The Hawaiian Archipelago

For centuries fishermen have used glass ball floats to keep their nets buoyed upright when fishing in the ocean. Occasional storms detach the floats from the net setting the floats free to travel the sea current. The floats can spend many years in the ocean growing huge goose barnacles. At last these glass balls make landfall on distant shores.

This beautiful net covered 18 inch glass float, with its accompanying barnacles, has made its way to a pristine sand beach of the Hawaiian Islands where White Terns soar on trade winds between wispy clouds and warm aqua waters.

White Terns are sometimes called “fairy terns” perhaps because of their snow-white color and fluttery but graceful flight. These terns usually first mate between 3 and 4 years old, but some as young as two years old. They have a body length of 10-12 inches and a wing span of 28 inches. Almost 90% of the white tern’s diet consist of fish especially juvenile forms of flying fish, goatfish, halfbeaks, needlefish and dolphinfish.

White Tern
Hawaiian Name: Manu-o-ku

© 1996 Victoria McCormick