Ryan Potter - blog 1 Same Same but Different

Same Same but Different
September 13, 2017

To think that during any given year only 15 to 20 people get to set foot on and see Green Island, KureAtoll, there's something special about having the chance to return and experience it for a second time like I am. When we arrived to the white sand beach for offload day, there was a calming touch of returning to a place that feels like home. The sight of the turquoise lagoon, the bending dunes of naupaka bushes along the shore, and the call of past friends flying through the air all were familiar and couldn’t have been better. 

Over the course of our first week of work I can’t help but notice that for how much feels the same here, so much has changed to the island I left behind in April 2016. In camp alone, areas I remember being open ground now stand under thick patches of kawelu bunch grass our crew planted as sprouts that winter. Other places on the island have undergone similar changes and paths I remember taking are now impeded with the growth and maturation of native plants across the island. There are even a few new native plants that have been propagated and outplanted that I haven’t seen before. 

That’s part of the joy to returning. To serve a season working here you see small changes and experience the overall beauty but you don’t really get a first hand grasp on the changes happening from the restoration efforts of each crew before you. You see seasonal changes like the die back of alena and nohu in the winter or increase in verbesina sprouts in spring but you lose the ability to see long term changes like the thick stands of verbesina that once dominated certain parts of the island or new growth by outplanting efforts like those camp kawelu. In a single season you can feel the result of the hard work you’ve done but you might not ever see it fully play out. That’s why a second chance here has already been worth it less than two weeks in.  

One thing that hasn’t changed is how many moments Kure can take your breath away with. From the animal life around us to the picturesque sunsets we’ve had that even DreamWorks couldn’t come up with, Kure gives you something you can’t experience anywhere else. I knew this from before but there’s something unique to knowing what can happen and seeing the reactions of those experiencing it for the first time ever. I’ve already lost count the number of times I’ve heard “Oh my gosh, this is amazing!” or variations of the sort. Small things have changed but the overall picture hasn’t.  

Our first week of work might have been hot, sweaty, and dirty, but it has all been a part of the experience and a good start to hopefully eight incredible journeys. So thank you Kure for having me back and never failing to disappoint, safe to say so far so good for those of us here right now. 

DLNR/DOFAR Kure crew member, 
Ryan Potterr

Ryan Potter - Part 2: Cruise Aloha

Part 2: Cruise Aloha
August 29, 2017

“See the line where sky meets the sea, it calls me.
And no one knows, how far it goes.
If the wind in my sail on the sea stays behind me,
One day I’ll know… if I go there’s just no telling how far I’ll go.”

It might seem cliché but if there was a need to describe how many of us feel about this journey to Kure, the lines from Disney’s Moana seem fit for the experience.

Given how remote Kure Atoll is, there’s no quick and easy way to arrive to the island besides the long ride up the Northwestern Hawaiian Island chain starting from Honolulu. With an extended trip after a stop off the shore of Laysan Island, the seven of us patiently sat aboard the M/V Kahana sailing up the chain in the final wait for our season to officially begin on Green Island within Kure Atoll. 

A cross somewhere between a reality TV show and luxury cruise, our time on the Kahana fell into an eight day cycle of wake, eat, lounge on deck, eat, nap on deck, ice cream, eat again, watch the sunset, stargaze, probably eat some more, and finally go to bed. Besides the occasional moments of sudden restlessness, it seemed we all took to the habits we were required to be under and the sway of the boat became normal. It helped that there was enough to keep us distracted between watching seabirds skim the horizon, gorge ourselves on delicious food we wouldn’t have for the seven months ahead, and keep the jokes and banter going we seemed to hit upon during our first days on Oahu. Other particular highlights from our cruise include a phenomenal green flash at sunrise, a new perspective on stars and the moon, and a face to face with a giant ulua. 

As much as we have enjoyed the journey, one thing the voyage up the island chain teaches you is just how remote Kure Atoll really is. Looking at it from Google Earth you can conceptualize the giant blue abyss surrounding the speck Kure forms but to actually spend the time in that abyss puts it into a whole new perspective. The strange yet beautiful thing about the open ocean is that here you are in this seemingly barren desert of water with no sight of land in any direction and yet you almost always see a constant stream of seabirds flying by.

This is one of the things that attract me to seabirds personally. Their ability to traverse and fill the space nothing else has, is proof of the feats and freedom they have accomplished in their many forms of flight and foraging. Shearwaters and albatross have harnessed the winds to travel thousands of miles with minimal effort, boobies utilize plunge diving to catch fish out of reach from the surface, and frigate birds have mastered the art of sleeping on clouds in their week long journeys never touching down. Moreover, all these birds some how navigate this barren landscape by use of an internal compass and evening stars, returning to specks of land you can hardly make out on the horizon even when you are only a couple miles away from them. Birds we are passing could easily be circling down from Kure and making it back before we even get half way there and to me that’s amazing. 

As the time aboard the boat comes to an end, as we say goodbye to the last company we’ll see besides our crew all winter long, as we take our last hot

Kure Spinner Dolphins (Photo credit Cynthia Vanderlip)

showers, and eat our last fresh food, you can see the urge to get to Kure grow stronger and the reach to know what lies at that line where the sky meets the sea grows more visible amongst us all. I’ve been fortunate to go there before and to see how far it can takes us after, my hope now is to simply be a part of the journey with each of those experiencing it for the first time and seeing how this land of sand and sea teaches and touches them as is has me.  

And if there was any better way to start that journey, our first albatross gliding by during our final ship sunset and then waking up to flat seas and spinner dolphins nearby seemed like the best way to script an ending to the voyage to where we all can’t wait to be. 

DLNR/DOFAW Kure crewmember, 
Ryan Potter

Ryan Potter - Part 1: Beginnings and Return for Winter 2017

Part 1: Beginnings and Return for Winter 2017
August 24, 2017

My writing and name might be familiar to some and I'm excited for the opportunity to share the experience of life and work on Kure with you all once again. Coming back for a second season after working with the 2015/2016 winter crew, there's a new level of excitement in returning to the place that is Kure Atoll. 

Having done this before, I knew well the requirements for working on island but the first step like last time was getting to Honolulu and meeting the new crew. It's easy to overlook the fact that just about all of us met one another a mere seven days before boarding a ship and setting way for Kure to spend seven months together with no one else. However hard the work is out there, getting the right balance of people and a common bond between them is as crucial a part to a successful season of habitat restoration as is anything else. 

Waiting for this moment since January, eight months of anticipation was made worth it the moment I landed in Oahu and met whom we'd be working with all winter long. With a group of seven plus the addition of one individual (Virginie T.) already on island staying over from summer, eight people feels like a lot but our initial interactions spells well for the time ahead as we’ve made quite the little ohana (family) already. 

With backgrounds to include work studying stopover ecology of birds in Florida, habitat restoration in New Zealand, bird and plant surveys in Vermont, turtle and biodiversity work in Greece and South Africa to work with native birds and plants in Maui to Andy's and my own previous experience on Kure, we're a well-rounded team and each able to bring a similar understanding to the job we are doing. However different and widespread our pasts might appear, it didn't even take a full day to feel we had all known each other for years as the jokes and laughs came rolling out faster than our hands were packing and passing over 350 buckets of food, clothes, supplies, and a whole lot of juice for the season. 

There's no better feeling when you have a group that meshes immediately and it only helps more when each individual realizes we're all in this boat together. Personalities are key, hard working, dedicated attitudes are crucial, but coming together as one, that just makes it feel right and all the more worth it. Shared experiences have more hold and power I feel and that’s why it is an honor to be back at Kure and sharing our story with each of you for the season.

Stay tuned and thank you.  

DLNR/DOFAW Kure crewmember,
Ryan Potter