Journeys
The expeditions, reassembled
Every dated label is a diary entry. Read a collector’s labels in order and the voyage comes back: the islands in sequence, the days at each, the specimens from every stop. 13 journeys so far, 1924 to 2005, 1,192 specimens between them.
10 collectors and expeditions288 days in the field125,055 km between stops144 photographed specimens
13 journeys match
station
16 islands · Jul – Dec 1955
station, July – December 1955196 specimens · 82 stops · 144 days · 48,394 km
Stanley Ball
7 islands · Nov 1924 – Jan 1925
Stanley Ball across 7 islands, November 1924 – January 1925174 specimens · 14 stops · 43 days · 3,291 km
V Hugh M. Smith cruise 31
7 islands · Sep – Dec 1955
V Hugh M. Smith cruise 31, September – December 195583 specimens · 41 stops · 72 days · 17,808 km
station
17 islands · Aug – Dec 1956
station, August – December 195676 specimens · 33 stops · 130 days · 25,742 km
station
4 islands of the United States · Oct – Nov 1958
station, October – November 1958111 specimens · 13 stops · 32 days · 5,167 km
V Hugh M. Smith cruise 47
4 islands of the United States · Oct – Nov 1958
V Hugh M. Smith cruise 47, October – November 1958111 specimens · 13 stops · 32 days · 5,167 km
Brian D. Greene
Kiritimati Atoll and Kiritimati Atoll (Christmas Island) · 19–29 Jul 2005
Brian D. Greene in Kiritimati Atoll and Kiritimati Atoll (Christmas Island), 19–29 July 2005131 specimens · 7 stops · 11 days · 193 km
V Hugh M. Smith cruise 35
12 islands · Aug – Sep 1956
V Hugh M. Smith cruise 35, August – September 195650 specimens · 25 stops · 60 days · 13,190 km
Whippoorwill Expedition
6 islands · Jul – Aug 1924
Whippoorwill Expedition, July – August 192467 specimens · 5 stops · 24 days · 1,409 km
station
5 islands of the United States · Jul – Aug 1972
station, July – August 197245 specimens · 9 stops · 42 days · 4,512 km
John L. Earle
Kiritimati Atoll · 21–30 Jul 2005
John L. Earle in Kiritimati Atoll, 21–30 July 200564 specimens · 6 stops · 10 days · 182 km
Johnson Randall
Kiritimati Atoll · Jul – Aug 1987
Johnson Randall in Kiritimati Atoll, July – August 198743 specimens · 6 stops · 7 days
Jane Culp
Kiritimati Atoll · Jul – Aug 1987
Jane Culp in Kiritimati Atoll, July – August 198741 specimens · 4 stops · 27 days
How a journey is found
Every specimen with a full date and a known collector is a diary entry. The days are read in order; a gap of more than three weeks ends one journey and starts the next. Days spent where a collector lived most of their life are home, not travel, and are left out.
A journey needs at least five days, forty specimens and two places. Within it, a run of days spent within about ten kilometres is one stop; the stop’s point is the middle of the labels that carry coordinates, or the island’s centre when none do.
Companions are the people whose own labels put them in the same place on the same days. Staff can name a journey, write about it and feature it; everything else here is read straight off the specimens, and is rebuilt as the records improve.