Laysan

About

Laysan (; Hawaiian: Kauō [kɐwˈoː]) is one of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, located 808 nautical miles (930 mi; 1,496 km) northwest of Honolulu. It has one land mass of 1,016 acres (411 ha), about 1 by 1+1⁄2 miles (1.6 by 2.4 km) in size. It is an atoll of sorts, although the land completely surrounds Laysan Lake, some 2.4 m (7.9 ft) above sea level, that has a salinity approximately three times greater than the ocean. Laysan's Hawaiian name, Kauō, means "egg".

It was mined for guano in the late 19th century and early 1900s, which resulted in the release of rabbits who had been brought in for food. After mining ceased, the rabbits ate up the natural vegetation causing dozens of plant and one bird species to go extinct. The rabbits were removed by 1923, and the island has been a nature reserve since.

The island is the home of the rarest duck in the world, the Laysan Duck.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.