Coral Snorkel Expedition

The Inner Side of the Outer Reef

Robin Craig
Tallahassee, Florida


On Friday, June 18, 2010, I celebrated my 46th birthday on Midway. While there were many wonderful aspects of that day (a hand-made birthday card and a beach plastic lei from the PA’A group, efforts to restore the island, the Thai kitchen crew singing “Happy Birthday” with a huge carrot birthday cake), the highlight of the day for me was our PA’A snorkel at the outer reef of the atoll.

Snorkeling the inside reef at Midway Atoll requires a few mental adjustments, at least for this haole from the mainland. For example, we headed northeast from the Inner Harbor on Sand Island, into the prevailing wind. As a result, the waters on the inner side of the reef were calm, while waves were energetically breaking on the outer side. From the water, it took a bit of mental adjustment to realize that the waves coming at us couldn’t reach us, despite their energy.

The water was crystal clear and a beautiful light blue green. As we approached our snorkel spot, both the boat speed and the water color revealed the alternating pattern of white sand and coral formations, some coming very near the surface. We anchored about 100-150 yards from the inner wall of the atoll ring, near one of the largest coral heads I’ve ever seen. (Of course, most of us didn’t discover it until our return to the boat, because it was at the opposite end from our entry point.)

As we left the boat, we encountered an expanse of a beautiful curled and lacey Padina (thank you, Jen, for the identification) all along the bottom. This plant was structured like decoratively rolled pieces of thin parchment, making three-dimensional scrolled patterns over the bottom.

Swimming toward the inner wall of the reef, the coral became denser and more varied, with brilliant patches of purple, orange, electric blue, and lime green. Spotting the fish inhabiting this psychedelic wonderland took a moment, but once my eyes adjusted, the variety of fish was astonishing. The big parrot fish, unicorn fish, and jack were impressive, but my favorites were the much smaller squirrelfish that hung out in the shadows of coral formations in small groups. Unlike most of the other fish, these did not swim away when my dive partner, Marion, and I tried to photograph them. Instead, they often swam closer, as if to investigate what we were up to, staring at us with their wide, round, dark eyes. Their Christmas red bodies stood out brightly against the blue water, white sand, and cream-colored coral.

After most of us were back on the boat, a huge ulua swam between the boat and the coral head. The fish and the coral, both far larger than anything I had seen during previous trips to Hawai’i, attested to the health of this system and its ability to support a wealth of life.

On the way back to Sand Island, we headed out into the main channel to see the sunken water barge, some of which still juts above water. As we looked at the rusting hulk above water and caught glimpses of the even greater structure below, I found myself wondering what creatures had made the structure their own. Coral and sea cucumbers, almost certainly. Several varieties of fish, as well, I had to assume. Do sharks and honu (green sea turtles) cruise through the hulk, like they do Cargo Pier on Sand Island? What else might be there? Part of the magic of Midway, I think, is its ability to transform some of the remnants of human use (and abuse) of the Atoll into useful habitat and new life.