War & Paradise: The Territories Of The U.S.

Midway Atoll

True to its name, the Midway Atoll lies between North America and Asia. While it doesn’t have a formal government acting on its behalf, the island’s resources and operations have always been overseen historically by the military and currently by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The Atoll itself consists of two main islands, Sand Island and Eastern Island, with sandbars that create a deep water harbor that was used to protect the American naval fleet. Nowadays, the military barracks are occupied by scientists, studying the effects of plastic pollution and the relationship between ocean current changes and mass seal population deaths. Nonetheless, the massive shipwrecks that lie near the shores of Midway points to a past of violence rather than research.