Dateline correspondent Harry Smith takes us to a Pacific island so protected and pristine that TV news cameras have never been there and so fragile that he and his team had to rid their clothes of invasive microbes by sealing and freezing them before setting foot on its shores… 

Palmyra Atoll provides essential nesting habitat for millions of seabirds in the Pacific. But, for decades, the atoll was overrun by invasive rats which ate the seabird’s eggs and chicks, as well as native seeds and seedlings. Following removal of invasive rats in 2011, today the atoll’s native plants and animals are recovering and Palmyra is returning to the haven it once was.

On Sunday, May 15, join NBC’s Dateline as they visit Palmyra Atoll and document this remote wildlife refuge for the first time ever.

It’s a tiny little speck in the Pacific, 1,000 miles south of Hawaii. It’s basically a marine wilderness,” said Dateline NBC correspondent Harry Smith, who joined a group of less than 100 people who have stepped foot on the atoll in the last 15 years.

The Palmyra Atoll Restoration Project was a partnership between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, The Nature Conservancy, and Island Conservation. You can learn more about this incredible project here.

Read more about Dateline’s coverage at The Wrap.

Featured Image: Palmyra Atoll. Andrew Wright