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Pearl and Hermes Atoll
Pearl and Hermes Atoll: Maps and Imagery
Pearl
and Hermes Atoll map:
Get a full-resolution version (218 KB).
Pearl
and Hermes IKONOS image:
View the 13-meter resolution version (541 KB).
Download the 8-meter resolution version (863 KB zip file).
Pearl
and Hermes bathymetry image:
View the 13-meter resolution version (935 KB) with depth scale.
Download the 4-meter resolution geotiff (13,598 KB zip file). See the Digital number (DN) to Classification matchup for NWHI bathymetry files.
See the legend PDF to view the colorbars for the depth scales and the legends for habitat cover and detailed class.
Image
of Pearl and Hermes habitat cover:
View the 13m-resolution version (1,688 KB) with legend .
Download the 4-meter resolution geotiff (2,909 KB zip file). See the Digital number (DN) to Classification matchup for NWHI habitat cover files.
See the legend PDF to view the colorbars for the depth scales and the legends for habitat cover and detailed class.
Pearl
and Hermes detailed habitat image:
Download the 13-meter resolution version (1,711 KB) with legend .
Download the 4-meter resolution geotiff (3,738 KB zip file). See the Digital number (DN) to Classification matchup for NWHI detailed classification files.
See the legend PDF to view the colorbars for the depth scales and the legends for habitat cover and detailed class.
Pearl and Hermes Atoll: Shapefiles
Click on the links below to download shapefiles which correspond to the French Frigate Shoals detailed habitat class and aggregated cover imagery. Each zipped shapefile consists of 6 separate files, with the same root name and .dbf, .prj, .sbn, .sbx, .shp, and .shx extensions.
Pearl
and Hermes Atoll: Detailed habitat shapefile (105 MB)
Pearl
and Hermes Atoll: Habitat cover shapefile (80 MB)
download a .ZIP file which contains the Arc and PCI legend files (.avl and .rst extension) for the NWHI maps. When added to your Arc or PCI project, these files will cause the vector colors to match the geotiffs.
Pearl and Hermes Atoll: Description and History
Lying at longitude 175 degrees 50 minutes W and latitude 27 degrees 50 minutes N, Pearl and Hermes Atoll is found approximately 400 km SE of Midway. Pearl and Hermes Atoll is all that remains of a large shield volcano that, approximately 22 million years ago, may have been nearly as large as Lana'i. What remains now is a shallow water atoll about 32 km long and 20 kilometers wide covering an estimated 447 sq. km There are several permanent and numerous ephemeral islets around the periphery and inside the atoll. The largest island is Southeast Island, which is 0.1 sq. km.
Pearl and Hermes Atoll was discovered when the whaling ship Pearl ran aground in 1822. Its sister ship, the Hermes, also ran aground while trying to help the Pearl. The crews of both ships were able to leave the atoll and return to Honolulu. Originally claimed by King Kamehameha III in 1854, Pearl and Hermes Atoll was later claimed for the U.S. by Captain N. C. Brooks of the Gambia in 1859.
The islands of Pearl and Hermes Atoll provide resting and nesting areas for an estimated 160,000 birds of 17 species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service surveys indicate that up to 20 percent of the world's Black-footed Albatrosses nest at Pearl and Hermes. It also is an important nesting site for the Tristram's Storm-Petrels and has the only recorded nesting site of the Little Tern. Over the years, several of the NWHI's rare endemic birds have been introduced to Pearl and Hermes. The Laysan Finches brought to the Atoll appear to have survived; the same cannot be said for the Laysan Ducks and Laysan Rails.
Pearl and Hermes Atoll has been extensively impacted by marine debris washing ashore and fouling the Atoll's reefs. The debris appears to be coming from the North Pacific Gyre, a slow-moving current that traps discarded nets and other waste. As it moves around the northern Pacific, the gyre interacts with the islands and atoll's of the NWHI. Marine debris carried by the gyre are captured by the NWHI atolls; Pearl and Hermes is the most affected. The debris damages reefs, entangles fish and marine mammals, and may be introducing alien marine organisms to the NWHI. In the last few years, thousands of kilograms of debris have been removed from Pearl and Hermes and other NWHI atolls.