened a Hawaiian green sea turtle. The tiny, isolated Hawaiian island was swept away by the powerful hurricane Walaka earlier this month. Researchers confirmed the disappearance of the island after comparing satellite images of the US Fish and Wildlife Service before and after the hurricane.
Chip Fletcher, a scientist at the University of Hawaii, was not surprised by a hurricane, made more intense because of #climate change – had wiped out the east of the island in the northwest of the Hawaiian Islands, which is home to seals and endangered sea turtles. But he did not expect it so soon. #hinews @noaa pic.twitter.com/ejcGuh0XMF– Nathan Eagle (@NathanEagle) October 22, 2018
"East Island seems to be under water," researchers said in a statement.
The dangerous hurricane Walaka began southwest of the Hawaiian Islands on September 29th. On October 3, the hurricane intensified when it moved north and had a devastating impact on most of the Papahanaumokuakea National Marine Monument in the US. Central Pacific Ocean. The Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Monument is one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world and East Island was part of a small chain of islands in the region.
More than 90% of Hawaii's green turtle population spends its breeding season on an island chain, known as Frigate Shoals, in France, to nest in complete safety. Of these, almost half nested on East Island.
"There is no doubt that it is the most important island for nesting sea turtles." Charles Littnan, biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), told Civic Beat, who had for the first time announced the disappearance of the island.
The researchers worry about the consequences of the loss of habitat on the species. They believe that a collapse is imminent unless we take urgent and concerted action.
"Species are resilient to a certain point," Littnan said. "But there may be a point in the future where this resilience will not be enough."
Researchers were studying the eastern island of Hawaii before Hurricane Walaka hit it. They already knew that the island could disappear, climate change causing sea level rise.
Dr. Chip Fletcher, professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Hawaii in Manoa, said. "The island was probably between one and two thousand years old and we were only there in July, so being lost right now is rather bad luck."
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