In the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands a delicate tracing of islands, atolls, and reefs so remote that many people don't even know it exists--rare and sublime wildlife thrives in a symbiosis of land and sea. With special permission from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, award-winning photographers David Liittschwager and Susan Middleton ventured into the unknown a place where albatrosses raise their chicks and green sea turtles return from distant seas to lay their eggs; where masked angelfish dart among coral reefs and monk seals doze on the beach.Breathtaking portraits, m which the subject stands out in sharp relief, reveal the unique character of the archipelago's flora and fauna, while compelling essays introduce the reader to a land and ocean realm where few humans may visit. This is a book about unique and pristine beauty, and the press of civilization that threatens it--a story of paradise painstakingly reclaimed for the creatures that rightly call it home.

 Beyond the main islands of Hawai'i a wisp of an island chain stretches far to the northwest. Extending more than 1,2oo miles from Honolulu, the dazzling Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are designated refuges of rare seabirds and marine life, where no one except researchers may tread. Award-winning photographers David Liittschwager and Susan Middleton gained special access aboard research yessels, took extraordinary precautions to keep biological contaminants from tagging along, and made several trips over a period of nearly three years. The result is their stunning new book, Archipelago, which vividly captures the quicksilver nature of this gossamer strand of shoals, atolls, and basalt islands. Monk seals, Hawaiian green sea turtles, pale anemone crabs, red-footed boobies, and Hawaiian domino fish are but a few of the unusual species to be found here. Middleton and Liittschwager discovered one unearthly realm of natural beauty after another in an archipelago that harbors an astounding 70 percent of the nation's coral reefs. Their captivating color photographs, insightful essays, and 15o species profiles of diverse plants and animals tell the story of their adventures and catalogue the wild essence of these remote subtropical islands--from Laysan, home of the endangered Laysan duck and Laysan finch, to Midway, former World War II battle site and now nesting grounds for more than one million albatrosses; from towering Nihoa, refuge for the world's only population of Nihoa millerbirds,to Gardner Pinnacles, where flat elbow crabs scuttle among keel heart urchins and orange soft-bodied coral. While Archipelago reveals the hidden wonders of a remote Hawai'i, it also relates in heartbreaking detail the ecological damage caused by refuse that, via ocean currents, winds up on the shores of the islands and into the stomachs of birds. This important book,then, documents the persistence of beauty amid a world of change.

Portraits

 by David Liittschwager and Susan Middleton

Introduction

 by Susan Middleton

Field Stories

 by David Liittschwager and Susan Middleton

Hi'ialakai ~ NOAA Research Vessel

Nihoa Island and Mokumanamana

French Frigate Shoals

Laysan Island

Pearl and Hermes Atoll and Lisianski Island

Midway Atoll

Kure Atoll

Species Profiles

 by Stephani Holzwarth and Alex Wegmann,

Anita Manning and Steve Montgomery

Acknowledgments

Species Index