I keep wondering if the coco plantings, as they existed in 1937-1938, may have exhibited a pattern of planting that reflected the systematic hand of man, thus giving rise to an impression of "recent habitation" by the Navy fliers on July 9, 1937 (as opposed to "current habitation"). Even if, at the time of their flying over Gardner Island, the pilots and observers may not have had that impression or thought, maybe the encounter later in the day with the people on Hull and the coco harvesting there might have "planted" an impression that evolved when Lambrecht took pen in hand later to write his report about that day's flyovers.
From Lambrecht's report:
In appearance, Hull is much the same as Gardner, somewhat smaller perhaps, nevertheless, similar in shape and formation, the same lagoon, with the same vegetation and identical groves of coconut palms. The one difference … Hull was inhabited.
Do the 1938 photos brought back from New Zealand last year give any such impression of the coco palms on Gardner Island being planted systematically by the hand of man? But given Lambrecht's own words in his report, the question may be moot.