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. 2,592 journeys so far, 1874 to 2026, 493,508 specimens between them.
1,114 collectors and expeditions42,779 days in the field8,765,933 km between stops330,332 photographed specimens
2,592 journeys
A.J. Bernatowicz
21 islands · Feb – Sep 1949
A.J. Bernatowicz across 21 islands, February – September 1949593 specimens · 106 stops · 209 days
Seymour H. Sohmer
Sri Lanka and Oʻahu · Oct – Dec 1975
Seymour H. Sohmer in Sri Lanka and Oʻahu, October – December 1975936 specimens · 26 stops · 44 days
G.E. Edano
35 islands · Jan – May 1957
G.E. Edano across 35 islands, January – May 1957653 specimens · 58 stops · 131 days · 4,198 km
F. Raymond Fosberg
21 islands · Jan – Apr 1950
F. Raymond Fosberg across 21 islands, January – April 1950939 specimens · 61 stops · 96 days · 90,398 km
Otto Degener
5 islands of the United States · Mar – Aug 1926
Otto Degener across 5 islands of the United States, March – August 1926607 specimens · 71 stops · 177 days · 3,068 km
Yoshio KondoKay Kondo
36 islands · Jan – May 1957
Yoshio KondoKay Kondo across 36 islands, January – May 1957648 specimens · 59 stops · 131 days · 2,868 km
A.A. Heller
3 islands of the United States · Mar – Nov 1895
A.A. Heller in Kauaʻi, Oʻahu and Maui, March – November 1895602 specimens · 77 stops · 257 days · 2,287 km
Yoshio KondoKay Kondo
22 islands · Jun – Dec 1968
Yoshio KondoKay Kondo across 22 islands, June – December 1968642 specimens · 45 stops · 180 days · 13,960 km
Derral R. Herbst
7 islands of the United States · Jan – Sep 1968
Derral R. Herbst across 7 islands of the United States, January – September 1968615 specimens · 67 stops · 243 days · 5,686 km
Derral R. Herbst
12 islands · Dec 1971 – Aug 1972
Derral R. Herbst across 12 islands, December 1971 – August 1972634 specimens · 53 stops · 263 days · 25,096 km
Edward Yataro Hosaka
31 islands · Apr – Aug 1946
Edward Yataro Hosaka across 31 islands, April – August 1946872 specimens · 51 stops · 110 days · 43,680 km
Edward Philpott Mumford
8 islands of French Polynesia · Aug – Dec 1929
Edward Philpott Mumford across 8 islands of French Polynesia, August – December 1929774 specimens · 26 stops · 140 days · 795 km
Alastair M. Adamson
9 islands of French Polynesia · Aug – Dec 1929
Alastair M. Adamson across 9 islands of French Polynesia, August – December 1929765 specimens · 27 stops · 140 days · 759 km
Ditlev Due Thaanum
10 islands of the United States · May – Aug 1923
Ditlev Due Thaanum across 10 islands of the United States, May – August 1923918 specimens · 15 stops · 96 days · 11,766 km
Yoshio KondoKay Kondo
9 islands · May – Jul 1952
Yoshio KondoKay Kondo across 9 islands, May – July 1952877 specimens · 23 stops · 74 days · 18,027 km
Samuel Wight
16 islands of French Polynesia · May – Oct 1934
Samuel Wight across 16 islands of French Polynesia, May – October 1934733 specimens · 24 stops · 156 days · 7,021 km
Otto Degener
5 islands of the United States · Jun – Oct 1927
Otto Degener across 5 islands of the United States, June – October 1927581 specimens · 60 stops · 136 days · 1,266 km
J.R. Le B. Tomlin Ex Jens M. Ostergaard
3 islands · Jun – Aug 1926
J.R. Le B. Tomlin Ex Jens M. Ostergaard in Viti Levu, Upolu and Tongatapu, June – August 1926868 specimens · 15 stops · 86 days · 4,546 km
Maxwell S. Doty
16 islands · Aug – Dec 1971
Maxwell S. Doty across 16 islands, August – December 1971737 specimens · 34 stops · 101 days · 25,154 km
K.N. Page
16 islands of the Northern Mariana Islands · Sep – Nov 2005
K.N. Page across 16 islands of the Northern Mariana Islands, September – November 20051,365 specimens · 20 stops · 69 days · 37,880 km
Otto Degener
5 islands of the United States · Dec 1951 – Apr 1952
Otto Degener across 5 islands of the United States, December 1951 – April 1952648 specimens · 45 stops · 108 days · 1,141 km
Albert C. Smith
10 islands · Mar – Aug 1953
Albert C. Smith across 10 islands, March – August 1953869 specimens · 33 stops · 154 days · 15,233 km
Harold St.John
5 islands · Sep 1930 – May 1931
Harold St.John across 5 islands, September 1930 – May 1931545 specimens · 46 stops · 258 days · 10,194 km
E.P. Hume
3 islands · Jun – Sep 1931
E.P. Hume in Savaii, Tutuila and Upolu, June – September 1931761 specimens · 47 stops · 92 days · 225 km
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.