Hawaii's Forgotten Islands

That fact that there is a Hawaiian island that is closer to Alaska than the furthest part of the Big Island blows my mind.

Fascinating. I developed an obsession with Polynesian culture and islands a few years ago. You missed an opportunity to mention that the privately-owned island of Ni'ihau is the only place left where the Hawai'ian language is spoken monolingually, all the inhabitants being native speakers and most of them unable to speak English. Their dialect has actually diverged from Standard Hawai'ian and has some different phonemes.

I feel like a stone’s been thrown at my head... As a Pacific Islander from Hawai’i and a geography lover, I was disappointed when I didn’t know what Midway Atoll was. Even though it was a U.S. territory, having to find out it existed through a WW2 documentary was gut wrenching, but I gotta say that this just topped it all, haha. Much love, though; I've learned so much and can’t wait to learn more!

What's even more fascinating is how much of the Hawaiian islands have actually collapsed in major landslides (on a geological timescale). You can see a lot of the debris fields on underwater bathymetry charts.

I'm glad you mentioned the newest forming island. I'd first came across it when I was stationed in Pearl Harbor. One of the cartographers on our ship mentioned it to me as the expected name "Lo'ihi". And mentioned it would be fully developed and inhabitable in some 50,000 years. I've pulled that out every so often just to show off some knowledge. It's nice to see it getting some love from others also.

I always thought that Midway was just a random island in the Pacific, I didn’t realize it was PART of Hawaii!

The birds on Midway Atoll are specifically the Laysan albatross. While their range is the North Pacific, nearly 100 percent of them are found on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, with most of them just on Midway. The most famous bird on Midway is Wisdom, who is actually the oldest known wild bird and banded bird in the world! It is estimated that she hatched in 1951, and is estimated she has laid between 50 and 60 eggs since 1956 (when she reached maturity), and 30 of them became fledged chicks! The USFWS views her as a very important contribution to the fragile albatross population. As for Ni'ihau, a less talked about event happened there regarding Pearl Harbor. Pilot Shigenori Nishikaichi crash landed there as the Japanese viewed the island as an uninhabited place for damaged aircraft to await rescue. Native Hawaiians unaware of the attack treated him like a guest, including three Japanese-born residents, but carefully removed his weapons and had guards in front of the Haroda family house he was staying in. When the pilot told the Harodas about the attack, they overcame a guard and escaped in order to destroy the plane and papers. They took two natives, the Kanaheles, prisoner, but one of them managed to kill the pilot. Ben Kanahele who was wounded, was given a Medal for Merit and a Purple Heart. But Ella who killed the pilot, didn't receive any sort of recognition. The papers were turned over. Irene Haroda and the translator were both sent to internment camps, while Irene's husband took his own life.

I've wondered how different Hawaii looked during the yunger dryas, about 400' lower sea levels and such

Could you do one on the biggest islands in Canada? I always see them on the map, yet know nothing about them, despite them being so iconic with the shape of Canada. Continue with the amazing videos!

As a 90s baby born Oahu, Honolulu at Queen's Medical Center and raised Big Island (Hawaii Island, Hilo Side) my entire life up until my early 20s, I can say without hesitation that I never knew any of this information until tonight now currently temporary in the mainland. Mahalo (Thank you) for giving me pause and additional reason to appreciate my very unique home state.

As a frequent google maps explorer, I see my several hours in the Pacific payed off when I recognized Minamitorishima when you brought up Japanese Islands, also speaking of which could you do an episode on the Izu Archipelaago or the Ogasawara Island chain in the future? It's amazing to see a youtube finally touch on niche islands in the Pacific and get traction from it.

Very interesting, no one ever talks about those older islands. I enjoyed this very much!

I did some studying on this subject years ago and was gobsmacked when I realized that Midway is at the Northwest end of the Hawaiian chain. Absolutely brilliant illustration of plate tectonics and volcanic hot spots.

There are 3 airstrips named Henderson Field. One is on Guadacanal now named Honiara International Airport. It was a captured Japanese airstrip renamed after an American Pilot that died in the Battle of Midway. Another is on Sand Island on Midway, also named after that pilot. The third was also at Midway but on Eastern Island but has since been closed.

Regarding that whole Russian colony thing: Basically, a German physician approached Kamehameha I to help fight the rebellious Kamuali'i, Kamehameha said no, they sailed to Kaua'i, Kaumuali'i was more than willing to become a Russian protectorate, the German promised him that Tsar Alexander would liberate Kaua'i and conquer the Hawaiian archipelago from Kamehameha, they built three forts, but turns out the Tsar never backed this German...so he was forced to leave in fall 1817. And regarding Lanai: Ellison has only owned the island since 2012. Before then, Mormons owned the island for ranching, then it was sold for a dollar in 1909, then sold again in 1922 to James Dole to create the world's largest pineapple plantation. Dole ended pineapple operations on Lanai in 1992, but it was owned by Castle & Cooke until 2012.

I've been to Kaua'i and the Big Island and you can tell the former is a geologically baby (300,000 yrs old, said the tour guide at Kilauea). If you haven't been to Hawai'i, don't miss the Big Island. It's one of the most bizarrely beautiful places on the planet.

I had the pleasure of spending 2 separate winters on Tern Island, one of the islands in the French Frigate Shoals, as well as 7 months on Johnston Atoll which you mentioned your video. They were some of the coolest places I have ever been. The albatross on Tern would walk up and pick at your hair if you sat quietly for a few minutes and the snorkeling was amazing. Your video brings back pleasant memories!

Spent a year on Tern Island, French Frigate Shoals, from 1966 to 1967 when stationed there at the Coast Guard Loran Station. Fascinating place with perfect weather. Trig, Whale-Skate and East Island were there but have since eroded away. Saw lots of seals, birds, sharks, turtles and rays as well as much other marine life. One of my tasks was maintaining the weather logs. The temperature ranges I recorded were between mid 50s and mid 80s during the course of a year. Not bad for sitting right on the Tropic of Cancer.

I'm from the islands and this is one for the whole ohana, Mahalo. 🌺

I watch tons of geography videos and already know everything detailed. I learn something new from every single video you make. Keep making these man, they're excellent!