"I just returned from a short but fascinating tour of Johnston Island and Sand Island in the Johnston Atoll. One of the El-Nino-related phenomena observed there has been a heavy mortality of sooty terns. Apparently, just-fledged birds are having difficulty finding enough food and are dying in great numbers of starvation. Dead and dying birds are washing up on Johnston Island. No one appears to know exactly what the terns eat: other birds at Johnston National Wildlife Refuge appear to be thriving, so apparently the terns have some specialized diet that is suffering even as the food source for other species is thriving."--Pat Tummons <pattum@aloha.net>.