Hawaiian island practically disappears off map after Hurricane Walaka

Satellite imagery shows East Island, Hawaii in May 2018. Click to the next slide to see what the island looks like after Hurricane Walaka. Satellite imagery shows East Island, Hawaii in May 2018. Click to the next slide to see what the island looks like after Hurricane Walaka. Photo: U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service Photo: U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service Image 1 of / 22 Caption Close Hawaiian island practically disappears off map after Hurricane Walaka 1 / 22 Back to Gallery

Hurricane Walaka, which churned over the Pacific Ocean in early October, was one of the strongest hurricanes to ever hit the region, but the Category 5 storm got little international attention since it didn't strike any major population centers. Instead, the storm's significant impact was on the environment.

Walaka quietly made the remote East Island of Hawaii disappear from satellite imagery.

Before and after photos show the island in May, then after the hurricane in October. Only tiny stretches of sand can still be seen; the rest is underwater.

"I had a holy s— moment, thinking 'Oh my God, it's gone,'" Chip Fletcher, a University of Hawaii climate scientist, told the Honolulu Civil Beat. "It's one more chink in the wall of the network of ecosystem diversity on this planet that is being dismantled."

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While the 11-acre island was uninhabited by people, it held immense ecological importance. Nearly half of Hawaiian green sea turtles nested on East Island, according to Charles Littnan, a conservation scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.

"There's no doubt that it was the most important single islet for sea turtle nesting," he said in an interview with the Civil Beat.

One in seven Hawaiian monk seals, which are an endangered species, were born on East Island, Littnan added.

It's too soon to determine what impact the island's disappearance will have on the wildlife that called it home.

Read Alix Martichoux's latest stories and send her news tips at amartichoux@sfchronicle.com.

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