Historic Feature: Guano Mining and Egg Harvesting on Laysan Island

Laysan Albatross eggs collected for harvest in the early 1890's. Photo Credit: Hawaii State Archives

At the turn of the 19th Century British guano miners were searching the Pacific for islands with significant guano (bird droppings) deposits to be used for agricultural fertilizer. Laysan Island, with an estimated population of 10 million Laysan albatross, was ripe for exploitation and in 1890 the Hawaiian Kingdom leased the island to two entrepreneurs - Captain George D. Freeth and Captain Charles N. Spencer - for a period of 20 years to mine the deposits. In the years that followed roughly 1/2 million tons of guano were removed, and with the additional insults of egg removal and introduction of invasive species the island was decimated. The subsequent recovery and restoration of Laysan is an amazing testament to the resiliency of nature. (Source: "Isles of Refuge: Wildlife and History of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands." Mark J. Rauzon, ISBN: 0-8248-2330-3)

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