Tern Island (Hawaii)
Nickname: "the coral carrier" | |
|---|---|
French Frigate Shoals, 1966 | |
| Geography | |
| Location | French Frigate Shoals |
| Coordinates | 23°52′12″N 166°17′02″W / 23.870°N 166.284°W |
| Area | 26.014 acres (10.527 ha) |
| Administration | |
United States of America | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | Seasonal (0) |
| Additional information | |
| 5000 ft seawall & sand airstrip | |
Tern Island is a coral island located near French Frigate Shoals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It is in the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge. It is approximately 490 miles (790 kilometers) west-northwest of Oahu, about halfway to Midway Island to the west.
The island provides a breeding habitat to 18 species of seabirds, green sea turtles, and Hawaiian monk seals.
The Naval Air Station's WWII seawall, an inactive Navy runway, and some small buildings remain. Some later repair work was done to the thousands of feet of seawall built during WWII.
The Fish and Wildlife Service closed its field station on the island at the end of 2012 after a storm damaged the facilities. A naval base operated from 1942 to 1946, a Coast Guard base from 1952 to 1979, and a Fish and Wildlife Service station from 1979 to 2012, but the island still is visited periodically. It was recorded on Google Earth in 2013. The French Frigate Shoals Airport is unattended and only acceptable for emergency landings.