Exploring the Sunken Heritage of Midway Atoll: Honoring the Legacy of the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Midway: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research

Mission Logs

Follow along as participants in the cruise provide updates and reflections on their experiences, the science, the technology, and other elements of the expedition.

  • Mission Summary

    April 27 – May 19, 2017  |  By Bert Ho

    Mission Summary

    It will take some time to analyze the possible engine finding before making any conclusions of whether it is American or Japanese, from the Battle of Midway or later, and what aircraft it is from. This is all work we are eager to do, and when we are done, we know there will be an amazing story to tell.

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  • From Midway to Pearl Harbor

    May 16, 2017  |  By Bert Ho

    From Midway to Pearl Harbor

    There have been several blogs about life on Midway, because it is such a unique place in the world. It is so far away and difficult to get to that most people will never have the chance to see and smell it for themselves. However, this mission log is going to bring the focus back to what we set out to find: airplanes.

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  • Bowling Night on Midway

    May 16, 2017  |  By Dave Conlin

    Bowling Night on Midway

    As a community, the people of Midway have all sorts of rituals, rites, traditions, and general practices. For example, Sundays are bowling night.

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  • Thank Goodness for Thai Hot!

    May 15, 2017  |  By Jason Leonard

    Thank Goodness for Thai Hot!

    It’s not Alaska or Antarctic cold but for someone born and raised in Hawaii—it’s cold! One of the things that keeps us going in this frigid weather is the hot food that the Thai kitchen staff puts their skill and love into creating for our meals.

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  • The Project Lead: In Our Hearts and Minds

    May 12, 2017  |  By Bert Ho

    The Project Lead: In Our Hearts and Minds

    Kelly is the Monument’s first and only maritime archaeologist and she is currently seven months pregnant with baby number two, and we are all excited for her and her family.

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  • Midway Through the Lens

    May 10, 2017  |  By Brett Seymour

    Midway Through the Lens

    Midway Atoll has always held a sense of wonder due to my fascination with WWII, and the remnants of war are still found underwater today. My job is to merely capture the images—images that help the scientists understand the past, WWII or otherwise.

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  • Maritime Midway

    May 9, 2017  |  By Bert Ho

    Maritime Midway

    Each day we have been conducting magnetometer surveys and covering parts of Midway Atoll that have never been surveyed with these instruments. With a little luck, perhaps we will find the pieces we are looking for: the planes lost in the Battle of Midway.

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  • Anchor’s Aweigh!

    May 8, 2017  |  By Brian Hauk

    Anchor’s Aweigh!

    We were able to scuba dive on 21 sites today and completed our alien species surveys while investigating what structure(s) caused the anomaly recorded by the magnetometer. We seem to have been in an anchorage zone as we came across several large anchors, mooring blocks and sections of chain.

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  • Layers of History – A Newcomer’s Perspective

    May 5, 2017  |  By Dave Conlin

    Layers of History – A Newcomer’s Perspective

    Midway isn’t close to anything at all—it sits in the middle of the largest ocean on our planet—and the tiny marks of history that have been left in layers out on the miles and miles of reef for us to find with our magnetometers and divers are a daunting task indeed.

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  • Failure to Launch

    May 4, 2017  |  By Bert Ho

    Failure to Launch

    We did not have any crash landings as our project began its first full day of field work, but we did have some sputterings in trying to get all equipment up and running.

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  • Welcome to the Village of Midway

    May 3, 2017  |  By Bert Ho

    Welcome to the Village of Midway

    Midway is very much a community run through great cooperation between federal agencies and private contractors. From the moment we arrived late the night before, we could see that every person here is integral to the success of the refuge and to everyone’s well-being.

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