Since rats were eradicated, the rare Bonin petrel, a ground-burrowing bird, has been making a comeback. The Midway population of Hawaiian monk seals is one of the few increasing in number. UH Hilo's Karla McDermid, right, identifies a seaweed for summer studies students. Gooney trivia Seventy percent of the world's Laysan albatross population nests on Midway. The nickname stems from the graceful flyer's awkward landing and its bobbing, beak-tucking courtship dance.
Albatrosses drink sea water.
Excess salt is extracted by a gland at the top of the bird's head, channeled down a groove in the beak, and shaken off. Parents swallow squid and flying-fish eggs from the ocean surface to regurgitate as food for their chicks. Discarded plastic cigarette lighters, picked up by mistake, contribute to starvation-related deaths of chicks.