Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/East Island (Hawaii)/archive2: Difference between revisions

East Island (Hawaii) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs)

As of 15 September 2025, 14:56 (UTC), this page is active and open for discussion. An FAC coordinator will be responsible for closing the nomination.

Nominator(s): MallardTV ^{Talk to me!} 22:19, 29 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

This article is about East Island, a low-lying, uninhabited island in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands that forms part of the French Frigate Shoals. It covers the island’s ecological significance, historical use, impact of Hurricane Walaka in 2018, and subsequent partial recovery. MallardTV ^{Talk to me!} 22:19, 29 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Mallard, the notes are uncited if you could fix that as a first off. The article is very interesting; this is just a quick comment. Also, it would be very helpful if you could mention or link the improvements made since the last FAC nom (which IMO was closed too hastily) so reviewers can get their bearings — and it would give you credibility for reviewers choosing where to focus their attention and maybe dig deeper. Ceoil (talk) 00:55, 30 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The main issue is the sources which are still mostly from newspapers. MallardTV, is this something you have access to to address – Wikipedia Library might be a great help. The article is not very controversial, really very well written and most interesting. A first-time mominator needing some guidance, so obviously a stringing source check is; am digging. Ceoil (talk) 01:30, 30 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Ceoil Thanks! I’ve looked for scholarly articles covering the island’s “washing away,” but I haven’t come across any. As it’s been seven years since said incident, I’d assume they are out there. I just can’t find them for the life of me. The concensus of the first round here at FAC was that I didn’t include enough scholarly content. I have sourced from many for my ecology section, but that’s all that seems to have readily accessible scholarly coverage. Thanks for the compliments on my writing too! MallardTV ^{Talk to me!} 13:24, 31 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Ceoil Here’s that list of improvements too:

• Scholarly sources added: The article now cites multiple academic and government sources that were previously absent, including:
  • Reynolds et al. (2013) for elevation and seabird nesting data.
  • NOAA Technical Memoranda on monk seal viability and green sea turtle monitoring.
  • Peer-reviewed studies on sea turtle demographics and storm impacts.
• Greater detail on green sea turtles: The section has been expanded to include:
  • Nesting frequency and annual growth rates (e.g., 5.7% increase).
  • Average number of nesting females (~390) and theoretical carrying capacity (up to 2.1 million hatchlings).
  • Information on genetic distinctiveness and migratory patterns.
• Expanded coverage of monk seals:
  • Now a standalone section with data on pup survival before and after 2018.
  • Description of threats including Galapagos shark predation and storm-driven flooding.
  • Coverage of habitat shifts to Tern Island after loss of East and Trig Islands.
• More accurate storm impact description:
  • Hurricane Walaka’s effects are now sourced with observed sandbar length and loss of landmass.
  • Recovery data through 2024 (approx. 60% of pre-storm area) added from field observations and news reports.
• New detail on seabirds:
  • Expanded list of nesting species and total nesting habitat (5.2 acres in 2010).
  • Specific breeding data for Tristram’s storm-petrel (hatching and fledging success).
  • Description of threats from burrow collapse, competition, and invasive insects.
• Improved historical coverage:
  • Includes early shipwrecks (e.g., Two Brothers), the 1859 U.S. guano claim, and 20th-century naval activity (USS Quail, USS Wright).
  • Slight expansion of the Tanager Expedition material (1923–1924).
• LORAN station section revised:
  • Details added on construction methods, antenna dimensions, and supply routes.
  • Number of buildings, tsunami damage (1946), and 1950 typhoon evacuation now specified.
• Structure and organization improved:
  • Content reorganized into dedicated subsections:
    • Post-storm recovery
    • Hawaiian monk seals
    • Green sea turtles
    • Seabirds
  • This addresses previous reviewer concerns about misplaced or missing content.
• Technical cleanup:
  • Scientific names now appear at first mention.
  • Image formatting updated to remove fixed pixel widths.
  • Internal links standardized and disambiguated where needed.

MallardTV ^{Talk to me!} 13:48, 3 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Looks like a fun read. Comments soon. ~ HAL333 11:57, 30 July 2025 (UTC)
Some of these are relatively minor nitpicks:[reply]

• ” It also hosted numerous ground-nesting seabird species, including albatrosses, shearwaters, and terns.” – I might drop “numerous” as it’s not very encyclopedic or exact. If you have an exact number, use it. If not, the partial list illustrates that it the island supports multiple bird species, making “numerous” redundant anyway.
• Citations are nicely organized.
• Can you describe the ‘Tanager Expedition’ as American in the lead?
• I might suggest “from 1944 until its decommissioning in 1952” –> to the more concise “from 1944 until its 1952 decommissioning”
• Again for concision: “Since that time, the island has remained uninhabited” –> “The island has since remained uninhabited”
• Is there an image of the island’s reformation?
• The note beginning “The Guano Islands Act…” needs to be sourced.
• “was later included” – I would drop ‘later’ as redundant
• “using a seaplane” – is this bit necessary?
• Is there some article subsection you can link for “pupping site”?
• “but was initially delayed” – I would drop “initially”
• “reduced to a fraction of its original size” doesn’t really mean anything. That fraction coul be a decrease of 4/5 or 1/100. Can you be more specific?
• “The loss of land raised concerns among conservationists” –> “The loss of land concerned conservationists”
• Is it necessary to refer to ‘Dr. Charles Littnan’ with the honorific?

More comments soon. Smooth work. ~ HAL333 00:07, 31 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

HAL333 ? Gog the Mild (talk) 16:40, 22 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@HAL333 Thank you for the encouraging words and great advice! The only thing I was unable to adress was the lack of a photo of its reformation. (I am still looking though.) MallardTV ^{Talk to me!} 13:00, 31 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I found a picture, but it isn’t free to use. The lead image shows partial reformation still. MallardTV ^{Talk to me!} 18:35, 31 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

‘Preciate the reminder Gog – I had forgotten about this FAC.

• “Additionally, following the destruction” – I might remove “Additionally”
• “Sooty terns and red-footed boobies nesting among building ruins on East Island, June 1966.” doesn’t need a full-stop
• Should Cheney ratio be redlinked?
• “are one of the numerous fish species” – I would drop ‘numerous’
• Galapagos shark is linked twice.

That’s all. Sorry for the delay! ~ HAL333 18:04, 22 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@HAL333 I just fixed all of that (and went ahead and redlinked Cheney ratio, that could be a fun write). MallardTV ^{Talk to me!} 01:28, 23 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I have no more gripes. Happy to support this well-composed article. And I always enjoy creating fun little spin-off entries from a major article rewrite. ~ HAL333 15:42, 23 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! MallardTV ^{Talk to me!} 00:14, 24 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• Categories: article is in both Category:Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Category:French Frigate Shoals. But the latter (FFS) is a sub-category of the former (NHI) so the article should only belong to one or the other. Normally, you’d use the subcat (FFS). See “diffusing categories” in Cat guidelines (“Pages (and sub-categories) should not normally be placed in both a given category, and any of its subcategories or parent categories.”
• Placement of paragraph: Prior to its loss in 2018, East Island had a relatively high mean elevation of approximately 7.5 feet (2.3 m) above mean high water… that paragraph is within the “Seabirds” section. But the overall thrust of the paragraph is loss of landmass (and loss of habitat). Whole paragraph should probably be in “Geography” section or higher level within “Ecological significance” section.
• Sources: capitalization of source titles: Suggest making the titles of all sources use a uniform capitalization scheme (e.g. all Sentence Case; or all Title Case).
• Repeating facts: in section “Seabirds”: … by the effects of Hurricane Walaka, a powerful Category 4 storm that struck the atoll in October 2018. The storm’s surge and wave action …. This is near the end of the article; but the storm was already explained in detail earlier.
• Repeating x3: in Geography section: In October 2018, Hurricane Walaka, a powerful Category 4 storm, passed directly over the atoll. The resulting storm surge and wave action eroded most of East Island, … That is three times the storm’s impact is described, in these three sections:
  • 2018 hurricane and partial submergence
  • Geography
  • Seabirds
• That’s all I have. Offhand, it looks like a decent article; but I wonder if it could benefit from another Peer Review before the FA nomination? Also (just a suggestion) perhaps the nominator is interested in doing a few FA reviews before nominating? That is not required before nominating an article for FA, of course, but it is a great way to learn some of the FA criteria. Noleander (talk) 14:08, 31 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

  @Noleander I’m gonna see how this goes without another peer review, but I’ll definitely be doing a couple FA reviews. I’ll also fix up what you reccomended! MallardTV ^{Talk to me!} 14:40, 31 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• I have the feeling that the lead section rater buries the lede, as they say. You mention the island’s destruction, as you call it, well before you explain what happened in 2018. My belief is that you don’t leave the reader wondering. I would add something to the lead paragraph to the effect that it was formerly much larger before much of it was washed away in 2018. Something to tip off the reader the island is still there.
• Consider saying what it is that a LORAN station does.
• And what is the source for the dimensions given in the lead?
• Does the inclusion in the Bird Reservation indicate that it was included in the Territory of Hawaii? I would not think it was ever a part of the Kingdom of Hawaii. I just think if possible it could be made clearer when the island became part of Hawaii.

That’s it for a first run.–Wehwalt (talk) 19:52, 9 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I adressed the concerns with the lead (I think). The dimensions come from a variety of the sources, would you like me to list them? MallardTV ^{Talk to me!} 20:24, 9 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Well, they have to have citations somewhere, either in the lead or mentioned supposed by cites in the body of the article. Wehwalt (talk) 14:44, 10 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Wehwalt Ah, I get what you mean. It’s from NASA Earth Observatory as cited in East Island (Hawaii)#Geography! MallardTV ^{Talk to me!} 01:15, 11 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Just checking in. What remains to be done? Wehwalt (talk) 14:15, 18 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Wehwalt Nothing from my end, but that’s the point in getting a review I suppose. No new comments for over a week though. MallardTV ^{Talk to me!} 21:26, 18 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Well, I mean, do you feel you’ve done as I suggested or if you haven’t, explained why you dont think its a good idea to do as I suggested? Wehwalt (talk) 16:39, 19 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Wehwalt Oh! I think I got everything you pointed out adressed. Did I miss something? MallardTV ^{Talk to me!} 19:59, 19 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Support on prose. I may revisit on other factors if this FAC attracts someone who knows more about the topic area than I do. Wehwalt (talk) 20:27, 19 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks so much! my first support omg MallardTV ^{Talk to me!} 04:05, 20 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe a full review, maybe not. I’ll see how much I write.

• First off, “endangered” does not need to be italicized in the lede.
• This is something I see more with New Zealand-area articles, but is there a local/native name for the East Island? Actually, why is it named East Island anyway, and who named it?
• Since you go into more detail about the fauna later, you don’t need the binomial names of the monk seal and sea turtle in the history section. And even then you only need to state the binomial names once.
• I recommend demoting section “2018 hurricane and partial submergence” to a subsection under History (do not further demote the Recovery subsection though).
• Thank you for remembering to use {convert} templates
• Link Trig Island please, and Northwestern Hawaiian Islands the first time it’s mentioned in the body as well.
• Why, under the monk seal subsection, is there a paragraph about Tern Island? Is it really relevant? Also is there any information on the seals more recent than 2019?
• Both the seal and sea turtle subsections have “historically” in their opening sentences and the repetition is rather noticeable.
• In the second paragraph about turtles, you use the word “capacity” three times. Rephrase, please.
• Link tiger shark and italicize binomial name.
• Link the algae species. Even if there’s currently no articles for them, all extant species are considered probably notable.
• As much depth as you go into about the seals, turtles, birds, and algae, there’s practically nothing about anything else living there. Crustaceans? Fish? Molluscs? You briefly mention invasive arthropods- has there been any work on removing them (or did the Walaka do that for us)?

Overall, as much as I like this article, it seems a little lacking in ways I can’t quite identify. SilverTiger12 (talk) 19:33, 20 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@SilverTiger12 I’ve adressed all concerns other than the name, which I cannot find any reason for anywhere. It was called Turtle Island until fairly recently but I can’y find out why it changed. I’m actively searching for info on more animals as well. MallardTV ^{Talk to me!} 22:01, 20 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

SilverTiger ? Gog the Mild (talk) 17:24, 1 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Since my concerns have been addressed, Support. SilverTiger12 (talk) 18:37, 2 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I have some comments to make in addition to my image review. There was an image review on archive1; this will summarize the current state of the article. Linked files could have changes made, unlinked are laregly OK on this first pass. — Reconrabbit 14:56, 15 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• File:East Island, Hawaii.jpg PD, but should have the author listed as Dan Link/US Fish and Wildlife Service, currently just USFWS
• File:Pre-Walaka East Island.jpg PD, though it could have the author include USFWS
• File:Pacific Ocean laea location map.svg, free use license is appropriate.
• File:Atoll research bulletin (1971) (20157463550).jpg While the Flickr archive states that it is public domain, this book is listed by the Internet Archive as published under a non-commercial license. I can guess that this is because its copyright was not evaluated at the time of upload to IA. I was able to find the original publication at SI here: https://repository.si.edu/items/df1825d9-7cb8-4c9b-abb0-96a1f0a56fa2. This one is listed as no copyright. It’s possible that the template Commons:Template:Smithsonian could be added to this image. Also, the alt-text on this image is far too detailed and per MOS:ALT should have only the most relevant parts of information or at least start with the relevant information about the image so that a reader can skip past it once they know what it is.
• File:East Island HA b and a.jpg PD, but uncategorized on Commons.
• File:Ffs map lrg.png Source link no longer works.
• File:East island baby turtle.jpg PD, but uncategorized on Commons.
• File:Hawaiian monk seal at French Frigate Shoals 06.jpg Own work under usable free license, believable. Alt-text is somewhat long.
• File:Green sea turtles at French Frigate Shoals.jpg PD, but uncategorized on Commons. Has unknown author, but could be listed as USFWS.
• File:East Island, June 12, 1966. (5988083516).jpg In a similar situation to the Atoll research bulletin image above. The alt-text is somewhat flowery and could be trimmed.
• File:Bluestripe Butterflyfish.jpg Own work under usable free license, believable.
• Comment: The LORAN station was temporarily evacuated in 1950. It stopped being used in 1952. Was there a particular reason for its abandonment? Are these the ruined buildings referred to in the 1966 photo below? Several LORAN chains were used until the late 1970s (apparently, though the Wikipedia coverage of that is doubtful since the news coverage predates the shutdown by several years – unless it’s just an announcement of the shutdown, but that’s an aside).