On World Oceans Day earlier this week, I surveyed a colony of Laysan albatross chicks, mere weeks away from fledging. It was a clear day with bluebird blue skies and the slightest whisper of wind disrupting the lazy leaves of ironwood trees. But the chicks didn’t let the lack of air movement deter them. Many…
Author: Kim Steutermann Rogers
Kim Steutermann Rogers lives with her husband and dog on the island of Kauai. She's a longtime freelance science journalist and author covering Hawaii's natural history and, periodically, Mark Twain. In between assignments, she writes fiction and nonfiction. She maintains a website at http://www.kimsrogers.com. You can find her on social media @kimsrogers.
Celebrate Oceans. Refuse Plastic.
Beach finds last week: Plastic toothbrush; plastic baby powder bottle; plastic hagfish (eel) trap; plastic coat hanger; and a sundry of unidentifiable bits and chunks of plastic in a rainbow of colors—none of it left behind by beach-goers but based on its snagged and worn condition, arrived by water. I imagine a fisherman up early,…
Seek Awe + Save the World. Go. Now.
Last week, a one-year-old Hawaiian monk seal swallowed a large fishhook. As a result, F28, as his flipper tags read, was loaded into an oversized dog carrier. He hardly fought it. In his transport crate, he looked quite small and extremely tired. Quickly, another team whisked him off in the back of a truck to…
Endangered Species Have the Coolest Tongues
Albatross have pointy tongues. Humpback whales have tongues that are the size of Volkswagen bugs. The tips of Hawaiian monk seals’ tongues are bifurcated, a fancy word for split. Pretty cool, huh. And that’s just tongues. Wait until we get to the throats. Today is recognized as Endangered Species Day. The goal of the day…
Last Report from Ranger Rogers: Touched by Place
This past Saturday, at sunset, I climbed the 51 steps of the Kilauea Point Lighthouse for the last time as a park ranger. When I reached the Watch Room, I slowly and carefully closed the round, brass vents that allow air to circulate. This was the floor where lighthouse keepers spent most of their time…
Report from Ranger Rogers: Parking Cars and Sharing Moments
A week ago, on Earth Day, under blue skies, I took my spot in the parking lot at Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge. “Did you know you’d have to be a parking lot attendant when you applied for the job” a woman asked me a couple weeks ago. “I did,” I said. “But it’s only…
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