Palmyra Atoll / by Michael Johns

I’ve recently returned from a month on Palmyra Atoll, a collection of small islands rimmed by an extensive reef system located basically at the geographic center of the Pacific Ocean. I was helping capture red-footed and masked boobies for a movement study, where we attached small devices for short 2-day periods to collect GPS, accelerometer, and video footage while birds were out foraging at sea. Writer’s block continues, so here are some photos I grabbed during my free time to sum up the trip.