Under asfalten vilar en strand

2,100 kilometres north-west of Honolulu lie the Midway Islands, in themselves one of the miracles of nature. Two small islands, barely three and four kilometres long, that are home to a fantastic bird life. Today we find more than one million albatrosses on the islands. But that hasn’t always been the case.

The little atoll is strategically situated between Hawaii and Japan. During the Second World War, the Americans had an important marine base here. In June, 1942, one of the decisive battles of the war was fought at Midway. That was when the Japanese forces’ war fortune turned into their first major defeat. During the Korea and Vietnam wars, the atoll was used as a base for the American airplanes. But at that time, the albatrosses were just a disturbance. Sometimes, flamethrowers were used to get them off the start and landing strips.

Today nature it getting its revenge. The grass is pushing up through the asphalt, and the old cracked landing strips are now used by nesting birds. Outside old rusting hangars, groups of albatrosses waddle past without fear. Nature is on its way to re-conquering the atoll. And there are albatrosses everywhere: at least one million Laysan albatrosses and between two and three hundred black-footed albatrosses.

In 2010, Brutus Östling came to Midway, which had then been entirely closed for seven years. A sparkling love blossomed up in his meeting with the albatrosses. “Going ashore on Midway is like landing in an unreal world. A paradise for birds.” The meeting resulted in fantastic photos. More perhaps than he had planned. On the way back, the little airplane in which he was travelling had engine problems and was forced to go back to the island and do an emergency landing. Instead of seven days, Brutus had all of fifteen days filled with photographing from dawn to dusk. And the result is this book:  Under the asphalt lies a beach.