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Pearl and Hermes Atoll

The Pearl and Hermes Atoll (Hawaiian: Holoikauaua), also known as Pearl and Hermes Reef, is part of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, a group of small islands and atolls that form the farthest northwest portion of the Hawaiian island chain. The atoll consists of a variable number of flat and sandy islets, typically between five and seven. More were noted in historical sources but have since been lost to erosion and rising sea levels.

The atoll is named after Pearl and Hermes, a pair of English whaleships that wrecked there in 1822. It has been the site of at least eight known shipwrecks, including the Japanese Wiji Maru, SS Quartette, and most recently the M/V Casitas, which ran aground on the reef in 2005.


The atoll is an important habitat for seabirds, marine life, and invertebrate species. Twenty-two bird species nest and breed on the islands, including twenty percent of the world's population of black-footed albatrosses. The atoll has historically been included with the rest of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands in conservation efforts. It is included in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, created in 2006. Ghost nets and other fishing debris, rising sea levels, and the invasive algae Chondria tumulosa pose a significant risk to the atoll and its wildlife.

Nomenclature[edit]

The atoll is named for the ships Pearl and Hermes, which were wrecked upon it in 1822.[10]


The Hawaiian-language name for the atoll, Holoikauaua, was established in the late 1990s by the Hawaiian Lexicon Committee following an effort to restore traditional Hawaiian names which had been lost, misspelled, or replaced with foreign names.[11] Because its original Hawaiian name was not known, the Committee conferred the new name of Holoikauaua to the atoll, in reference to the Hawaiian monk seal which frequents the waters there.[12]

Desert island

Lists of islands

Pearl and Hermes Atoll

Quick Facts on the Pearl and Hermes Atoll from the PBS Ocean Adventures site

United States Census Bureau.

Pearl and Hermes Atoll: Blocks 1015 thru 1022, Census Tract 114.98, Honolulu County, Hawaii

Google Street View images from the Atoll