w.- 
By Hebn Alfonn 
/ / SiBr-Bulletsa Writer 
* 
»»- "*■ * - * 
Topmost people, it’s-just “a damn, 
'■h X“;u> 
DW 
rikk.” 
B’Uflt, altar seven “days and nights, 
otr Necker Island, George H. Baiazs < 
sayC“To me, it’s like a great eaihe* 
dral?/*? t \ r :*h 4 t/a* . =^>^f 
B-aJiiizs: shared’the precipitous islet 
iritis; Hawaiian monk seals, green 
hirttoa, hundreds of thousands of na¬ 
tive seabirds nod shrines of ancient 
Folium wash's'IT?*$ T //-:■* 
‘ a, beautiful-- experience/®* •< 
lie said, describing his adventure. .. 
.-*»*• • «•• . ■ 
BALA;2S IS: A-research biologist a to; 
the University of Hawaii’s Institute 
til ftrsirme Biology-and the endanger- 
coming in to feed on the seaweed, . 
•‘I never saw such lush stands of 
Emu/* he said... • . : 
Baiazs saw **# fair-number**'of 
Hawaiian .monk: seals with young 
pups bom on the island.. „* 4 , •?- 
“This was new information for 
Necker/* he ‘said. “We hadn’t 
thought of it as a pupping area/* 
The seals and turtles “team up** * 
on Necker, snoozing together on the 
ledges, Baiazs said. ‘I’m- really 
amazed at how they are able-to* live 
in harmony in- a' limited area on the 
A 1 :# 
Jt- 
- HE' ALSO -.WAS surprised- to- see- ^ 
the turtles “hauling out ©b the lava 
rock and sleeping/.* On other is- 
ed'Hawaiian green’ turtle is his*spe- :;w: ^ ai ^ s, t bask on coral sand, or -« 
cial.«interest« He recently wan ap-«-**£ i *? w under ledges underwater, 
urtlie Specialist Group of thf Inter- ,, Th ® ‘F* 1 * 5 ®ff? d f* aboul 10 ? r 
attarial Union, for 'Conservation of i? about 1 or 3 in 
iatuire.C ,>?• -XVfe-. '<* • ***-«aonung, he sasd. >: . „ ... . 
He is ini' his second year of a three-- caught sis small turtles with a 
year study; to survey the turtle popu-C sco $»,? et to v ta f aad ®e«ure them 
“ - - ^ ■*“ follow their movement,—“if 
4 
Nation in Hawaiian waters, including 
remote-areas of the Leeward chain. 
He also- hopes'tor.,learn more about 
theInrnovemants,.'-growth and eating 
habit?.. ’ ■ >*■- - - vi 
Hiii research Is funded by the State 
M a lint Affairs Coordinator and the 
National Sea Grant'Program. 
Garyf Mattel,. captain of the Easy 
.Riddr, was doing fisheries research 
ia 4he Necker area and dropped 
Babuls taere with a week’s supplies 
on Aug. 19. ••• /. * . 
•* _ ft] ■ 
NECKER; A narrow fishhook of 
volcanic rock, is 393 miles northwest 
rf Hawaii In the Hawaiian Islands 
3Ma.ti-dn.al Wildlife-Refuge. Technical*, 
ly/it is part of the City, and County 
<-! Honolulu. The rocky island com¬ 
prises* 41 acres-and the highest spot 
there is 275 feet. 
The islet is protected from human 
contact by hazardous landing condi- 
t.©n£ and by the U.S. Fish and Wild- 
life Service, which gave Baiazs a 
permit to work there. 
Baiazs spent three days in a cave 
shelter.on a bluff but.changed camp 
aitenipuncturing his mattress. 
“If was. rough sleeping on the lava 
lock / ’ he said.- • 
HC made three trips along the 
peak-of the island, setting up obser¬ 
vation stations, but said, 4 ‘It’s pretty - 
precipitous: There are not many 
Peaces to hike. I wore out a pair of 
boots..* 
'HE SAID THAT, wherever he 
went, on the island, he saw turtles " 
they’re ■ moving*’—and monitor * their 
growth. He also used a( pro fee sam¬ 
pler to obtain stomach’ contents to 
find out what they're feeding on.- 
a There was a-“definite change 
• over** of turtles, Baiazs. said. i4 I 
waver caught the same small turtle 
'twice/' And, based on his observa¬ 
tions, he estimates a minimum of 50 
turtles using the nearshore-waters., 
NECKER SITS on a 650-square-, 
mile bank, with the greatest depth 
' 125 feet, Baiazs said. v 
“It’s conceivable -the turtles are 
using the entire bank and the island 
itself as part of their total cycle/* he 
-said. ; s -.y/-'/: 
Necker is about 75 miles from the 
turtle breeding grounds at French 
Frigate Shoals so Baiazs believes it 
’ is an important island for them, 
“I feel the adults are probably 
-fairly resident-to the island/’ he 
said, •- • .. «. • *. 
■ He found the birds and animals far 
tamer at Necker than at other is¬ 
lands where they have acquired fear 
of man. • . . 
KENNETH P. EMORY, senior ar¬ 
chaeologist at the Bishop Museum, 
was “shocked” when he saw a slide 
show of Baiazs’ trip to Necker. 
' ' '' ' ..- V > 
Emory spent five days on Necker 
in 1324 and recorded .34 marae. 
(shrines) built by ancient Polyne¬ 
sians. He thought they were still 
there, undisturbed, but Baiazs* pic¬ 
tures showed a number of the reli- 
gious. structures had been destrovad 
by bombs. . r 
. Emory said he lea mad the Navy, 
w.ts bombing the-'’island during! 
World War II and advised the naval! 
command at Pearl Harbor that the- 1 
.island was covered with ancient 3 
niiasv 
Baiazs ^found a 250*pound bomb on I 
one section of the island and two! 
more, bombs on the northwest cape ] 
’i . 
m n- 
* 4 
• mth birds perched on them ' : 
. ; Baiazs would like to go to Lisi- 
'y hic,! 1,6 believes may be 
another important island for turtle 
. and to other remote islands in the * 
leeward area, . . m 
taHni’ h ? S . aid ’ • £l5ere ** no transpor-’' 
H'lZ r ° tn * elght units of the wild- 
hie refuge except for French Frigate 
Shoals where a Coast Guard navies 
tion station is located ga 
——i 
