How Much Do You Know About the United States Pacific Remote Islands?

Quiz January 9, 2019 Read time:

Projects: Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy

The Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument celebrated its 10-year anniversary on Jan. 6, 2019. The protected area safeguards vibrant coral reefs and deep-sea ecosystems teeming with life, and provides a safe haven for threatened species of sharks, seabirds, turtles, and marine mammals. The monument was initially designated by President George W. Bush on the same day in 2009 that he also designated marine national monuments in the Mariana Trench and Rose Atoll. In 2014, President Barack Obama expanded protections for the U.S. Pacific Remote Islands to cover 1.3 million square kilometers of ocean habitat. The Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument protects federal waters around isolated American territories in the Pacific Ocean, including Howland and Baker islands, Jarvis Island, Johnston Island, Wake Atoll, and Kingman Reef and Palmyra Atoll. Test your knowledge about the history and biology of these distant American protected areas.

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# social text : What’s the depth of your knowledge on the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument? Find out in this @PewEnvironment quiz: # social url : https://pew.org/2Rj145t # _imgurl : /~/media/data-visualizations/interactives/2018/ ? Approximately how many seabirds does the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument protect?

(!img src="/-/media/post-launch-images/2019/01/pacific-remote/red-footed-booby-1/16x9_s.jpg" !)

Andrew Wright/The Nature Conservancy

- 1 million - 7 million + 14 million ! The monument safeguards habitat for approximately 14 million seabirds from 19 different species, including the red-footed booby pictured below. - 25 million ? How old is the oldest living organism in the Pacific Remote Islands?

(!img src="/-/media/post-launch-images/2019/01/pacific-remote/leiopathes/16x9_s.jpg" !)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

- 500 years - 1,500 years - 2,000 years + 4,000 years ! Scientists say that some specimens of black coral (Leiopathes sp.), one of the world’s oldest living organisms, have lived for more than 4,000 years. Black coral is found in the deep sea of the Pacific Remote Islands. Although scientists know more about tropical coral ecosystems, new evidence suggests that deep-sea ecosystems harbor the highest diversity of coral species in the ocean. ? The health of the Pacific Remote Islands marine ecosystems is threatened by ______

(!img src="/-/media/post-launch-images/2019/01/pacific-remote/manini/16x9_m.jpg" !)

Kydd Pollock/The Nature Conservancy

- Climate change - Pollution - Habitat destruction + All of the above ! Although the Pacific Remote Islands are isolated from dense human populations, they are not immune to human-caused threats. Plastic pollution washes up on the shores of all the islands, climate change is changing the chemistry and the temperature of the sea, and illegal fishing threatens marine life even within the protected area. ? Which famous historical figure was last seen heading toward Howland Island—one of three islands protected by the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument?

(!img src="/-/media/post-launch-images/2019/01/pacific-remote/eggleston/16x9_m.jpg" !)

C. Eggleston

- Bessie Coleman + Amelia Earhart ! On July 2, 1937, famed American pilot Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, took off from Lae, Papua New Guinea, bound for Howland Island. Her last radio transmission came at 8:43 a.m. the same day. Earhart’s plane was never found and the mystery of what happened to her remains unsolved. - Amy Johnson - The Wright brothers ? If the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument were a U.S. state, where would it stand in the rankings of biggest states?

(!img src="/-/media/post-launch-images/2019/01/pacific-remote/red-footed-booby-2/16x9_s.jpg" !)

Andrew Wright/The Nature Conservancy

- First + Second ! Alaska is the only state larger than the monument. Coming in at just under 1.3 million square kilometers (490,000 square miles), the protected area is twice the size of Texas and three times the size of California. - Fifth - Tenth ? How did the islands within the Pacific Remote Islands come under U.S. control?

(!img src="/-/media/post-launch-images/2019/01/pacific-remote/island/16x9_m.jpg" !)

Erik Oberg/Island Conservation

+ The Guano Islands Act of 1856 ! The Guano Islands Act of 1856 enables U.S. citizens to take possession of unclaimed islands containing guano deposits. During that time, guano was used to make gunpowder and as agricultural fertilizer. The islands claimed under the act came to be known as insular areas—territories owned and controlled by, but not part of, the United States. There are 14 insular areas in the Pacific and Caribbean. - The Antiquities Act of 1908 - The Affordable Care Act of 2010 - The 1898 Treaty of Paris ? The world’s largest land crab lives in the Pacific Remote Islands. How big do these crabs get?

(!img src="/-/media/post-launch-images/2019/01/pacific-remote/coconut-crab/16x9_m.jpg" !)

Andrew Wright/The Nature Conservancy

- 12 inches - 25 inches + 39 inches ! The coconut crab (Birgus latro) is a species of terrestrial hermit crab that can grow up to 1 meter (39 inches) in length—measured from the back of the shell to the front of the claws. The crabs feed on fruits, seeds, and nuts, but have been known to kill and eat animals, including birds. - 72 inches ? Which of these animals is a chondrichthyan—a species with a flexible skeleton made of cartilage instead of bone?

(!img src="/-/media/post-launch-images/2019/01/pacific-remote/grey-reef-shark/16x9_m.jpg" !)

Kydd Pollock/The Nature Conservancy

- Whale shark - Giant oceanic manta ray - Gray reef shark - Chimaera + All of the above ! Sharks, skates, rays, and chimaeras are all chondrichthyans, a diverse group of cartilaginous fishes. Nearly all of these predatory species are slow growing and produce few young, which means heavy fishing can quickly decimate their populations. Many species of chondrichthyans migrate through the waters of the Pacific Remote Islands.