Pearl and Hermes Atoll

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Pearl and Hermes Atoll

The Pearl and Hermes Atoll (Hawaiian

Hawaiian language

The Hawaiian language is an Austronesian languages that takes its name from Hawaii , the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed....
: Holoikauaua), is part of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands or the Leeward Islands are the small islands and atolls in the Hawaiian Islands located northwest of the islands of Kauai and Niihau....
. Named after two English

England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
whaleships, the Pearl and the Hermes, that wrecked here in 1822, a few, small, sandy islands exist, contained within a lagoon

Lagoon

A lagoon is a body of comparatively shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the deeper sea by a shallow or exposed Bar , reef, or similar feature....
and surrounded by a coral reef

Coral reef

Coral reefs are aragonite structures produced by living organisms. In most reefs the predominant organisms are colonial cnidarian that secrete an exoskeleton of calcium carbonate....
.

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Encyclopedia

The Pearl and Hermes Atoll (Hawaiian

Hawaiian language

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

England

Lagoon

A lagoon is a body of comparatively shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the deeper sea by a shallow or exposed Bar , reef, or similar feature....
and surrounded by a coral reef

Coral reef

Coral reefs are aragonite structures produced by living organisms. In most reefs the predominant organisms are colonial cnidarian that secrete an exoskeleton of calcium carbonate....
. These islands are devoid of vegetation, except for several species of grasses. The total land area of all its islets is . The atoll had its greatest importance within the pearl

Pearl

A pearl is a hard, roundish object produced within the soft tissue of a living animal shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of mollusks, a pearl is made up of of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers....
trade. In 1927, Captain William Greig Anderson was fishing for tuna and in the process, discovered pearl beds within the lagoon. This opened up the first commercial activity within the atoll, but the pearl trade lasted for only a few years. The Hawaiian government elected to suspend all commercial activity and render the area as a bird sanctuary. In June 2006, George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He was the 46th List of Governors of Texas from 1995 to 2000 before being United States presidential inauguration as President on January 20, 2001....
declared the atoll and all other parts of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Monument

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Monument

The Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument is a U.S. National Monument encompassing of ocean waters and ten islands and atolls of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, making it the largest Marine Protected Area in the world....
.

The endangered Laysan Finch

Laysan Finch

The Laysan Finch is a species of finch in the Hawaiian honeycreeper Family , Drepanididae, that is Endemism to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands....
was introduced to the island to provide a back up population of the birds, should a hurricane, disease, rat introduction, or other disaster wipe out the population on the island of Laysan

Laysan

Laysan , located northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii at N25? 42' 14" W171? 44' 04", is one of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It comprises one land mass of 1,016 acres , about 1 by 1.5 miles in size ....
.