Is French Frigate Shoals Gone?

The French Frigate Shoals, the largest atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, has virtually disappeared due to satellite photos. The atoll, named after French explorer Jean-François de Galaup, is the largest breeding ground for Hawaiian monk seals but has seen a decline in recent years. The island has been hit by tropical storms in the past, and after Hurricane Neki passed through in 2009, researchers found that 96% of the Hawaiian green sea turtle population, including approximately half of the endangered species, travel to the shoals for safe nesting. Satellite tagging of these turtles indicates that many of the sandbars and islets have been lost to sea level rise already. Those that remain are vulnerable to high-tide flooding.

The French Frigate Shoals are home to an estimated 96 percent of the entire Hawaiian green sea turtle population, with an estimated 96 percent of the entire population using this remote island. The islands have gone through several administrative changes in the 20th century, shifting from hunting areas for sea turtles to military uses. A powerful hurricane in the eastern Pacific washed away an 11-acre island in the French Frigate Shoals, part of a national monument. Divers discovered devastating damage to the coral at the French Frigate Shoals, an atoll featuring a crescent-shaped reef.

In 2018, only 57% of pups born survived to weaning at the French Frigate Shoals, attributable to shark-related mortality. The small sand islands used by monk seals have been shrinking for decades, and habitat loss has been linked to this habitat loss. The largest pinnacle, La Perouse Pinnacle, is a rock outcrop in the French Frigate Shoals.