Midway http://www.midwayjourney.com Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:20:05 +0000 en hourly 1 MIDWAY – April 2012 – Miguel update http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/04/24/midway-april-2012-miguel-update/ http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/04/24/midway-april-2012-miguel-update/#comments Tue, 24 Apr 2012 19:50:54 +0000 Jan Vozenilek http://www.midwayjourney.com/?p=1059 Dear friends,

Our team just returned from another exhausting and richly rewarding trip to Midway. This time we brought with us the new RED Epic camera, and our albatross friends brought us stunning visual gifts as we recorded their takeoff runs, water-skimming glides, soarings, and feedings, all in gorgeous ultra slow motion.

One of our first stops on the island was to check up on our little friend Miguel who we witnessed hatch back in February. When we left the island last time, Miguel was looking weak and was having trouble standing up to receive his feedings, so our hopes for the little guy were not high.

Here is an update on what we found when we arrived at his nest:

 

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]]> http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/04/24/midway-april-2012-miguel-update/feed/ 0 MIDWAY V – Junk food V http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/24/midway-v-junk-food-5/ http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/24/midway-v-junk-food-5/#comments Sat, 25 Feb 2012 06:51:58 +0000 Jan Vozenilek http://www.midwayjourney.com/?p=1035 Chris Jordan and the team work to remove a length of fishing line from an adult Albatross and her chick on Midway Island. Later it was discovered that it looked more like dental floss.

 

 

Video: Jan Vozenilek and Joe Schweers

Sound: Jim Hurst
http://www.MidwayFilm.com
BLOG: http://www.MidwayJourney.com

 

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]]> http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/24/midway-v-junk-food-5/feed/ 1 MIDWAY V – Chicks everywhere http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/21/midway-v-chicks-everywhere/ http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/21/midway-v-chicks-everywhere/#comments Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:46:30 +0000 Jan Vozenilek http://www.midwayjourney.com/?p=1030 Here is another short video with Chris Jordan, showing the astonishing abundance of bird life on Midway Island.

 

http://www.MidwayFilm.com
BLOG: http://www.MidwayJourney.com

Video by Jan Vozenilek

Music by: Graham Ord featuring Tim Stewart
Chief – from the album Waiting
http:///www.GrahamOrd.com

 

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]]> http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/21/midway-v-chicks-everywhere/feed/ 0 MIDWAY V – Miguel update 3 http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/18/midway-v-miguel-update-2-2/ http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/18/midway-v-miguel-update-2-2/#comments Sat, 18 Feb 2012 18:15:11 +0000 Jan Vozenilek http://www.midwayjourney.com/?p=1019 An update from Midway Island about our little baby Albatross friend Miguel.

http://www.MidwayFilm.com

BLOG: http://www.MidwayJourney.com

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]]> http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/18/midway-v-miguel-update-2-2/feed/ 0 MIDWAY V – Miguel update 2 http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/18/midway-v-miguel-update-2/ http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/18/midway-v-miguel-update-2/#comments Sat, 18 Feb 2012 17:28:06 +0000 Jan Vozenilek http://www.midwayjourney.com/?p=1010 An update from Midway Island about our little baby Albatross friend Miguel.

 

http://www.MidwayFilm.com
BLOG: http://www.MidwayJourney.com

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]]> http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/18/midway-v-miguel-update-2/feed/ 1 MIDWAY V – Enter the Heroes! http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/13/midway-v-enter-the-heroes/ http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/13/midway-v-enter-the-heroes/#comments Tue, 14 Feb 2012 03:57:07 +0000 Jan Vozenilek http://www.midwayjourney.com/?p=989 Having sat on their nests for weeks without a meal, the exhausted Albatross parents of the newly-hatched chicks head out to sea in search of food for themselves and their babies.

–

Footage from the upcoming feature film MIDWAY – currently in production on Midway Island, in the North Pacific.

Director: Chris Jordan
Camera: Joe Schweers and Jan Vozenilek
Sound: Jim Hurst
Editing: Jan Vozenilek

Music: Randy Newman Enter the Heroes from the motion picture soundtrack Monsters Inc.

www.MidwayFilm.com
BLOG:  www.MidwayJourney.com

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]]> http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/13/midway-v-enter-the-heroes/feed/ 2 MIDWAY V – Meet our little friend Miguel http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/12/midway-v-meet-our-little-friend-miguel/ http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/12/midway-v-meet-our-little-friend-miguel/#comments Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:18:36 +0000 Jan Vozenilek http://www.midwayjourney.com/?p=980 Check out the adorable little chick who hatched right outside the door of our house today.  Things looked tenuous for a bit, but he rallied and late this afternoon received his first feeding from his patient papa.

 

 


Image by Jan Vozenilek

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]]> http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/12/midway-v-meet-our-little-friend-miguel/feed/ 1 MIDWAY V – Albatross crashes into sea wall on Midway Island http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/12/midway-v-albatross-crashes-into-sea-wall-on-midway-island/ http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/12/midway-v-albatross-crashes-into-sea-wall-on-midway-island/#comments Mon, 13 Feb 2012 05:37:31 +0000 Jan Vozenilek http://www.midwayjourney.com/?p=977 As our team was filming near the sea wall, we witnessed an Albatross fly past us really fast and crash into the wall behind us. He fell to the ground and wasn’t moving.  We quickly ran over to try to help out.

 

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]]> http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/12/midway-v-albatross-crashes-into-sea-wall-on-midway-island/feed/ 1 Midway V – Poem: On witnessing an albatross feeding http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/10/midway-v-poem-on-witnessing-an-albatross-feeding/ http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/10/midway-v-poem-on-witnessing-an-albatross-feeding/#comments Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:37:46 +0000 Victoria Sloan Jordan http://www.midwayjourney.com/?p=961

On witnessing an albatross feeding

To witness a young albatross open wide
its translucent, newborn throat,
open the soft, pink shell to its mother,
to the contents of the sea she carried
in her body for thousands of miles,
for over twenty million years – to watch,
today, the chick wholly embrace
the amber-colored squid oil
and cloaked shards of plastic,
to see it all slip down in an act
of ancient swallowing – is to witness
eons of trust absorbed into nature’s gut.
And for our own trusting throats
defended by lips, teeth and taste buds,
we evolved to sweeten what poisons us.

 

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]]> http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/10/midway-v-poem-on-witnessing-an-albatross-feeding/feed/ 2 MIDWAY V – Live stream update http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/10/midway-v-live-stream-update/ http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/10/midway-v-live-stream-update/#comments Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:46:57 +0000 Jan Vozenilek http://www.midwayjourney.com/?p=958 We did some tests yesterday and the internet is unfortunately too slow here to make the live stream happen.

Thanks for tuning into our YouTube video updates and Facebook and following along…

 

YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/journeytomidway

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Midway-Journey

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]]> http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/10/midway-v-live-stream-update/feed/ 0 MIDWAY V – Bike ride around Midway Island http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/09/midway-v-bike-ride-around-midway-island/ http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/09/midway-v-bike-ride-around-midway-island/#comments Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:30:25 +0000 Jan Vozenilek http://www.midwayjourney.com/?p=951 Jan Vozenilek takes you on a bike ride around Midway Island. Here you will get to see just how many Albatrosses nest on this little island.

To view the exact bicycle route from this video, you can download the Google Earth KML file here:  BIKE RIDE – GOOGLE EARTH

 

Music by Graham Ord featuring Tim Stewart
Chief from the album Waiting

www.GrahamOrd.com

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]]> http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/09/midway-v-bike-ride-around-midway-island/feed/ 1 MIDWAY V – Junk food IV – Plastic inside a freshly hatched Albatross chick http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/06/midway-v-junk-food-iv-plastic-inside-a-freshly-hatched-albatross-chick/ http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/06/midway-v-junk-food-iv-plastic-inside-a-freshly-hatched-albatross-chick/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:52:53 +0000 Jan Vozenilek http://www.midwayjourney.com/?p=948 Brace your self for an awful discovery : four shards of plastic inside a baby Albatross who we found dead on it’s nest.

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]]> http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/06/midway-v-junk-food-iv-plastic-inside-a-freshly-hatched-albatross-chick/feed/ 0 Midway V – The first feedings http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/06/midway-v-the-first-feedings/ http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/06/midway-v-the-first-feedings/#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:41:54 +0000 Victoria Sloan Jordan http://www.midwayjourney.com/?p=909

Chris holds plastic pieces removed from a days-old albatross chick.

Although it is only February, Spring has arrived for the albatross on Midway.  It’s birthing season and hundreds of thousands of chicks are hatching over the next two weeks on every available square meter of island. It’s an ecstatic time and we’ve spent our first few days photographing and filming the cuteness, buoyed by the sheer, bubbling abundance of chicks breathing into the world for the first time. And among all the nests rustling with new life, the juvenile albatross dance their courtship routines, clapping, clattering, popping, cracking and whistling in a ’round the clock celebration complete with the sounds of fireworks.

We are caught up in all this lushness and fluff. It is almost as if the plastic horror has vanished. Barely a bottle cap or toothbrush can be spotted among all the green growth. In fact, plastic carried here in the bellies of albatross in years past (5 tons per year by Fish & Wildlife estimations) still remains but has gone underground. Grass and weeds have grown up, sand and soil have shifted, covering much of the evidence. But today: a dead chick curled in its nest, a few days old, at most. Inside its stomach we found four shards of plastic large enough to block tiny organs. Large enough that on a human scale it would be equal to eating a few credit cards for dinner. We were shocked to discover that plastic made up one of the first meals for this chick, and saddened to realize what this means for the other chicks just coming into the world on Midway.

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]]> http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/06/midway-v-the-first-feedings/feed/ 2 MIDWAY V – Return to the nest http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/05/midway-v-return-to-the-nest/ http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/05/midway-v-return-to-the-nest/#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:06:50 +0000 Jan Vozenilek http://www.midwayjourney.com/?p=906 Chris lifts an albatross chick back into it’s nest

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]]> http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/05/midway-v-return-to-the-nest/feed/ 0 MIDWAY V – Around our house http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/05/midway-v-around-our-house/ http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/05/midway-v-around-our-house/#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 03:55:12 +0000 Jan Vozenilek http://www.midwayjourney.com/?p=903 Chris takes us for a walk, outside our house on Midway Island

 

 

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]]> http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/05/midway-v-around-our-house/feed/ 3 MIDWAY V – New photos http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/05/midway-v-new-photos/ http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/05/midway-v-new-photos/#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 03:47:45 +0000 Jan Vozenilek http://www.midwayjourney.com/?p=899 We’ve been taking lots of behind the scenes photos, but with the limited time we have and the very slow internet, uploading them to the blog is taking far too much time. We’ve been uploading them all to our Facebook page under Midway Journey.

Here are the direct links to the photos – these should be accessible even if you are not on Facebook.

Day 1 – Jan
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150521132412918.370215.117981432917&type=3&l=d20fafeed4

 

Day 1 – Victoria

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150522607332918.370402.117981432917&type=3&l=6c4585b4a1

 

Day 2 – Jan

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150523317642918.370498.117981432917&type=3&l=1fa93826eb

 

Day 3 – Jan

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150524999732918.370755.117981432917&type=3&l=181a1b9734

 

 

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]]> http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/05/midway-v-new-photos/feed/ 0 MIDWAY V – Welcome to Midway http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/05/midway-v-welcome-to-midway/ http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/05/midway-v-welcome-to-midway/#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 03:33:12 +0000 Jan Vozenilek http://www.midwayjourney.com/?p=896 A check in from Chris Jordan on our first morning on Midway Island

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]]> http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/05/midway-v-welcome-to-midway/feed/ 0 MIDWAY V – The great schlep – How we get to Midway http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/05/midway-v-the-great-schlep-how-we-get-to-midway/ http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/05/midway-v-the-great-schlep-how-we-get-to-midway/#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 03:24:33 +0000 Jan Vozenilek http://www.midwayjourney.com/?p=892 From Honolulu to Midway – this short video shows the process of how we get our selves and all our gear to Midway Island

 

 

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]]> http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/05/midway-v-the-great-schlep-how-we-get-to-midway/feed/ 0 MIDWAY V – On route to Midway http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/03/midway-v-on-route-to-midway/ http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/03/midway-v-on-route-to-midway/#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:35:02 +0000 Jan Vozenilek http://www.midwayjourney.com/?p=884 Our team has arrived on Midway Island and first batch of photos from our journey here is up on our Facebook page.

 http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150518695002918.369936.117981432917&type=3&l=118ad1b0a4

 

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]]> http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/03/midway-v-on-route-to-midway/feed/ 0 MIDWAY V – Equipment prep humour http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/02/midway-v-equipment-prep-humour/ http://www.midwayjourney.com/2012/02/02/midway-v-equipment-prep-humour/#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:09:01 +0000 Jan Vozenilek http://www.midwayjourney.com/?p=880 Chris Jordan provides a tour of our cutting edge video gear from our hotel room in Honolulu.

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