Biologist Account: Heather:
"“The helicopter came to pick us up from Mokeehia and transport us first to Moku mana for a 4-hour survey and then Mokupipi for another 4-hour survey. We enjoyed incredible views of the coastline during the flight – mauka rain showers and waterfalls over the cliffs – what a site! Finally Moku mana was in sight. The islet is tall and has a long, narrow shape. It is essentially divided by a deep chasm into 2 parts: a long stack and a very short one. We planned to drop one person on the small stack and 2 on the large stack. David wasn’t excited about being put on the small stack, so that was to be my section. The winds, however, were still very strong and the pilot was not able to land. There is about a 10 ft wide landing strip and he couldn’t find solid footing. I leaned out (the doors had been removed from the helicopter) and took photos of the raging sea below as we tried to balance on the ledge – something the photos just don’t do justice. Anyway, our options were to drop the three of us on the small stack which the pilot was more confident he could land on or abandon it for a later date. Three people would be ridiculously crowded on the small stack, so we chose to skip it and head to the next islet: Mokupipi. This islet was an extreme contrast to the others. It wasn’t a sea stack at all. There were 3 distinct levels in decreasing size. The largest was the intertidal area that extended around the base, followed by the spray zone, and finally the summit, which was still really in the spray zone, but less so. We made a quick landing and moved to drier ground. A good thing because immediately after the helicopter left, spray washed over our landing zone. There were several rocks jutting out of the ocean around the islet and the sea boiled like we were in the middle of rapids. The islet was lush and green and we were almost giddy with relief after Moke’ehia. We only had 4 hours, so we immediately went to work. Skinks scurried about everywhere and David managed to catch a couple. We caught lots of spiders, grasshoppers, midges and more. We also found 2 Bulwer’s petrel fledglings (just learned to fly) that had been killed by owls and a handful of Wedge-tailed shearwater chicks. Time flew by and the helicopter came to pick us up. Another successful survey.”

Intern Account: Jiny:
"Mokupipi was a very small islet with volcanic rocks, which was a relief because it was still very windy and this gave our eyes a break from the dirt particles. We observed two Wedge-tailed shearwater chicks on the upper part of the islet. The islets were covered in various plants, such as Button sedge, Akulikuli, Naupaka and other greenery. We surveyed the insects using sweep nets and aspirators. The helicopter came back to pick us up after about four hours."