Baker Island National Wildlife Refuge
Established in 1974, Baker Island National Wildlife Refuge lies just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean and about 1,830 nautical miles southwest of Honolulu. The Refuge includes 31,909 acres, of which 531 acres are terrestrial and 31,378 acres are submerged. Except for a shallow reef surrounding the island, most of the submerged habitat is deep and relatively unexplored.
The island is uninhabited, and entry is by permit only. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel visit Baker about every 2 years, though occasionally scientists and researchers team up to share transportation costs to the island more frequently. From Honolulu, it is only accessible by an 8-day ship voyage.
Baker Island is the crest of an ancient steep-sided coral reef cap and massive underlying extinct volcano emerging from the deep ocean floor of the equatorial Pacific. The equatorial undercurrent deflects off the western flank of the seamount, pushing nutrient-rich waters up into the sunlit zone, thereby increasing marine productivity and benefiting many species of marine life. This important phenomenon may be limited only to Howland, Baker, and Jarvis Islands because of their steepness and location on the equator.
