Historic Feature: U.S. Fish Commission steamer Albatross Expediton, 1902

Cyrtomaia crab collected during the Albatross expediton. Photo Credit: Smithsonian Institution

The first Western scientific expedition to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands occurred in 1902. The U.S. Fish Commission steamer Albatross visited what they referred to as the "Leeward Islands," including "Bird Island" (Nihoa), Laysan, and Midway. The first photographs of the flightless Laysan rail (now extinct) were taken on this expedition, and new species of deep-water fishes were collected. Dredging and trawling were some of the primary collecting methods used, and many species new to Hawaiʻi were recorded. Deep sea environments remain the least explored habitats on Earth, and the findings from this expedition over 100 years ago are still some of the most comprehensive for this area.

Click Here for more information (you will be directed to a non-NOAA website).

Click Here for more information (you will be directed to a non-NOAA website).