Midway Atoll

As its name suggests, Midway is roughly equidistant between North America and Asia and lies almost halfway around the world longitudinally from Greenwich, England. It is near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, {{convert|1310|mi|km}} northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii, and about one-third of the way from Honolulu to Tokyo, Japan. Unlike the rest of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Midway is not part of the State of Hawaii due to the Hawaiian Organic Act of 1900 that formally annexed Hawaii to the United States as a territory, which defined Hawaii as "the islands acquired by the United States of America under an Act of Congress entitled 'Joint resolution to provide for annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States,'" referring to the Newlands Resolution of 1898. While it could be argued that Midway became part of Hawaii when Captain N.C. Brooks of the sealing ship Gambia sighted it in 1859, it was assumed at the time that Midway was independently acquired by the United States when Captain William Reynolds of {{USS|Lackawanna|1862|6}} visited in 1867, and thus not part of the Hawaii Territory.

In defining which islands the state of Hawaii would inherit from the Territory, the Hawaii Admission Act of 1959 clarified the question, specifically excluding Midway (along with Palmyra Island, Johnston Island, and Kingman Reef) from the jurisdiction of the state.{{Cite news |last=Lowenthal |first=Ben |date=2018-08-10 |title=The State of Aloha |language=en-US |work=The Maui News |location=Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii |url=https://www.mauinews.com/opinion/columns/2018/08/the-state-of-aloha-50/ |access-date=2021-09-05 |archive-date=June 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220604034457/https://www.mauinews.com/opinion/columns/2018/08/the-state-of-aloha-50/ |url-status=live }}

Midway Atoll is approximately {{cvt|140|nmi|km mi|sigfig=2}} east of the International Date Line, about {{cvt|2800|nmi|km mi|sigfig=2}} west of San Francisco, and {{cvt|2200|nmi|km mi|sigfig=2}} east of Tokyo.

File:Midway2021OSM.png

Midway Atoll is part of a chain of volcanic islands, atolls, and seamounts extending from the Island of Hawaii up to the tip of the Aleutian Islands and known as the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain, between Pearl and Hermes Atoll and Kure Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It consists of a ring-shaped barrier reef nearly {{cvt|5|mi|km}} in diameter and several sand islets. The two significant pieces of land, Sand Island and Eastern Island, provide a habitat for millions of seabirds. The island sizes are shown in the table above. The atoll, which has a small population (approximately 60 in 2014,{{cite web |url=http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g28932-d646698/Hawaii:United-States:Midway.Atoll.html |title=Hawaii: Midway Atoll – TripAdvisor |work=tripadvisor.com |access-date=September 16, 2016 |archive-date=July 11, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160711132948/https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g28932-d646698/Hawaii:United-States:Midway.Atoll.html |url-status=live }} but no indigenous inhabitants), is designated an insular area under the authority of the United States Department of the Interior.

Midway was formed roughly 28 million years ago when the seabed underneath it was over the same hotspot from which the Island of Hawaii is now being formed. Midway was once a shield volcano, perhaps as large as the island of Lanai. As the volcano piled up, lava flows built the island, its weight depressed the crust, and the island slowly subsided for millions of years, a process known as isostatic adjustment.

As the island subsided, a coral reef around the former volcanic island could maintain itself near sea level by growing upwards. That reef is now over {{cvt|516|ft|m}} thick{{Cite journal |last1=Ladd |first1=H. S. |last2=Tracey |first2=J. I. Jr. |last3=Gross |first3=M. G. |name-list-style=amp |year=1967 |title=Drilling on Midway Atoll, Hawaii |journal=Science |volume=156 |issue=3778 |pages=1088–1095 |bibcode=1967Sci...156.1088L |doi=10.1126/science.156.3778.1088 |pmid=17774053 |s2cid=45853811}} Also reprinted here [https://books.google.com/books?id=SFLoKRq-joEC&pg=PA41] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413094355/https://books.google.com/books?id=SFLoKRq-joEC&pg=PA41|date=April 13, 2016}}. (in the lagoon, {{cvt|1261|ft|m}}, composed mostly of post-Miocene limestones with a layer of upper Miocene (Tertiary g) sediments and lower Miocene (Tertiary e) limestones at the bottom overlying the basalts). What remains today is a shallow water atoll about {{cvt|6|mi|km}} across. Following Kure Atoll, Midway is the 2nd most northerly atoll in the world.

The atoll has some {{cvt|20|mi|km}} of roads, {{cvt|4.8|mi|km|1}} of pipelines, one port on Sand Island (World Port Index Nr. 56328, MIDWAY ISLAND), and an airfield. {{As of|2004|post=,}} Henderson Field airfield at Midway Atoll, with its one active runway (rwy 06/24, around {{cvt|8000|ft|m}} long) has been designated as an emergency diversion airport for aircraft flying under ETOPS rules. Although the FWS closed all airport operations on November{{nbsp}}22, 2004, public access to the island was restored in March 2008.{{cite web |url=http://www.fws.gov/midway/MidwayOSnr011508.pdf |title=Midway Atoll Program to Reopen in March |date=January 11, 2008 |work=United States Fish and Wildlife Service |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216073546/http://www.fws.gov/midway/MidwayOSnr011508.pdf |archive-date=February 16, 2008}}

Eastern Island Airstrip is a disused airfield used by U.S. forces during the Battle of Midway. It is mostly constructed of Marston Mat and was built by the United States Navy Seabees.

{{Wide image|Verbesina_encelioides_panoramic.jpg|1200px|360-degree panoramic view of the low-lying landscape of Eastern Island, Midway Atoll}}

Despite being located at 28°12′{{nbsp}}N, which is north of the Tropic of Cancer, Midway Atoll has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen As){{Cite web |url=http://www.midway.climatemps.com/ |title=Midway Island Climate Midway Island Temperatures Midway Island Weather Averages |website=www.midway.climatemps.com |language=en |access-date=December 10, 2017 |archive-date=January 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113104558/http://www.midway.climatemps.com/ |url-status=live }} with very pleasant year-round temperatures. Rainfall is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year, with only one month (June) having an average annual precipitation of less than {{convert|60|mm|in|abbr=on}}.

{{Weather box|width=800px|

|location=Midway Atoll

|single line=yes

|Jan record high F=80

|Feb record high F=78

|Mar record high F=79

|Apr record high F=82

|May record high F=86

|Jun record high F=89

|Jul record high F=92

|Aug record high F=92

|Sep record high F=92

|Oct record high F=89

|Nov record high F=88

|Dec record high F=82

|Jan high F=70.0

|Feb high F=69.4

|Mar high F=70.2

|Apr high F=71.7

|May high F=75.3

|Jun high F=80.7

|Jul high F=82.5

|Aug high F=83.5

|Sep high F=83.5

|Oct high F=80.0

|Nov high F=75.8

|Dec high F=72.1

|Jan mean F=

|Feb mean F=

|Mar mean F=

|Apr mean F=

|May mean F=

|Jun mean F=

|Jul mean F=

|Aug mean F=

|Sep mean F=

|Oct mean F=

|Nov mean F=

|Dec mean F=

|Jan low F=62.2

|Feb low F=61.7

|Mar low F=62.6

|Apr low F=64.1

|May low F=67.4

|Jun low F=72.8

|Jul low F=74.6

|Aug low F=75.6

|Sep low F=75.1

|Oct low F=72.4

|Nov low F=68.4

|Dec low F=64.4

|Jan record low F=51

|Feb record low F=51

|Mar record low F=51

|Apr record low F=53

|May record low F=55

|Jun record low F=62

|Jul record low F=63

|Aug record low F=64

|Sep record low F=64

|Oct record low F=60

|Nov record low F=55

|Dec record low F=51

|year record low F=

|precipitation colour=green

|Jan precipitation inch=4.85

|Feb precipitation inch=3.82

|Mar precipitation inch=3.05

|Apr precipitation inch=2.98

|May precipitation inch=2.42

|Jun precipitation inch=2.06

|Jul precipitation inch=3.44

|Aug precipitation inch=4.32

|Sep precipitation inch=3.84

|Oct precipitation inch=3.79

|Nov precipitation inch=3.83

|Dec precipitation inch=4.09

|year precipitation inch=42.52

|Jan precipitation days=16

|Feb precipitation days=14

|Mar precipitation days=12

|Apr precipitation days=11

|May precipitation days=9

|Jun precipitation days=9

|Jul precipitation days=15

|Aug precipitation days=15

|Sep precipitation days=15

|Oct precipitation days=14

|Nov precipitation days=14

|Dec precipitation days=16

|source=Western Regional Climate Center{{cite web |url=https://wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?pi4490 |title=MIDWAY SAND ISLAND, PACIFIC OCEAN NCDC 1971-2000 Monthly Normals |work=wrcc.dri.edu |access-date=March 21, 2018 |archive-date=February 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221033219/https://wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?pi4490 |url-status=live }}

}}

{{US Census population

|1900=21

|1910=35

|1920=31

|1930=36

|1940=437

|1950=416

|1960=2356

|1970=2220

|1980=453

|1990=13

|2000=4

|2010=0

|estyear=2014

|estimate=40

|estref={{cite web |title=Australia-Oceania :: MIDWAY ISLANDS |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/print_mq.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428153746/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/print_mq.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 April 2016 |website=CIA World Factbook |publisher=CIA |access-date=6 April 2018}}

}}

Midway has no indigenous inhabitants and was uninhabited until the 19th century.

The atoll was sighted on July 5, 1859, by Captain N.C. Brooks, of the sealing ship Gambia.{{cite web |last1=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |title=Chronology of Events |url=https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/preserving_the_past/Chronology_of_Events.html |website=Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial |publisher=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |access-date=21 April 2020 |archive-date=April 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210402232419/https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/preserving_the_past/Chronology_of_Events.html |url-status=live }}{{cite book |author=Hawaii. Dept. of the Attorney General |title=Opinions of the Attorney General of Hawaii |publisher=Paradise of the Pacific Press |date=1925 |page=244 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0kwwAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA244 |access-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505093003/https://books.google.com/books?id=0kwwAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA244 |url-status=live }} The islands were named the "Middlebrook Islands". Brooks claimed Midway for the United States under the Guano Islands Act of 1856, which authorized Americans to occupy uninhabited islands temporarily to obtain guano. There is no record of any attempt to mine guano on the island.{{Citation |last=Hanlon |first=David |title=The USA and the Pacific since 1800: Manifestly Facing West |date=2023 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-history-of-the-pacific-ocean/usa-and-the-pacific-since-1800/D5E8018A44798B6FC4F139705A8DAAA8 |work=The Cambridge History of the Pacific Ocean |pages=563–587 |editor-last=Hattori |editor-first=Anne Perez |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/9781108226875.030 |isbn=978-1-316-51040-7 |editor2-last=Samson |editor2-first=Jane|url-access=subscription }} On August{{nbsp}}28, 1867, Captain William Reynolds of {{USS|Lackawanna|1862|6}} formally took possession of the atoll for the United States;{{cite web |title=GAO/OGC-98-5 – U.S. Insular Areas: Application of the U.S. Constitution |date=November 7, 1997 |url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GAOREPORTS-OGC-98-5/content-detail.html |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |access-date=March 23, 2013 |archive-date=September 27, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927192012/http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GAOREPORTS-OGC-98-5/content-detail.html |url-status=live }} the name changed to "Midway" some time after this. The atoll was the first Pacific island annexed by the United States as the Unincorporated Territory of Midway Island and was administered by the United States Navy.{{Cite web |last=US Department of Commerce |first=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |title=Exploring the Sunken Heritage of Midway Atoll: Honoring the Legacy of the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Midway: Background: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research |url=https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/17midway/background/welcome.html |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=oceanexplorer.noaa.gov |language=EN-US}}{{Cite web |title=Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument |url=https://www.papahanaumokuakea.gov/maritime/midway.html |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=www.papahanaumokuakea.gov}}

File:Starr 080531-4733 Midway Island Cable station building (nb 643) in May 2008 with cocos nucifera.jpg date back to 1903 (2008).]]

The first attempt at settlement was in 1870 when the Pacific Mail Steamship Company started a project of blasting and dredging a ship channel through the reef to the lagoon using money put up by the United States Congress. The purpose was to establish a mid-ocean coaling station to avoid the high taxes imposed at ports controlled by the Kingdom of Hawai'i.{{Cite web |last=Tempest |first=Mark |title=Midway Island Claimed for U.S. in 1867 |url=https://www.eaglespeak.us/2007/08/midway-island-claimed-for-us-in-1867.html |access-date=2025-03-29 |language=en}} The project was a failure, and the {{USS|Saginaw|1859|6}} evacuated the channel project's workforce in October 1870. The ship ran aground on 21 October at Kure Atoll, stranding 93 men. On 18 November, five men set out in a small boat to seek help. On 19 December, four of the men perished when the boat was upset in the breakers off of Kauai. The survivor reached the U.S. Consulate in Honolulu on Christmas Eve. Relief ships were despatched and reached Kure Atoll on 4 January 1871. The survivors of the Saginaw wreck reached Honolulu on 14 January 1871.The Pacific Commercial Advertiser, 28 January 1871

File:Aerial view of Midway Atoll on 24 November 1941 (80-G-451086).jpg

In 1903, workers for the Commercial Pacific Cable Company took up residence on the island as part of the effort to lay a trans-Pacific telegraph cable. To make the island more verdant, these workers introduced many non-native species to the island, including the canary, cycad, Norfolk Island pine, she-oak/Ironwood, coconut, and various deciduous trees; along with some {{convert|9000|ST|t}} of soil from Oahu and Guam. Ants, cockroaches, termites, centipedes, and countless other organisms were unintentionally introduced to Midway and the soil.{{Cite web |title=Preserving the Past: Cable Company |url=https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/preserving_the_past/Cable_Company.html |date=2016-11-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001011508/https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/preserving_the_past/Cable_Company.html |archive-date=2017-10-01 |url-status=dead |website=Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial |publisher=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service}}

On January 20, 1903, the United States Navy opened a radio station in response to complaints from cable company workers about Japanese squatters and poachers. Between 1904 and 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt stationed 21 Marines on the island to end wanton destruction of bird life and keep Midway safe as a U.S. possession, protecting the cable station.The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Midway Islands." Encyclopedia Britannica, December 6, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/place/Midway-Islands

In 1935, operations began for the Martin M-130 flying boats operated by Pan American Airlines. The M-130s island-hopped from San Francisco to the Republic of China, providing the fastest and most luxurious route to the Far East and bringing tourists to Midway until 1941.{{Cite web |date=2022-11-24 |title=Pan Am Era |url=https://www.midway-island.com/history/pan-american-airlines/ |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=Midway Island |language=en}} Only the wealthy could afford the trip, which in the 1930s cost more than three times the annual salary of an average American. With Midway on the route between Honolulu and Wake Island, the flying boats landed in the atoll and pulled up to a float offshore in the lagoon.{{Cite web |title=Pan American Airlines |url=https://www.treasureislandmuseum.org/youarehere/pan-american-airlines |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=timuseum |language=en}} Tourists transferred to the Pan Am Hotel or the "Gooneyville Lodge", named after the ubiquitous "Gooney birds" (albatrosses), in this case Laysan Albatross and Black-footed Albatross.{{Cite web |title=Pan American Airways on the Home Front in the Pacific (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/pan-american-airways-on-the-wwii-home-front-in-the-pacific.htm |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}

{{Main|Battle of Midway}}

{{Infobox NRHP

|name=World War II Facilities at Midway

|nrhp_type=nhld

|nocat=yes

|image=Battle of Midway (Japanese air raid).jpg

|image_size=263px

|caption=Burning oil tanks during the Battle of Midway

|location=Sand Island, Midway Islands, United States Minor Outlying Islands

|locmapin=

|area=

|built=1941

|architect=United States Navy

|architecture=

|designated_nrhp_type=May 28, 1987{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/database-research.htm#table |title=National Register Database and Research (search term: Midway) |access-date=April 4, 2022 |work=National Register of Historic Places |publisher=National Park Service |archive-date=August 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180828223402/https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/database-research.htm#table |url-status=live }}

|added=May 28, 1987{{NRISref|2008a|dateform=mdy}}

{{Cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalhistoriclandmarks/list-of-nhls-by-state.htm#onthisPage-54 |title=List of NHLs by state |access-date=April 4, 2022 |work=National Historic Landmarks |publisher=National Park Service |archive-date=October 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023014928/https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalhistoriclandmarks/list-of-nhls-by-state.htm#onthisPage-54 |url-status=live }}

|refnum=87001302

}}

The military importance of the location of Midway in the Pacific included its use as a convenient refueling stop on transpacific flights and for Navy ships. Beginning in 1940, as tensions with the Japanese rose, Midway was deemed second only to Pearl Harbor in importance to the protection of the U.S. West Coast. Airstrips, gun emplacements, and a seaplane base quickly materialized on the tiny atoll.[http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/preserving_the_past/Preparing_for_War.html Preparing for War] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150520232543/http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/preserving_the_past/Preparing_for_War.html |date=May 20, 2015 }} Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial. The channel was widened, and Naval Air Station Midway was completed. Midway was also an important submarine base.

On February 14, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8682 to create naval defense areas in the central Pacific territories. The proclamation established the "Midway Island Naval Defensive Sea Area", which encompassed the territorial waters between the extreme high-water marks and the {{cvt|3|mi|km|adj=on|spell=in}} marine boundaries surrounding Midway. "Midway Island Naval Airspace Reservation" was also established to restrict access to the airspace over the naval defense sea area. Only U.S. government ships and aircraft were permitted to enter the naval defense areas at Midway Atoll unless authorized by the Secretary of the Navy.

Midway's importance to the U.S. was brought into focus on December{{nbsp}}7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Two destroyers bombarded Midway on the same day; this was the first Bombardment of Midway. A Pan-Am flying clipper stopped at Midway and evacuated passengers and Pan-American employees from Wake island, which had also been attacked earlier that day. The clipper was on its usual passenger route to Guam when the attack on Pearl Harbor happened; it then made a return journey going from Wake to Midway, Honolulu, and back to the USA.{{Cite web |title=Clippers At War @ flyingclippers.com |url=http://www.flyingclippers.com/clippersatwar.html |access-date=2023-11-13 |website=www.flyingclippers.com |archive-date=September 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100911111440/http://www.flyingclippers.com/clippersatwar.html |url-status=live }}

A Japanese submarine bombarded Midway on February{{nbsp}}10, 1942.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=30gRAGjXrIIC&q=midway+%22+feb.+10%22+1942&pg=PA14 |title=World War II: the Encyclopedia of the War Years, 1941–1945 |first1=Norman |last1=Polmar |first2=Thomas B. |last2=Allen |date=August 15, 2012 |publisher=Courier Corporation |access-date=September 16, 2016 |via=Google Books |isbn=9780486479620 |archive-date=August 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813234030/https://books.google.com/books?id=30gRAGjXrIIC&q=midway+%22+feb.+10%22+1942&pg=PA14 |url-status=live }} In total, Midway had been attacked four times between 7 December 1941 and the Japanese submarine attack of 10 February 1942.

Four months later, on June 4, 1942, a major naval battle near Midway resulted in the U.S. Navy inflicting a devastating defeat on the Imperial Japanese Navy. Four Japanese fleet aircraft carriers, {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Akagi||2}}, {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Kaga||2}}, {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Hiryū||2}} and {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Sōryū||2}}, were sunk, along with the loss of hundreds of Japanese aircraft, losses that the Empire of Japan would never be able to replace. The U.S. lost the aircraft carrier {{USS|Yorktown|CV-5|2}}, along with a number of its carrier- and land-based aircraft that were either shot down by Japanese forces or bombed on the ground at the airfields. The Battle of Midway was, by most accounts, the beginning of the end of the Imperial Japanese Navy's control of the Pacific Ocean.{{cite web |last1=Taylor |first1=Alan |title=World War II: Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Campaign - The Atlantic |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2011/08/world-war-ii-battle-of-midway-and-the-aleutian-campaign/100137/ |website=www.theatlantic.com |access-date=29 December 2021 |language=en |archive-date=December 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229183015/https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2011/08/world-war-ii-battle-of-midway-and-the-aleutian-campaign/100137/ |url-status=live }}

Starting in July 1942, a submarine tender was always stationed at the atoll to support submarines patrolling Japanese waters. In 1944, a floating dry dock joined the tender.{{cite web |url=https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/preserving_the_past/After_the_Battle_of_Midway.html |title=After the Battle of Midway |date=November 23, 2016 |website=Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge |publisher=Fish & Wildlife Service |access-date=June 5, 2017 |archive-date=June 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170610113704/https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/preserving_the_past/After_the_Battle_of_Midway.html |url-status=live }}

After the Battle of Midway, a second airfield was developed on Sand Island. This work necessitated enlarging the island through landfill techniques that, when completed, more than doubled its size.

File:KM6CE QSL.jpg]]

From August 1, 1941, to 1945, U.S. military forces occupied Midway. In 1950, the Navy decommissioned Naval Air Station Midway, only to re-commission it again to support the Korean War. Thousands of troops on ships and aircraft stopped at Midway for refueling and emergency repairs. Midway Island was a Naval Air Facility from 1968 to September{{nbsp}}10, 1993.

With about 3,500 people living on Sand Island, Midway supported the U.S. troops during the Vietnam War. In June 1969, President Richard Nixon met South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu at the Officer-in-Charge house, also known as "Midway House".{{cite web |title=President Nixon and President Thieu Meet at Midway Island, June 8, 1969 |url=https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2014/06/president-nixon-president-thieu-meet-midway-island-june-8-1969/ |website=Richard Nixon Foundation |access-date=8 January 2024 |date=8 June 2014 |archive-date=January 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108232101/https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2014/06/president-nixon-president-thieu-meet-midway-island-june-8-1969/ |url-status=live }}

File:Km6bi.jpg

File:NAS Midway Terminal.jpg

Because of its particularly remote location and political status as a U. S. Navy base not part of the State of Hawaii, Midway was a separate country for amateur radio purposes. During this era, there were two main amateur radio stations: KM6BI on Sand Island and KM6CE on Eastern Island. Many other amateurs operated under callsigns from their quarters. They all provided a vital link to home via messages and phone patches.{{Cite web |title=Amateur Radio Operations to Begin Again on Midway Atoll |url=https://www.arrl.org/news/amateur-radio-operations-to-begin-again-on-midway-atoll |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=www.arrl.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2017-12-17 |title=Midway Island Ham Radio QSL Cards – Midway Island |url=https://www.midwayisland.com/midway-blog/midway-island-ham-radio-qsl-cards/ |access-date=2025-03-29 |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2023-01-17 |title=Chronology |url=https://www.midway-island.com/chronology-of-events/ |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=Midway Island |language=en}}

In 2009, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) permitted amateur radio operations on Midway Atoll for the first time since 2002. This initiative aimed to encourage visitors to experience Midway's wildlife, history, and culture, with amateur radio being a significant aspect of this experience.{{Cite web |title=Hams to Activate Midway Atoll as K4M in October 2009 |url=https://www.arrl.org/news/hams-to-activate-midway-atoll-as-k4m-in-october-2009 |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=www.arrl.org |language=en}} The operation, designated as K4M, involved a team of 19 operators who activated the atoll for a 10-day period, operating on multiple frequencies and bands to connect with amateur radio enthusiasts worldwide.

From 1958 through 1960, the United States installed the Missile Impact Location System (MILS) in the Navy-managed Pacific Missile Range, later the Air Force-managed Western Range, to localize the splashdowns of test missile nose cones. MILS was developed and installed by the same entities that had completed the first phase of the Atlantic and U.S. West Coast SOSUS systems. A MILS installation, consisting of both a target array for precision location and a broad ocean area system for good positions outside the target area, was installed at Midway as part of the system supporting Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) tests. Other Pacific MILS shore terminals were at the Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay supporting Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) tests with impact areas northeast of Hawaii and the other ICBM test support systems at Wake Island and Eniwetok.{{cite web |title=Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS) History 1950 - 2010 |publisher=IUSS/CAESAR Alumni Association |url=http://www.iusscaa.org/history.htm |access-date=11 February 2020 |archive-date=February 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225083609/http://www.iusscaa.org/history.htm |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last=Subcommittee on Military Construction (March–April) |date=April 29, 1959 |title=Military Construction Appropriations for 1960: Hearings |pages=169–170 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e-JLAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA169 |access-date=16 September 2020 |archive-date=October 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001002732/https://books.google.com/books?id=e-JLAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA169 |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last=Subcommittee on Military Construction (May) |date=May 20, 1959 |title=Military Construction Appropriations for 1960: Hearings |pages=818, 824 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HBVEAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA818 |access-date=16 September 2020 |archive-date=October 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001041550/https://books.google.com/books?id=HBVEAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA818 |url-status=live }}

Eastern Island, part of Midway Atoll, played a significant role during the Cold War as a site for U.S. naval intelligence operations. From July 1, 1954, to February 1971, it hosted the Naval Security Group Activity (NSGA), Midway Island, which was responsible for operating the AN/GRD-6 High-Frequency Direction Finding (HFDF) system. This system was integral to both the Eastern and Western Pacific HFDF networks, providing critical capabilities in tracking and monitoring high-frequency radio communications.

The AN/GRD-6 HFDF system was designed to automatically provide azimuth indications within the frequency range of 2 to 32 MHz. It featured two antenna arrays: a low-frequency array covering 2 to 8 MHz and a high-frequency array covering 8 to 32 MHz. Each array consisted of multiple monopole antennas arranged in a circular pattern, with a sense antenna positioned at the center.{{Cite web |title=AN/GRD-6 DF Set |url=https://jproc.ca/rrp/grd_6.html |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=jproc.ca}} Beneath each array, a circular copper wire mesh ground mat was buried to ensure consistent and reliable direction-finding performance, independent of local ground conductivity.{{Cite web |title=AN/GRD-6 HF Direction Finding System (HFDF) |url=https://navy-radio.com/grd6.htm |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=navy-radio.com}} The system included superheterodyne receivers and cathode ray tube indicators to display the direction of incoming signals.

The strategic location of Eastern Island allowed the NSGA to monitor vast expanses of the Pacific Ocean, contributing to the U.S. Navy's efforts in signals intelligence and maritime surveillance during a period marked by heightened geopolitical tensions. The data collected through the AN/GRD-6 system supported various military operations and enhanced the United States' situational awareness in the region.

File:NSGA Midway Sign.jpg

File:NSGA, Eastern Island 1970.jpg

File:Watch floor.gif

During the Cold War, the U.S. established a shore terminal, in which output of the array at sea was processed and displayed utilizing the Low-Frequency Analyzer and Recorder (LOFAR), of the Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS), Naval Facility (NAVFAC) Midway Island, to track Soviet submarines. The facility became operational in 1968 and was commissioned on January{{nbsp}}13, 1969. It remained secret until its decommissioning on September{{nbsp}}30, 1983, after data from its arrays had been remoted first to Naval Facility Barbers Point, Hawaii, in 1981 and then directly to the Naval Ocean Processing Facility (NOPF) Ford Island, Hawaii.{{cite web |last=Commander Undersea Surveillance |title=Naval Facility Midway Island January 1969 - September 1983 |publisher=U.S. Navy |url=https://www.public.navy.mil/subfor/cus/Pages/NAVFAC_Midway_Island.aspx |access-date=19 February 2020 |archive-date=February 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200219214952/https://www.public.navy.mil/subfor/cus/Pages/NAVFAC_Midway_Island.aspx |url-status=dead }} U.S. Navy WV-2

In 1978, the Navy downgraded Midway from a Naval Air Station to a Naval Air Facility, and many personnel and dependents began leaving the island. With the war in Vietnam over and with the introduction of reconnaissance satellites and nuclear submarines, Midway's significance to U.S. national security was diminished. The World War II facilities at Sand and Eastern Islands were listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May{{nbsp}}28, 1987, and were simultaneously added as a National Historic Landmark.

As part of the Base Realignment and Closure process, the Navy facility on Midway has been operationally closed since September{{nbsp}}10, 1993. However, the Navy assumed responsibility for cleaning up environmental contamination.

The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on March 11 caused many deaths within the bird community on Midway.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/03/albatrosses-tsunami/ |title=Midway's Albatrosses Survive the Tsunami |author=Brandon Keim |magazine=Wired |date=March 15, 2011 |access-date=March 15, 2011 |archive-date=March 16, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110316102608/http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/03/albatrosses-tsunami/ |url-status=live }} It was reported that a {{cvt|1.5|m|ft|adj=on}} -tall wave completely submerged the atoll's reef inlets and Spit Island, killing more than 110,000 nesting seabirds at the National Wildlife Refuge.{{Cite news |title=Tsunami washes away feathered victims west of Hawaii |url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/03/18/tsunami.birds.deaths/?hpt=C2 |work=CNN |date=March 19, 2011 |access-date=March 19, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725071238/http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/03/18/tsunami.birds.deaths/?hpt=C2 |archive-date=July 25, 2012 |url-status=live}} Scientists on the island, however, do not think it will have long-term negative impacts on the bird populations.{{Citation |last1=Hiraishi |first1=Tetsuya |title=Field Survey of the Damage Caused by the 2011 Off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami |date=2013-07-10 |work=Natural Disaster Science and Mitigation Engineering: DPRI reports |pages=37–48 |publisher=Springer Japan |doi=10.1007/978-4-431-54418-0_4 |isbn=9784431544173 |last2=Yoneyama |first2=N. |last3=Baba |first3=Y. |last4=Azuma |first4=R.}}

A U.S. Geological Survey study found that the Midway Atoll, Laysan, and Pacific islands like them could become inundated and unfit to live on during the 21st century, due to increased storm waves and rising sea levels."[http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=storm-surges-rising-seas-could-doom-pacific-islands-this-century Storm Surges, Rising Seas Could Doom Pacific Islands This Century] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130414225907/http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=storm-surges-rising-seas-could-doom-pacific-islands-this-century |date=April 14, 2013 }}: Atolls and other low-lying islands in the Pacific Ocean may not slip under the waves but they will likely become uninhabitable due to overwashing waves" ClimateWire and Scientific American April 12, 2013{{cite web |last1=Storlazzi |first1=Curt D. |last2=Berkowitz |first2=Paul |last3=Reynolds |first3=Michelle H. |last4=Logan |first4=Joshua B. |title=Forecasting the Impact of Storm Waves and Sea-Level Rise on Midway Atoll and Laysan Island within the Papa hānaumokuākea Marine National Monument — A Comparison of Passive Versus Dynamic Inundation Models |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2013/1069/of2013-1069.pdf |website=U.S. Geological Survey |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior |access-date=6 April 2018 |date=2013 |archive-date=November 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115041423/https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2013/1069/of2013-1069.pdf |url-status=live }}

{{Infobox protected area

|name=Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial

|iucn_category=IV

|photo=Starr 080531-4748 Pritchardia sp..jpg

|photo_caption=Navy memorial and gooney monument with Laysan albatross chicks

|photo_width=

|map=

|map_caption=

|location=Midway Atoll

|nearest_city=

|area={{cvt|2365.3|km2|mi2}}{{cite web |url=https://www.protectedplanet.net/midway-atoll-national-wildlife-refuge |title=Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge |publisher=protectedplanet.net |access-date=10 June 2018 |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612140018/https://www.protectedplanet.net/midway-atoll-national-wildlife-refuge |url-status=live }}

|established=1988

|governing_body=United States Fish & Wildlife Service

|website=[https://www.fws.gov/refuge/midway_atoll/ Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial]

}}

File:President Barack Obama visits Midway Atoll in 2016.png Barack Obama visits Midway Atoll to announce the expansion of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in 2016.]]

File:Flag of the Midway Islands (local).svg

Midway was designated an overlay National Wildlife Refuge on April{{nbsp}}22, 1988, while still under the primary jurisdiction of the Navy.

From August 1996, the general public could visit the atoll through study ecotours.{{cite web |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=travel&res=9905E1D91039F934A35754C0A960958260 |date=July 7, 1996 |title=Study Tours of Midway Island |work=The New York Times |access-date=September 16, 2007 |archive-date=June 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220604034511/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/07/travel/travel-advisory-study-tours-of-midway-island.html?sec=travel |url-status=live }} This program ended in 2002,{{cite web |url=http://www.fws.gov/midway/MrktFeas2005.pdf |title=Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge: Visitor program market analysis and feasibility study |author=Pandion Systems, Inc. |date=April 12, 2005 |work=United States Fish and Wildlife Service |access-date=September 16, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130604131956/http://www.fws.gov/midway/MrktFeas2005.pdf |archive-date=June 4, 2013}} but another visitor program was approved and began operating in March 2008.{{cite web |url=http://www.fws.gov/midway/vsp.html |title=Interim Visitor Services Plan Approved |date=December 8, 2006 |work=United States Fish and Wildlife Service |access-date=September 16, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130604141729/http://www.fws.gov/midway/vsp.html |archive-date=June 4, 2013}} This program operated through 2012, but was suspended in 2013 due to budget cuts.

On October 31, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 13022, which transferred the jurisdiction and control of the atoll to the United States Department of the Interior. The FWS assumed management of the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. The last contingent of Navy personnel left Midway on June{{nbsp}}30, 1997, after an ambitious environmental cleanup program was completed.

On September 13, 2000, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt designated the Wildlife Refuge as the Battle of Midway National Memorial.{{cite web |title=Battle of Midway National Memorial |publisher=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |date=March 22, 2010 |url=http://www.fws.gov/midway/memorial.html |access-date=March 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502074958/http://www.fws.gov/midway/memorial.html |archive-date=May 2, 2013}} The refuge is now called the "Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial".

On June 15, 2006, President George W. Bush designated the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as a national monument. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument encompasses {{cvt|105564|sqnmi|sqmi km2|0}} and includes {{cvt|3910|sqnmi|sqmi km2|0}} of coral reef habitat.{{cite web |url=http://hawaiireef.noaa.gov/about/faq.html#13 |title=Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument |work=noaa.gov |access-date=September 16, 2016 |archive-date=May 6, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090506073921/http://www.hawaiireef.noaa.gov/about/faq.html#13 |url-status=dead}} The Monument also includes the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge and the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.

In 2007, the Monument's name was changed to Papahānaumokuākea ({{IPA|haw|ˈpɐpəˈhaːnɔuˈmokuˈaːkeə}}) Marine National Monument.{{cite web |url=http://hawaiireef.noaa.gov/about/Name.html |title=Papahānaumokuākea: A Sacred Name, A Sacred Place |access-date=March 29, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080207082717/http://hawaiireef.noaa.gov/about/Name.html |archive-date=February 7, 2008}};
Hawaiian pronunciation is given here.{{Cite web |url=http://www.hawaiireef.noaa.gov/about/PMNM_Pronounce.MP3 |title=Archived copy |access-date=March 3, 2012 |archive-date=March 6, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306221150/http://www.hawaiireef.noaa.gov/about/PMNM_Pronounce.MP3 |url-status=bot: unknown}}{{cite web |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/08/26/fact-sheet-president-obama-create-worlds-largest-marine-protected-area |title=Fact Sheet: President Obama to Create the World's Largest Marine Protected Area |date=August 26, 2016 |via=National Archives |work=whitehouse.gov |access-date=September 16, 2016 |archive-date=January 20, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170120220151/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/08/26/fact-sheet-president-obama-create-worlds-largest-marine-protected-area |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.commerce.gov/news/blog/2016/08/secretaries-pritzker-jewell-applaud-presidents-expansion-papahanaumokuakea-marine |title=Secretaries Pritzker, Jewell Applaud President's Expansion of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument |date=August 26, 2016 |work=commerce.gov |access-date=September 16, 2016 |archive-date=September 15, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915040926/https://www.commerce.gov/news/blog/2016/08/secretaries-pritzker-jewell-applaud-presidents-expansion-papahanaumokuakea-marine |url-status=dead }} The National Monument is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the State of Hawaii. In 2016, President Barack Obama expanded the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and added the Office of Hawaiian Affairs as a fourth co-trustee of the monument.

The so-called Gooney monument was carved from a {{convert|30|ft|m|adj=on}} mahogany log as a personal project by a U.S. Navy dental officer stationed on the island. The project began in 1949. The statue was {{convert|11|ft|m}} tall and stood for 40 years before succumbing to termite damage. It was replaced with a mock egg after its removal.{{cite web|url=https://www.midwayisland.com/midway-blog/gooney-bird-monument/|title=Midway Island|website=midwayisland.com|date=December 15, 2017|accessdate=January 4, 2024|archive-date=January 4, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104031240/https://www.midwayisland.com/midway-blog/gooney-bird-monument/|url-status=live}} (includes a transcription of a 1972 Navy Times article about the statue and a later photo of the monument with the mock egg)

File:US Navy 100602-N-7498L-021 More than a million Laysan Albatrosses occupy the entire Midway atoll.jpges at Midway Atoll]]

Midway Atoll forms part of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands Important Bird Area (IBA), designated as such by BirdLife International because of its seabirds and endemic landbirds.{{cite web |url=http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/northwestern-hawaiian-islands-iba-usa |title=Northwestern Hawaiian Islands |author= |date=2020 |website=BirdLife Data Zone |publisher=BirdLife International |access-date=16 December 2020 |archive-date=June 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220604034509/http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/northwestern-hawaiian-islands-iba-usa |url-status=live }} The atoll is a critical habitat in the central Pacific Ocean and includes breeding habitat for 17 seabird species. Many native species rely on the island, which is now home to 67–70 percent of the world's Laysan albatross population and 34–39 percent of the global population of black-footed albatross.{{cite web |url=http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Jan/17/ln/ln23p.html |title=Midway's albatross population stable – The Honolulu Advertiser – Hawaii's Newspaper |work=honoluluadvertiser.com |access-date=September 16, 2016 |archive-date=December 27, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227143504/http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Jan/17/ln/ln23p.html |url-status=live }} A minimal number of the very rare short-tailed albatross also have been observed. Fewer than 2,200 individuals of this species are believed to exist due to excessive feather hunting in the late nineteenth century.{{cite web |title=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service — Birds of Midway Atoll |date=August 19, 2009 |url=http://www.fws.gov/midway/midwaywildlifebirds.html |access-date=August 19, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522041619/http://www.fws.gov/midway/midwaywildlifebirds.html |archive-date=May 22, 2013}} In 2007–08, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service translocated 42 endangered Laysan ducks to the atoll as part of their efforts to conserve the species.

Over 250 different species of marine life are found in the {{cvt|300000|acre}} of the lagoon and surrounding waters. The critically endangered Hawaiian monk seals raise their pups on the beaches, relying on the atoll's reef fish, squid, octopus, and crustaceans. Green sea turtles, another threatened species, occasionally nest on the island. The first was found in 2006 on Spit Island and another in 2007 on Sand Island. A resident pod of 300 spinner dolphins lives in the lagoons and nearshore waters.{{cite web |title=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service — Marine Life of Midway Atoll |date=August 19, 2009 |url=http://www.fws.gov/midway/midwaywildlifemarine.html |access-date=August 19, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522030414/http://www.fws.gov/midway/midwaywildlifemarine.html |archive-date=May 22, 2013}}

Human habitation has extensively altered the islands of Midway Atoll. Starting in 1869 with the project to blast the reefs and create a port on Sand Island, the environment of Midway Atoll has experienced profound changes.

Several invasive exotics have been introduced; for example, ironwood trees from Australia were planted to act as windbreaks. Of the 200 species of plants on Midway, 75 percent are non-native. Recent efforts have focused on removing non-native plant species and re-planting native species.

Lead paint on the buildings posed an environmental hazard (avian lead poisoning) to the albatross population of the island. In 2018, a project to strip the paint was completed.{{cite web |title=Millions of Albatrosses Now Lead-free on Midway |url=https://abcbirds.org/albatrosses-now-lead-free-on-midway |website=American Bird Conservancy |access-date=10 May 2020 |language=en |date=17 August 2018 |archive-date=June 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220604034501/https://abcbirds.org/albatrosses-now-lead-free-on-midway |url-status=live }}

File:Starr 080603-5640 Tournefortia argentea.jpg

Midway Atoll, in common with all the Hawaiian Islands, receives substantial amounts of marine debris from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Consisting of 90 percent plastic, approximately 20 tons of this debris accumulates on the beaches of Midway every year. The garbage is hazardous to the island's bird population: approximately 5 tons of debris is fed to albatross chicks by their parents, but the parents often collect the debris while they are out at sea.[https://www.wired.com/rawfile/2012/08/albatross-midway-chris-jordan/ Plastic-Filled Albatrosses Are Pollution Canaries in New Doc] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209234442/http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2012/08/albatross-midway-chris-jordan/ |date=February 9, 2014 }} Wired. June 29, 2012. Accessed 6-11-13 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates at least {{cvt|100|lb|kg}} of plastic washes up every week.{{cite web |url=http://www.fws.gov/midway/Midway_Atoll_NWR_Cigarette_Lighters.pdf |title=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service — Marine Debris: Cigarette Lighters and the Plastic Problem on Midway Atoll |access-date=June 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521190459/http://www.fws.gov/midway/Midway_Atoll_NWR_Cigarette_Lighters.pdf |archive-date=May 21, 2013}}

Of the 1.5 million Laysan albatrosses that inhabit Midway during the winter breeding season, nearly all are found to have plastic in their digestive system.{{cite web |url=http://blogs.nybooks.com/post/240609421/chris-jordan |title=Midway: Message from the Gyre |author=Chris Jordan |date=November 11, 2009 |access-date=November 13, 2009 |archive-date=March 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100330214936/http://blogs.nybooks.com/post/240609421/chris-jordan |url-status=live }} Approximately one-third of the chicks die.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/7318837.stm |work=BBC News |title=Q&A: Your Midway questions answered |date=March 28, 2008 |access-date=April 5, 2010 |archive-date=February 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206180627/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/7318837.stm |url-status=live }} These deaths are attributed to the albatrosses confusing brightly colored plastic with marine animals (such as squid and fish) for food.{{cite web |url=http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/23/the-fatal-shore-awash-in-plastic/?_r=0 |title=The Fatal Shore Awash in Plastic |access-date=June 28, 2013 |last=McDonald |first=Mark |date=August 23, 2012 |archive-date=May 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525212616/https://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/23/the-fatal-shore-awash-in-plastic/?_r=0 |url-status=live }} Recent results suggest that oceanic plastic develops a chemical olfactory signature that is normally used by seabirds to locate food items.{{cite journal |last1=Savoca |first1=M. S. |last2=Wohlfeil |first2=M. E. |last3=Ebeler |first3=S. E. |last4=Nevitt |first4=G. A. |date=November 2016 |title=Marine plastic debris emits a keystone infochemical for olfactory foraging seabirds |journal=Science Advances |volume=2 |issue=11 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.1600395 |page=e1600395 |bibcode=2016SciA....2E0395S |pmc=5569953 |pmid=28861463}}

Because albatross chicks do not develop the reflex to regurgitate until they are four months old, they cannot expel the plastic pieces. Albatrosses are not the only species to suffer from the plastic pollution; sea turtles and monk seals also consume the debris. Various plastic items wash upon the shores, from cigarette lighters to toothbrushes and toys. An albatross on Midway can have up to 50 percent of its intestinal tract filled with plastic.

The usual method of reaching Sand Island, Midway Atoll's only populated island, is on chartered aircraft landing at Sand Island's Henderson Field, which also functions as an emergency diversion point runway for transpacific flights. An example of this occurring was in 2011, where Delta Air Lines Flight 277, a Boeing 747-400 traveling from Honolulu to Osaka made an emergency landing at Henderson Field due to a cracked windshield. The US National Wildlife Refuge employees working on the atoll assisted the landing and cared for the nearly 380 passengers and crew for eight hours until a backup plane arrived. No injuries were reported.{{Citation |title=Delta Airlines Emergency landing at Midway island | date=June 21, 2011 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcI-pMC1ALA |access-date=2023-05-13 |language=en |archive-date=May 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230513230135/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcI-pMC1ALA |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Incident: Delta B744 over Pacific on Jun 16th 2011, cracked windshield |url=https://avherald.com/h?article=43e52c40 |access-date=2023-05-13 |website=avherald.com |archive-date=May 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230513230137/https://avherald.com/h?article=43e52c40 |url-status=live }}

File:MDY Approach.jpg

{{Portal|Islands}}

• Desert island
• Lists of islands
• List of national memorials of the United States

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Cite journal |last=Kellogg |first=P. P. |date=July 1961 |title=Sounds of Midway: Calls of Albatrosses of Midway Mabel Hubert Carl Frings H. Franklin |journal=The Auk |volume=78 |issue=3 |pages=453–454 |doi=10.2307/4082302|jstor=4082302 }}
• {{Cite journal |last=Mearns |first=Edgar Alexander |author-link=Edgar Alexander Mearns |date=1909 |title=A list of birds collected by Dr. Paul Bartsch in the Philippine Islands, Borneo, Guam, and Midway Island, with descriptions of three new forms |journal=Proceedings of the United States National Museum |volume=36 |issue=1683 |pages=463–478 |doi=10.5479/si.00963801.36-1683.463|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/82539 }}
• {{Cite book |last=Fisher |first=Mildred L. |title=The albatross of Midway Island: a natural history of the Laysan Albatross |publisher=Southern Illinois University Press |year=1970 |isbn=978-0-8093-0426-4 |location=Carbondale}}
• {{Cite book |last=Rauzon |first=Mark J. |title=Isles of refuge: wildlife and history of the northwestern Hawaiian Islands |publisher=University of Hawaiʻi Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-8248-2209-5 |location=Honolulu}}

• {{Cite book |last1=Fuchida |first1=Mitsuo |author-link=Mitsuo Fuchida |title=Midway: the battle that doomed Japan, the Japanese navy story |last2=Okumiya |first2=Masatake |author-link2=Masatake Okumiya |date=1955 |publisher=Airlife Publishing |isbn=978-0-87021-372-4 |edition=13th |location=Shrewsbury}}
• {{Cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |author-link=Samuel Eliot Morison |title=Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions: May 1942-August 1942 |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1950 |isbn=978-0-316-58304-6 |edition=Repr |location=Boston}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Frank |first1=Pat |author-link=Pat Frank |url=https://archive.org/details/rendezvousatmidw00fran |title=Rendezvous at Midway: U. S. S. Yorktown and the Japanese Carrier Fleet |last2=Harrington |first2=Joseph D. |publisher=John Day Company |year=1967 |location=New York |oclc=172985985 |url-access=registration}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Parshall |first1=Jonathan B. |url=https://archive.org/details/shatteredswordun0000pars |title=Shattered sword: the untold story of the Battle of Midway |last2=Tully |first2=Anthony |publisher=Potomac Books |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-57488-923-9 |location=Washington, DC |url-access=registration}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Prange |first1=Gordon W. |author-link=Gordon Prange |title=Miracle at Midway |last2=Goldstein |first2=Donald M. |last3=Dillon |first3=Katherine V. |publisher=McGraw-Hill |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-07-050672-5 |location=New York}}
• {{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Myron J. |title=The battles of Coral Sea and Midway, 1942: a selected bibliography |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-313-28120-4 |series=Bibliographies of battles and leaders |location=New York}}
• {{Cite book |last=Toland |first=John |author-link=John Toland (historian) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-6vNDAAAQBAJ |title=But Not in Shame: The Six Months After Pearl Harbor |publisher=Random House |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-101-96929-8 |location=New York}}
• {{Cite book |last=Tuleja |first=Thaddeus V. |title=Climax at Midway |publisher=Berkley Books |year=1983 |isbn=978-0-515-07403-1 |location=New York}}
• {{Cite book |last=Wildenberg |first=Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BTc4AAAAQBAJ |title=Destined for glory: dive bombing, Midway, and the evolution of carrier airpower |publisher=Naval Institute Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-1-55750-947-5 |location=Annapolis, Md}}

{{wikivoyage|Midway Islands}}

• [https://www.fws.gov/refuge/midway_atoll/ U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610065640/http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/ |date=June 10, 2016 }} (this article incorporated some content from this public domain site)
• [https://www.papahanaumokuakea.gov/visit/midway.html Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument – Midway] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220823212630/https://www.papahanaumokuakea.gov/visit/midway.html |date=August 23, 2022 }}
• [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7312777.stm Diary from the middle of nowhere] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080330151414/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7312777.stm |date=March 30, 2008 }} BBC's environment correspondent David Shukman reports on the threat of plastic rubbish drifting in the North Pacific Gyre to Midway. Accessed 2008-03-26.
• [https://www.nps.gov/articles/the-battle-of-midway-turning-the-tide-in-the-pacific-teaching-with-historic-places.htm The Battle of Midway: Turning the Tide in the Pacific, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211231231623/https://www.nps.gov/articles/the-battle-of-midway-turning-the-tide-in-the-pacific-teaching-with-historic-places.htm |date=December 31, 2021 }}
• [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Midway.html Marines at Midway: by Lieutenant Colonel R.D. Heinl, Jr., USMC Historical Section, Division of Public Information Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps 1948,] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110623074533/http://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Midway.html |date=June 23, 2011 }}
• [http://www.midwayisland.com/ Past residents of Midway] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714164734/http://www.midwayisland.com/ |date=July 14, 2014 }} Discussion of Midway related topics by former residents and those interested in Midway.
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20150327184938/http://www.elstonhill.com/Midway.html Midway Atoll Today (2010)]}}
• [https://www.islandconservation.org/midway-atoll/ Island Conservation: Midway Atoll Restoration Project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927132955/https://www.islandconservation.org/midway-atoll/ |date=September 27, 2020 }}

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Midway Atoll

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