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video link: http://youtu.be/un9y70Dw9Rc

“In June 1942, the Battle of Midway took place 100 to 200 miles north of Midway Atoll. Four Japanese aircraft carriers and one American carrier were sunk, and the Japanese military was forced to withdraw from a planned invasion. . . . The Battle of Midway is considered the most decisive U.S. victory and is referred to as the turning point of World War II in the Pacific. Midway Atoll has since been designated as a National Memorial to the Battle of Midway.” http://www.papahanaumokuakea.gov/maritime/midway.html The protected area was recently expanded to include the actual offshore battle site, where many lay buried at sea (read more further below) and the foraging ground for endangered seals. This is at stake.

Why? Trump’s greedy buddies, donors, and/or greedy Trump investments: The opportunity costs associated with potential energy and mineral exploration and production from the Outer Continental Shelf, in addition to any impacts on production in the adjacent region.” https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=NOAA-NOS-2017-0066-0001

Comment on this and other endangered US Marine Monuments here: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=NOAA-NOS-2017-0066-0001

“The naval portion of the Battle of Midway, one of the most important naval battles of World War II, occurred approximately 200 miles to the northeast of Midway Atoll, in the adjacent area. Deep-sea technologies have enabled the USS Yorktown, an aircraft carrier torpedoed during the battle, to be found at more than 16,000 feet below the ocean’s surface. Eyewitness accounts and historical records tell the stories of the destroyer USS Hammann, five Japanese vessels (the four aircraft carriers Hiryu, Soryu, Kaga, and Akagi, and the cruiser Mikuma), and several hundred aircraft that were also lost during the battle in this area. The locations of these vessels have yet to be identified. All told, the adjacent area serves as a final resting place for the more than 3,000 people lost during the battle.”


“U.S. Navy Torpedo Squadron Six (VT-6) TBD-1 aircraft are prepared for launching on USS Enterprise (CV-6) at about 0730-0740 hrs, 4 June 1942. Eleven of the fourteen TBDs launched from Enterprise are visible. Three more TBDs and ten F4F fighters must still be pushed into position before launching can begin./ The TBD in the left front is Number Two (Bureau # 1512), flown by Ensign Severin L. Rombach and Aviation Radioman 2nd Class W.F. Glenn. Along with eight other VT-6 aircraft, this plane and its crew were lost attacking Japanese aircraft carriers somewhat more than two hours later. USS Pensacola (CA-24) is in the right distance and a destroyer is in plane guard position at left, 4 June 1942, Official U.S. Navy Photograph 80-G-41686, U.S. National Archives“.

There are endangered seals and other endangered wildlife, proving that Trump has no respect for the living or the dead.

video link: http://youtu.be/un9y70Dw9Rc More: https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/

Endangered Gulf of Mexico turtle after BP Oil Spill. “Dr. Brian Stacy, NOAA veterinarian, prepares to clean an oiled Kemp’s Ridley turtle“.

(Photo Credit: NOAA and Georgia Department of Natural Resources)

Excerpted from PAPAHĀNAUMOKUĀKEA MARINE NATIONAL MONUMENT EXPANSION Proclamation: “Recent scientific research, utilizing new technology, has shown that many species identified as objects in Proclamation 8031 inhabit previously unknown geographical ranges that span beyond the existing Monument, and in some cases the adjacent area also provides important foraging habitat for these species.

For example, the endangered Hawaiian monk seal forages well beyond the existing Monument. Scientific research on Hawaiian monk seal foraging behavior has shown that monk seals may travel 80 miles and dive to depths of almost 2,000 feet while feeding. 

Important bird species abound in the Monument and the adjacent area. Birds from the world’s largest colonies of Laysan albatross, Black-footed albatross, and Bonin petrels, as well as significant populations of shearwaters, petrels, tropicbirds, the endangered Short-tailed albatross, and other seabird species forage in the adjacent area. We now know that albatrosses and Great Frigatebirds rely on the adjacent area during chick-brooding periods, when their foraging is focused within 200 miles of the nesting colonies on the Monument’s islands and atolls. At other times, these wide-ranging species use a much broader range (over 1,600 miles) for foraging. 

The adjacent area is a foraging and migration path for five species of protected sea turtles. While green and hawksbill turtles use the near-shore waters of the Monument for nesting, these species — along with the endangered leatherback turtle and threatened loggerhead and olive ridley turtles — migrate through the adjacent area to reach high-productivity foraging areas. 

Twenty-four species of whales and dolphins have been sighted in the adjacent area. Three of these species are listed under the Endangered Species Act as threatened or endangered: sperm whales, fin whales, and sei whales. Cetacean use of the Monument Expansion varies; resident species such as spinner dolphins, false killer whales, and rough-toothed dolphins utilize the area year-round, whereas other species, such as humpback whales, use it as a wintering area. A wide variety of tropical and temperate water dolphin species inhabit the Monument Expansion, including pantropical spotted dolphins, spinner dolphins, striped dolphins, rough-toothed dolphins, and bottlenose dolphins. Several rarely sighted species of dolphin inhabit the area, including Risso’s and Fraser’s dolphins. Both of these species are primarily oceanic and found in waters deeper than 1,000 meters. Acoustic evidence also shows that endangered blue whales — the largest animals on Earth — visit the area and may migrate past the Hawaiian Islands twice a year. 

Sharks, including tiger sharks and Galapagos sharks, are key species in the ecosystems of the Monument and adjacent area. These large and highly mobile predators have expansive home ranges and regularly move across the boundaries of the current Monument into the adjacent waters. Additionally, blue sharks, three species of thresher sharks, and two species of mako sharks inhabit the open ocean environment of the adjacent area. 

The Monument and adjacent area are part of the most remote island archipelago on Earth. This biological and geographic isolation, coupled with unique oceanographic and geological conditions, has resulted in an ecosystem critical for new species formation and endemism. These forces result in some of the most unique and diverse ecological communities on the planet. 

Importance to Native Hawaiian Culture 
The ocean will always be seen as an integral part of cultural identity for the Native Hawaiian community. The deep sea, the ocean surface, the sky, and all the living things in the area adjacent to the Monument are important to this culture and are deeply rooted in creation and settlement stories. Native Hawaiian culture considers the Monument and the adjacent area a sacred place. This place contains the boundary between Ao, the world of light and the living, and Pō, the world of the gods and spirits from which all life is born and to which ancestors return after death. . . .

Shipwrecks 
World War II shipwrecks and aircraft in the adjacent area, though not identified as objects under the Antiquities Act in this proclamation, are of great historic interest.

The naval portion of the Battle of Midway, one of the most important naval battles of World War II, occurred approximately 200 miles to the northeast of Midway Atoll, in the adjacent area. Deep-sea technologies have enabled the USS Yorktown, an aircraft carrier torpedoed during the battle, to be found at more than 16,000 feet below the ocean’s surface. Eyewitness accounts and historical records tell the stories of the destroyer USS Hammann, five Japanese vessels (the four aircraft carriers Hiryu, Soryu, Kaga, and Akagi, and the cruiser Mikuma), and several hundred aircraft that were also lost during the battle in this area. The locations of these vessels have yet to be identified. All told, the adjacent area serves as a final resting place for the more than 3,000 people lost during the battle. 

WHEREAS, the waters and submerged lands adjacent to the Monument (west of 163° West Longitude and seaward from the boundaries delineated in Proclamation 8031 as amended by Proclamation 8112 out to the limit of the U.S. EEZ) contain objects of historic and scientific interest that are situated upon lands owned or controlled by the Federal Government; . . . .” Excerpted from: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/08/26/presidential-proclamation-papahanaumokuakea-marine-national-monument

http://www.papahanaumokuakea.gov/wheritage/refuge.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_sea_mining
US Navy photo via:,https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:VT-6TBDs.jpg