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Moli — The Laysan Albatross of Hawaii
Posted: January 2, 2008
Laysan Albatrosses or “Moli” in Hawaiian, are large sea birds with 6-foot wingspans that range over the North Pacific. They are strong fliers and can spend their entire lives in the air over the ocean — feeding and sleeping without ever landing on solid earth. They do however, need to return to the land to nest and raise their young.
Several hundred thousand pairs of Laysan Albastrosses (Phoebastria immutabilis) — also known as White Gooney Birds — nest on Midway, Laysan, and other atolls in the northwest Hawaiian Islands. Smaller numbers nest at Kilauea Point on Kauai, on Lehua Island offshore from Niihau and at Kaena Point on Oahu. They are more infrequently found the further south you go in the Hawaiian islands.
This photo of a moli in flight over a small cove at Ka’ena Point on Oahu was taken in November, soon after their yearly return to breed and nest. Probably no more than several dozen moli nest at Kaena Point each year.
Laysan Albatrosses are remarkable in that they are long-lived (several decades long up to 50 years) and form life-long monogamous breeding pairs. Mated pairs return to the same nesting area (usually within only a few yards) where they can find each other. Moli undergo an elaborate dance when they are reunited at breeding season.
The yearly appearance of moli coincides with the Makahiki season, a four month season of celebration dedicated to the Hawaiian god Lono. Makahiki season begins with the first sighting of Makali’i — the constellation Pleiades — in late October or early November on the eastern horizon.