Due to its relative isolation from the main islands in the group, Bokak's flora and fauna has been able to exist in a pristine condition.

The lagoon is shallow, probably not exceeding 30 meters (98 ft) depth, and has many coral heads and patch reefs, some reaching the surface.

A combination of insufficient rainfall, excellent drainage, and high temperatures lead to an arid environment in which a freshwater Ghyben-Herzberg lens cannot form, and coconut palm is unable to grow.

The understory typically comprises beach maupaka (Scaevola taccada), or sparse endemic bunchgrass, ʻihi (Portulaca molokiniensis), ʻilima (Sida fallax), or alena (Boerhavia herbstii), the latter being more abundant on broken coral gravel.

[3] Pure stands of very dense beach naupaka shrubland, sometimes with tree heliotrope, are predominant and cover 50-75% of southern, and nearly 100% of northeastern Sibylla.

[3] The aquatic vegetation of the shallow edges of the lagoon consists of sparse coralline algae, encrusting fragments of coral and shells, and patches of green seaweed.

Migratory birds present included the bristle-thighed curlew, turnstone, wandering tattler, golden plover, and the sanderling.

[10] Although humans migrated to the Marshall Islands about 2000 years ago,[11] there appear to be no traditional Marshallese artifacts present that would indicate any long term settlement.

[14] A number of other Western ships recorded landfall on or passage by Bokak over the following three hundred years, but no attempt at settlement or establishment of food animals was noted, likely due to the arid conditions, and more fertile atolls nearby.

Using the justification that uninhabited atolls were unclaimed, the Germans seized Bokak as government property, despite the protests of the local chiefs (Irojilaplap).

Like the Germans before them, the Japanese colonial administration did not attempt to exploit the atoll, and the Northern Ratak Marshallese continued to hunt and fish unmolested.

During the early stages of the World War II, USN submarines operating in the area would periodically note patrols by Japanese aircraft.

[17] In March, 1943, the 20 man garrison was removed to Wake Island because of the lack of food and their general inability to sustain themselves on Bokak.

In September, 1945, as a part of the post-war repatriation of Japanese from their former Pacific possessions, a landing party was dispatched on LCI(L) 601 from Kwajalein to Bokak Atoll, and in conjunction with a PBM Mariner searched for potential survivors.

[20] While en route from the US to Asia in April, 1953, LST 1138, later commissioned as USS Steuben County, dropped anchor at Bokak to search for rumored Japanese stragglers.

[23] The atoll came under renewed consideration for use during Operation Dominic, but by that time the potential for political fallout from nuclear testing within a United Nations Trust Territory was deemed too great.

On February 11, 1979, Scott Moorman and four companions set sail from Hana harbor in a 17-foot Boston Whaler, and went missing in subsequent high seas.

[28][29] The Dominion of Melchizedek, an unrecognized micronation, claims sovereignty over Bokak, based on a 45-year lease allegedly granted by the Irojilaplap.

Currently, historic remains include an abandoned camp/homestead, several wrecked ships and the remnant of the former World War Two Japanese communication outpost.