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HAWAII THE BIG ISLAND REVEALED: THE ULITMATE GUIDEBOOK

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, established in 1916, displays the results of 70 million years of volcanism, migration, and evolution -- processes that thrust a bare land from the sea and clothed it with complex and unique ecosystems and a distinct human culture. The park encompasses 230,000 acres and ranges from sea level to the summit of the earth's most massive volcano, Mauna Loa at 13,677 feet. Kilauea, the world's most active volcano, offers scientists insights on the birth of the Hawaiian Islands and visitors views of dramatic volcanic landscapes.

Over half of the park is designated wilderness and provides unusual hiking and camping opportunities. In recognition of its outstanding natural values, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park has been honored as an International Biosphere Reserve and a World Heritage Site.

Kilauea is justly renowned for its lava flows and fountains. Residents and visitors alike enjoy the beauty and the relatively benign nature of the activity. Few realize, however, that Kilauea has a dark side-explosions.

The first western visitor to Kilauea, Rev. William Ellis on August 1, 1823, was told by residents that, "for many kings' reigns past [Kilauea had been] throwing up, with violent explosion, huge rocks or red-hot stones." These same residents related the oral tradition of a battle between the volcano goddess, Pele, and her erstwhile lover, the pig god Kamapua`a, that ended with Pele "driving Kamapua`a into the sea, whither she followed him with thunder, lightning, and showers of large stones."

Twentieth-century geologists have confirmed this oral history and legend. Surface deposits around Kilauea's caldera tell of a series of explosions lasting from about AD 1500 to AD 1790, when members of a warring band were killed in the last major explosion of the series. Evidence has recently been discovered of explosions about 1,000-1,200 years ago. And, explosive activity from an old caldera at Kilauea is known from about 2,100 and 2,800 years ago. Still farther back in time, huge explosions deposited ash across the southwest flank of Kilauea, 20 km and farther from the vent.

In fact, Kilauea erupts explosively about as often as does Mount St. Helens. In this respect, Kilauea can be called an explosive volcano. Of course, most of its eruptions produce lava flows and fountains, so the explosive nature of the volcano tends to be overlooked. Steam derived by heating of groundwater is interpreted as the driver for the explosions at Kilauea, and probably collapse of a caldera or pit crater to below the water table is necessary to generate large explosions. Click here for Park map.

Hiking Trails

The character of the park is best discovered on foot. There are more than 150 miles of trails in the park. Some head off into our wilderness and are only suitable for the those in top physical condition and properly outfitted with winter mountaineering gear. Two of our trails are paved accessible to wheel chairs and strollers. If possible, take the time to take an all day hike or a leisurely stroll through a rain forest.

KILAUEA IKI

Descends 400 feet through rain forest, crosses the crater floor, passes Pu'u Pua'i cinder cone, and returns via the crater's rim. Of interest: Rain forest, birds, insects, 1959 lava lake, steam vents, cinder and spatter cone.

Difficulty: Easy to moderate.

Distance and hiking time: 4 mile loop, 2 to 3 hours

Distance from Visitor Center to trail head: 2 miles. Trail begins at the Lava Tube parking lot on Crater Rim Drive.

Bring water. Expect wet and windy weather and some steep and rocky terrain. Follow the ahu (rock piles)across the crater floor.

DEVASTATION TRAIL

Walk over the cinder outfall and through a forest recovering from Kilauea lki's 1959 eruption. Plants, birds, insects, cinder with olivine and Pele's hair and tears, tree molds, cinder and spatter cone.

Difficulty: Easy

Distance and hiking time: 1 mile roundtrip, 45 minutes.

Distance from Visitor Center to trailhead: 4 miles. Trail begins at the Devastation Trail parking lot on Crater Rim Drive.

Wheelchair and stroller accessible paved path . Stay on the trail. Do not climb Pu'u Pua'i cinder cone.

PU'U HULUHULU & MAUNA ULU

This trail crosses 1973 and 1974 lava flows, through kipuka, past lava trees, and climbs 150 feet to the summit of Pu'u Huluhulu. On a clear day, you can see Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea, Pu'u 'O'o and the Pacific Ocean. Pahoehoe lava, kipuka, lava trees, cinder cone, lava shield, pioneer plants, and panoramic vista.

The trail begins on pahoehoe lava that erupted from a fissure 2,600 feet (800 m) to the north. After crossing 650 feet (200 m) of lava the trail enters another kipuka. About 50 feet (15 m) into the kipuka, look for a small path leading to the right. This trail leads to an area where a methane explosion blew apart the surface of a solid lava flow. Heat from the nearby 1974 aa lava flow caused vegetation (plants and roots) to burn. Methane gas was generated and trapped in small pockets between lava flows. Heat caused the methane to explode and blast away the overlying rocks. This type of explosion is hazardous and unpredictable. That is why geologists avoid going near the front of an active lava flow as it travels through a forest.

The trail passes to the left of a prehistoric spatter rampart. Spatter ramparts are ridges of congealed pyroclastic material built up on a fissure or a vent.

Lava trees and tree molds are very much the same thing, but one stands in relief, and the other is left as a hole in the ground (Finch, 1931). Lava trees (and tree molds) form when fluid lava moves through a forest. As the fluid lava surrounds the tree, a sheath of solidified lava forms around the tree. The base of the tree will burns to ash or is converted to charcoal, depending on the circulation of air (Lockwood and Williams, 1978). The sheath of quenched basalt may be preserved as a cylindrical cavity in the flow or as a hollow pillar projecting above the surface. Lava trees (pillars) form if the lava drains to a lower area or if a thick flow subsides as it cools.

The panorama from the summit of Puu Huluhulu is one of the best in the park. From here you can see two of the other volcanoes of the Big Island. To the west is Mauna Loa. Mauna Loa is in the shield stage of evolution. On the north horizon Mauna Kea peaks above the long northeast rift zone of Mauna Loa. The Ai-laau shield of Kilauea is in the middle ground. Part of the Puu Huluhulu spatter and cinder cone is in the foreground. Mauna Kea is in the capping stage of evolution and has moved off the hot spot. The best view is often down the east rift zone of Kilauea to the Puu Oo cone, the site of an active lava pond. Kane Nui O Hamo, a prehistoric shield-shaped vent, is on the horizon to the right of Puu Oo. Immediately south of Puu Huluhulu is the Mauna Ulu vent. Mauna Ulu erupted from 1969 to 1974, building this large shield-shaped vent and sending lava to the ocean.

Difficulty: Easy to moderate

Distance and hiking time: 3 miles roundtrip, 2 hours

Distance from Visitor Center to trailhead: 8 miles/25 minutes. The trail begins at the Mauna Ulu parking area on the Chain of Craters Road.

Bring water. Prepare for hot and dry or wet and windy weather. Follow the ahu (rock piles) over the lava flows. Sulfur fumes may be strong on some days.

Click here for trail map.

The Mauna Ulu eruption ended on July 22, 1974. Kilauea Volcano had erupted for nearly 5 years at a vent on the East Rift Zone of the volcano. This was the longest flank eruption of a Hawaiian volcano in historical time (a record that has been broken by the current eruption. It dramatically changed the landscape by covering large areas with lava, filling two pit craters, constructing a new vent, and adding land onto the island.

Roadways & Bike Trails

CRATER RIM DRIVE

This 11 mile drive encircles Kilauea's summit caldera and craters, passes through rain forest and desert, and provides access to well marked scenic stops and short walks.

The best place to start the tour is at the Kilauea Visitor Center. Films shown throughout the day provide an introduction to the park and volcanology. Ask at the information desk about ranger-guided walks, hikes and other programs. Located nearby is the Volcano Art Center, housed in the historic original Volcano House built in 1877. It hosted many 19th century visitors to Kilauea and is now a gallery for local artists and craftsmen.

HILINA PALI ROAD

This steep slope is a fault scarp. Rocks of the coastal region have been down dropped about 1,000 feet (300 m) relative to rocks higher up on the flank of Kilauea. This movement occurs gradually over a long period of time. For example, during the magnitude 7.2 earthquake in 1975, the largest earthquake in Hawaii this century, a fault on the south flank of the volcano moved 5 feet (1.5 m).

The south flank of Kilauea volcano is being pushed towards the ocean by the injection of magma into the rift zone. Volcanologists use the Global Positioning System (GPS) to make precise measurements of different locations on the volcano. GPS uses radio signals from satellites to determine the location of a receiving station to less than a centimeter. Measurements are made a few times each year. The maximum rate of movement measured so far is 4 inches (10 cm) per year. This is a high rate of motion for a geologic feature.

The mobile south flank of Kilauea volcano is part of a giant landslide that extends 25 miles (40 km) offshore. This slow moving landslide is called the Hilina slump. The Hilina slump moves intermittently over long periods of time. Other giant landslides in Hawaii move catastrophically, removing large pieces of an island almost instantaneously. Click here to see an aerial photo of the Hilina Pali escarpment. The road we bike on is at the top edge of the escarpment.

Nature & the Ecosystem

SAVING AN ECOSYSTEM

HAWAII VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK is an island within an island. It is a shelter for what remains of the once-rich tapestry of Hawaiian life -- a tapestry unraveled by alien species.

In some areas of the park, natural habitats are damaged beyond recovery. The park concentrates its energies on the most biologically diverse habitats and those that offer the best chance for successful restoration. The immediate strategy is to control or eliminate the most disruptive alien plant and animal invaders.

Park crews erect fences to keep out feral animals; hunt feral pigs; and pull out or cut down firetree, banana poka, guava, and ginger. As native plant communities reestablish themselves populations of Hawaiian honeycreepers, nene, Kamehameha butterflies and happyface spiders once again flourish.

In recognition of its outstanding natural values, Hawaii Volcanoes has been honored as an International Biosphere Reserve and a World Heritage Site. The park continues to mend the fabric and promote the lasting vitality of this remnant of pristine Hawai'i.

The Threats to Hawaii’s Native Ecosystems

Along with the voyaging canoes that brought the first humans to Hawai`i just 1,500 years ago, came the need to clear land for food and housing. And when Europeans arrived in the late 1700’s, the impacts increased dramatically: more forests were felled for agriculture, grazing, and fuel. But with the arriving Polynesians and Europeans were settlers that would prove to be even more destructive than themselves to the native ecosystem: plants and animals that were not native to Hawai`i.

While over half of the original landscape that greeted the first Polynesian voyagers to what is now Hawai`i, is lost forever, the main threat to Hawaii`s surviving ecosystems and native species is the impact of alien pests. Because Hawaii's native plants and animals evolved without the presence of large mammals, they cannot withstand the effects of introduced pigs, goats, cattle and deer, whose browsing, rooting, and trampling destroys vegetation, accelerates erosion, and opens the way for other introduced animal and plant pests. Native plants are defenseless against aggressive non-native plants that crowd or shade them out. One non-native plant in particular, Miconia, has the potential to completely take over Hawaii’s rain forests if left unchecked.

For information about Hawaii's Natural Preserves click on the map below.

THE NENE & OTHER BIRDS IN HAWAI'I

Hawaiian Goose - Nene

Hawai'i is not a place where large native animals abound. You may occasionally see humpback whales break the ocean surface, or a group of porpoises arcing gracefully in and out of the water. `Io (Hawaiian hawks) and pueo (short-eared owls) sometimes hover overhead, and `ope`ape`a (Hawaiian bats) flutter across bays and roadways at dusk. But the Island's most noticeable large native animal is the nene or Hawaiian goose. Honored as the State Bird, the endangered nene symbolizes the precarious existence of Hawai`i's native birdlife.

At least nine species of geese evolved in the Islands, probably from ancestors much like the Canada goose. Eight of these species were flightless and probably grazed on the plants of the ancient Hawaiian landscape. Extinction of these flightless geese resulted from hunting by Polynesians and land use changes in Hawai`i's lowlands.

Our remaining goose is also a herbivore. Though it is a strong and frequent flyer, its short wings,long legs and reduced webbing between its toes indicate that it often walks and seldom swims.

Perhaps 25,000 nene existed in Hawai`i when Captain Cook arrived in 1778. By the mid 1940's only 50 birds remained. Populations were drastically reduced by introduced predators such as mongooses, cats and dogs; by foraging animals such as cattle, goats and pigs; by hunters; by introduced plants which compete with native food and cover plants; and by loss of lowland habitat.

In the 1970's, Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park began a captive nene breeding and reintroduction program. But, several factors hinder population increases. Mongooses and feral cats kill adults and goslings. Automobiles hit and kill nene along roadways. Nene that are attracted to the grassy fairways of golf courses suffer injury or death by errant golf balls. In upland habitats, nutrition is usually not adequate for gosling growth requirements.

Nene will probably always need our help to survive. Currently, Park staff use a variety of techniques to improve nene breeding success : controlling predators in nesting habitat, mowing pastures, closing sensitive brooding areas to the public, and maintaining predator-resistant enclosures in which free-flying birds can rest, feed, or nest. We continue to search for improved and more efficient ways to encourage population growth.

Park biologists mark both wild and captive-reared Nene with leg bands to facilitate identification and tracking of individual birds. Usually, this is done when birds are young and cannot yet fly. From banding and subsequent monitoring, we have learned much about Nene family and flock life. If this population persists in the coming years, we will doubtless learn more about the behavior, biology, and ecology of this unique, terrestrial goose.

Honeycreepers

Of Hawaii's birds, the honeycreepers (Drepanidinae) are most famous, having put on what is arguably the world's most dazzling display of adaptive radiation--an explosion of species from a single unspecialized ancestor to at least 54 species that filled available niches in the islands' habitats. In fact, speciation in the Hawaiian honeycreepers dwarfs the famed radiation of Darwin's 14 Galapagos finches.

Robert Fleischer, Cheryl Tarr, and Carl McIntosh at the National Zoo's Molecular Genetics Laboratory estimate that the honeycreepers' ancestor arrived three to four million years ago; others put the arrival farther back, at closer to seven million years ago. This ancestor--one colonizing species of finch, possibly a Eurasian rosefinch (Carpodacus sp.) or, less likely, the North American house finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)--started what proved to be an evolutionary snowball. "There must have been a lot of open niches, and the birds hit the islands and speciated very rapidly," says Fleischer, who studies the genetics of fossil and living Hawaiian birds. Rapidly, in terms of geologic time, is thought to be within the first 200,000 to 300,000 years after the first finch touch-down.

Nectar-feeding honeycreepers evolved dramatically curved bills designed for probing and extracting the nectar from the flowers of Hawaii's endemic lobelias and other plants. Insectivorous honeycreepers developed thin, warbler-like bills for picking insects from the foliage. Seed-eaters developed stouter, stronger bills for cracking tough husks. Some species probed or cracked bark with strong hooked bills seeking wood-boring insects, thereby filling a niche woodpeckers do elsewhere.

Honeycreepers shared the islands with an array of other unique bird species. In 1991, Storrs L. Olson and Helen F. James of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History described for the first time 32 extinct species they identified from bones found in lava tubes, sinkholes, dunes, and excavated Polynesian refuse piles (middens) on the main Hawaiian Islands over the past 19 years. Three others had been previously described. When their analyses are through, at least 20 more species will likely be added.

These recent findings conjure up a vision of an almost mythical world where birds, not mammals, dominated. Large flightless waterfowl called moa nalos were the islands' large herbivores. A harrier, a hawk, an eagle, and four owls topped the food chain as predators. No mammals patrolled the ground (Hawaii's only native land mammal is a bat), and, with the need to fly gone, many of the castaway bird species, such as endemic ducks, ibis, and rails, lost their powers of flight.

But splendid isolation left Hawaii's flora and fauna ill-equipped to deal with the arrival of humans, and, as on most other isolated islands, endemic species quickly disappeared, or declined, once Homo sapiens hit the shores and wiped out flightless and ground-nesting species.

Hawaiian Owl - Pueo

As for the facts about pueo, its Latin classification spells asio flammeus sandwicensis, but specialists are not in agreement whether this owl, endemic to the islands, is truly a subspecies of the North American Short-Eared Owl or indistinguishable from its continental friends. Either way, it measures 13 to 17 inches, with the females being slightly larger than the males. A dark mask surrounds large, yellow eyes, and its feathered body is streaked with shades of brown and white. The pueo, unlike most owls, is often active during the day and loves to fly at high altitude above open, grassy areas. The pueo feels at home at sea level as well as in the higher mountains. On the Big Island, its favorite cruising grounds seem to be the Waikii pastures above the Waimea-Kona mountain road, Mamalahoa Highway 190.

There are no statistics on the pueo's population numbers. They are present on all the islands, but they are definitely in decline on Oahu, where urban development makes it impossible for the shy, brown bird to find the green, solitude it craves. Considered endangered on Oahu, pueo has become a candidate for threatened status throughout the island chain The pueo's modern diet consists of introduced rodents, rats, mice, and small mongooses: This alone is reason for all of us to adore this bird! In earlier days, before those rodents arrived, pueo is thought to have feasted on the small Hawaiian rail, a flightless bird that is now extinct.

Pueo loves to nest in grassy areas, making its survival a precarious affair. It lays three to six white eggs over a span of up to several months. As a result, the eggs don't hatch all at the same time. In one nest different ages grow up together. Right on ground level, the little nestlings are vulnerable to feral cats and mongooses. Once up and flying, the birds are often killed by guns or through stress caused by construction and development.

On a more esoteric level, the pueo, with all its mysterious wisdom, a bird that flew over the islands well before the first Hawaiians sailed in, is among the oldest physical manifestations of the Hawaiian family protectors, the ancestral guardians, the aumakua. It was believed that after the death of an ancestor, the spirit could still protect and influence the remaining family acting through a body such as that of the owl, the shark, the turtle, or even the centipede. Each species channeling the ancestor held unique strengths. The owl as aumakua was specifically skilled in battle.

Hawaiian Crow - Alala

The Hawaiian crow known as the 'alala is one of the many endangered birds in Hawaii. These Hawaiian crows have once flourished over all the Hawaiian islands in 1891. Now there are less than thirty `alalas left in Hawaii. According to the February 15, 1996 issue of the Honolulu Advertiser, the 'alala is down to just 15 birds in captivity and 14 in the wild. The 'alala can be found on a 5,300-acre parcel of Kai Malino Ranch on the Kona Coast of the Big Island, Hawaii. Unfortunately, the owners of the ranch has plans to begin logging of valuable koa trees at this ranch site that serves as the 'alalas' home. The `alala is endemic (native) to Hawaii, so we have to STOP people from destroying their homes.

`Alala means to cry like a young animal. It was named this because the cry of the `alala's call resembles the cry of a child. `Alala is taken from two Hawaiian words, ala and la. Ala, means to rise up, and la, the sun. So, the meaning of `alala is to arise with the sun. It was named this because the Hawaiian crow makes a great noise in the morning. The `alala's call is a harsh caw repeated rapidly. It was the noisiest bird in the lower Kona forests at daybreak. The `alala's feathers are dark brown. Its head and its tail is almost black, its bill, legs, and feet are black and iris brown. Their wings are noisy while in motion, but while the `alala is gliding from tree to tree, it is silent.

During the 1890s the `alalas have been hunted down because they were a nuisance. They would get into feed pens and poultry yards. The Hawaiian crows started to disappear because the farmers were killing them. Farmers killed these crows by imitating their cry, and when the alalas would be close enough, the farmers would shoot them. Years later in the early 1900s, there was a big change in the amount of Hawaiian crows in Hawaii. There were no more flocks, only scattered individuals.

The 'alala depended on the fleshy flower and fruit of the ieie vine, the ohelo berry, and other berries in the forests. But as Hawaii developed quickly over the years and alien invaders such as new fruits and livestock were introduced, the food habits changed. Change of diet and bird diseases are other reasons for the decline of the 'alalas.

Paradise Lost

Before the arrival of the first Hawaiians, few plants and animals found their way to these isolated islands. But the few that made it here gave birth to a bewildering variety of species. Hawaii experienced a bonanza of evolutionary creativity that makes the Galapagos look tame. A single ancestral species of finch, for instance, gave rise to dozens of species of Hawaiian honeycreepers — an assemblage of birds so diverse that a casual observer would never guess they are closely related.

Before human inhabitants arrived, Hawaii was idyllic for the native birds. Flightless geese and rails thrived here. Songbird chicks instinctively dropped to safety on the forest floor if a hawk threatened them. No mammals or reptiles had made it to the islands, so no predators were waiting on the ground to gobble them up.

Hawai`i has a wealth of native species. Many of them are endemic, that is, found nowhere else in the world. Others, like the Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) are also found in other places (indigenous). Some of the endemic species are so rare that they are also threatened and endangered. Many native Hawaiian species are already extinct, known only by a few preserved specimens, bones, descriptions or paintings. Hawai`i is known as the endangered species capital of the United States, having the dubious distinction of having more threatened and endangered species than any other state in the U.S.

Roll call of native species:

Plants: Hawai`i had about 1,100 native species and sub-species of flowering plants (89% endemic). Of these, 92 species are already extinct and 270 are on the endangered species list. Another 198 species are under consideration for listing. There were also 400 native fern species, of which 5 are extinct, 12 on the endangered list, and 9 species under consideration for listing.

Snails: Hawai`i had approximately 1,000 native species, of which about 50-70% are extinct, and all the remaining are biologically endangered. Only the genus Achatinella (42 named species) is listed, but genus Partulina (71 species) is under consideration.

Birds: Hawai`i originally had about 96 endemic species, of which 61 are extinct (45 prior to European contact), 24 listed as endangered (8 likely extinct), and only 11 not yet biologically endangered.

Insects: At least 10,000 native and endemic species, of which an estimated 20-30% are extinct and 20-50% are biologically endangered. However, none are on the endangered species list, although 10 are proposed for listing.

Mammals: Hawai`i has only two endemic mammals, the Hawaiian hoary bat and the Hawaiian monk seal, both on the endangered species list.

Reptiles: Hawai`i has no endemic reptiles, but the five species of native indigenous marine turtles are threatened or endangered.

Despite the startling numbers of extinct and endangered species, Hawai`i's native species represent a wonderful and complex story of adaptation and evolution -- certainly more than can be told here.

Arrival of the humans

People changed all that. The flightless geese were hunted to extinction long before Europeans arrived. Several species of hawks and owls that had preyed on flightless birds also vanished. Polynesian settlers brought chickens with them, and with the chickens came avian pox, a disease native Hawaiian birds had no immunity against.

Once Europeans hit the islands, the loss of native birds accelerated. More and more alien predators and diseases were introduced. Feral cats and pigs, tree snakes, rats, and mongooses all prey on native birds. Ironically, the mongoose, a weasel native to India, was introduced to control rats in the sugar cane fields. But rats are nocturnal and mongooses are not. So the mongoose flourishes by preying on ground-nesting birds.

Mosquito Death

Perhaps most devastating was the accidental introduction of mosquitoes, which carry avian malaria. Around the turn of the century, whole communities of native birds suddenly vanished from seemingly pristine forests, wiped out by malaria. These days, native forest birds are found only at higher elevations, where the imported mosquitoes can't live. The situation is worsening as the mosquitoes are adapting to higher and higher elevations. They are aided and abetted by feral pigs, which root around in forest undergrowth, tearing up plants and leaving pools and puddles that make a great habitat for mosquito larvae.

In 1893, there were 68 native land and freshwater bird species in the islands. Today, 29 of those species are extinct or nearly so and 17 more are endangered. More than 50 percent of the birds on the U.S. list of threatened and endangered species are native to Hawaii.

So trying to save Hawaii's birds is not an easy stroll through paradise. Join us as we meet some of the biologists on the cutting edge of endangered-species conservation, and some of the birds they are trying to save.

Forests Under Siege

A splendid array of plants and animals flourished in Hawaii's ancient forests. Over 70 million years of evolution produced species unlike those anywhere else on earth. The absence of grazing and predatory mammals allowed newly established flora and fauna to abandon ancestral defense mechanisms, enabling life to evolve into thousands of new species.

Honeycreepers exemplify the rich tapestry of life produced by evolutionary processes without human interference. Among the earliest land birds on the islands, they evolved into over 50 species from one pioneering ancestor. Each species has a distinctive bill adapted for a different feeding purpose.

The arrival of Polynesians over fifteen hundred years ago ended the isolation and changed the conditions that fostered the evolution of Hawaii's unique ecosystems. To provide for their survival, these first settlers brought food plants and domestic animals such as pigs, dogs and jungle fowl.

Captain Cook's arrival in 1778 marked the beginning of a new alien invasion that included domestic cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. New settlers brought hundreds of new introductions, including cats, rats, mongooses birds and ornamental plants. Many native species became extinct because they were unable to successfully cope with aggressive introduced species. New predators found native animals easy prey. Today, the most destructive force in native forests besides land development is feral pigs – domestic animals gone wild. Without predators wild pig populations multiply unchecked, a single pair and their offspring theoretically producing 15,000 pigs in five years. Wild pigs churn up the forest floor in search of earthworms (also introduced) and fleshy plant roots. They destroy vulnerable native plants such as mints and orchids; they also eat the fruits and spread the seeds of obnoxious alien plants.

Pigs indirectly cause the deaths of native birds by carving the starchy core from trunks of fallen tree ferns. This leaves depressions that collect rainwater, allowing mosquitoes to breed. These introduced mosquitoes carry and transmit avian malaria and pox that infect and kill native birds that lack immunity. Pigs destroy native forests by causing the loss of native species valued by both ancient and modern cultures.

Park crews build fences around portions of the park that possess special ecological values. They eliminate pigs and offensive alien plants within these areas and the forest begins to heal with the return of native plants and animals. These efforts are vital to perpetuate the natural ecosystems that form a part of our world heritage.

A healthy forest is usually very noticeable. Most plants are green and growing. Animals appear active and well. Often there is an age structure, much like a human population, with both young and old present. There are multiple layers of tall, medium, and low vegetation, if not in one location, then certainly on a regional basis. Most importantly, reproduction is occurring, signifying the right amount of soils, minerals, nutrients, water, and other requirements for life. A healthy forest can almost be felt, as well as seen. In Hawaii, look at different forests, and see if you can sense the difference between a healthy forest, and one that is not.

This koa forest has been damaged by decades of grazing animals. Understory plants have disappeared and koa trees are dying.

History tells us much about what we see today. Hawaii's forests have changed dramatically from the time humans first arrived, the result of many events occurring over long periods of time. Native plants and animals have been harvested, introduced plants and animals have proliferated, and forests over time have been destroyed or altered by fires and hurricanes.

Volcanoes

VOLCANOES OF THE NATIONAL PARKS IN HAWAII

Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii

-- Geographic Setting, and Geologic and Eruptive History --

Since the beginning of a historical record early in the 19th century, eruptions have occurred frequently at Mauna Loa and Kilauea; these two volcanoes on the Big Island are among the most active in the world.

Most eruptions of Mauna Loa and Kilauea are nonexplosive, and both volcanoes are readily accessible; scientists can study them at close range in relative safety. as a result, these are two of the most intensely observed and best understood volcanoes on our planet. Research on these active volcanoes provides a basis for understanding the life story of older, no inactive Hawaiian volcanoes and similar volcanoes worldwide. Hawaii serves as a superb natural laboratory for the study of volcanic eruptions.

For the past 200 years, Mauna Loa and Kilauea have tended to erupt on average every two or three years, placing them among the most frequently active volcanoes in the world. Some intervals of repose between eruptions at a given volcano have been much longer than its long-term average. The individual Kilauea eruptions recorded historically are in addition to the nearly continuous eruptive activity within or near Halema'uma'u Crater, extending throughout the 19th century and into the early 20th century.

Simultaneous eruption of both volcanoes has been rare except at times when Kilauea was continuously active before 1924. The only post-1924 occurrence of simultaneous eruption was in March 1984, when activity at both volcanoes overlapped for one day. Long repose intervals for one volcano correlate approximately with increased activity at the other. This general relation is imperfect but holds well for post-1924 eruptive activity. Between 1934 and 1952, only Mauna Loa was active and, between 1952 and 1974, only Kilauea was.

Since July 1950, Hawaiian eruptive activity has been dominated by frequent and sometimes prolonged eruptions at Kilauea, while only two short-lived eruptions have occurred at Mauna Loa (July 1975 and March-April 1984). As of September 1986, Kilauea's eruption at Pu'u O'o, which began in January 1983, shows no signs of decline. Except for the nearly continuous eruptive activity at Halema'uma'u for a century before 1924, and at Mauna Loa summit between 1872 and 1877, the Pu'u O'o eruption has now become the longest lasting single Hawaiian eruption in recorded history.

The average volume of lava erupted at Kilauea Volcano since 1956 is between 110 and 130 million cubic yards per year.

Ring of Fire

Volcanoes are not randomly distributed over the Earth's surface. Most are concentrated on the edges of continents, along island chains, or beneath the sea forming long mountain ranges. More than half of the world's active volcanoes above sea level encircle the Pacific Ocean to form the circum-Pacific "Ring of Fire." In the past 25 years, scientists have developed a theory -- called plate tectonics -- that explains the locations of volcanoes and their relationship to other large-scale geologic features.

Plate Tectonics

According to the new, generally accepted "plate-tectonics" theory, scientists believe that the Earth's surface is broken into a number of shifting slabs or plates, which average about 50 miles in thickness. These plates move relative to one another above a hotter, deeper, more mobile zone at average rates as great as a few inches per year. Most of the world's active volcanoes are located along or near the boundaries between shifting plates and are called "plate-boundary" volcanoes. However, some active volcanoes are not associated with plate boundaries, and many of these so-called "intra-plate" volcanoes form roughly linear chains in the interior of some oceanic plates. The Hawaiian Islands provide perhaps the best example of an "intra-plate" volcanic chain, developed by the northwest-moving Pacific Plate passing over an inferred "hot spot" that initiates the magma-generation and volcano-formation process. The peripheral areas of the Pacific Ocean Basin, containing the boundaries of several plates are dotted by many active volcanoes that form the so-called "Ring of Fire". The "Ring" provides excellent examples of "plate-boundary" volcanoes, including Mount St. Helens.

In the Pacific Northwest, the Juan de Fuca Plate plunges beneath the North American Plate, locally melting at depth; the magma rises to feed and form the Cascade volcanoes.

The Earth's crust is broken into moving plates of "lithosphere". There are seven very large plates, each consisting of both oceanic and continental portions, and a dozen or more small plates. Each plate is about 80 kilometers (50 miles) thick and can be pictured as having a shallow part that deforms by elastic bending or by brittle breaking, and a deeper part that yields plastically, beneath which is a viscous layer on which the entire plate slides. The plates tend to be internally rigid, and they interact mostly at their edges.

All plates are moving relative to all others. There are grounds for suggesting that the African plate may now be approximately fixed relative to the deep mantle, but if so it is the only such plate. Velocities of relative motion between adjacent plates range from less than 1 centimeter (a small fraction of an inch) to about 13 centimeters (5 inches) per year. Although these velocities are slow by human standards, they are extremely rapid by geologic ones: a motion of 5 centimeters (2 inches) per year, for example, adds up to 50 kilometers (30 miles) in only 1 million years, and some plate motions have been continuous for 100 million years.

Plates are now pulling apart primarily along the system of great submarine ridges in the world's oceans. Hot material from the deeper mantle wells up into the gap, and some of it melts and is erupted on the surface as lava or is injected near the surface to crystallize as other igneous rocks. The ridge stands high because its material is hot, and hence low in density. As the plates move apart, the ridge material gradually cools and contracts, and its surface sinks. Ridges generally form step-like alternations of spreading centers perpendicular to the direction of motion and of strike-slip faults parallel to that direction.

Where plates converge, one tips down and slides beneath the other. Generally, an oceanic plate slides ("subducts") beneath a continental plate (for example, along the west coast of South America) or another oceanic plate (for example, the east side of the Philippine Sea plate). A trench is formed where the under-sliding plate tips down, and the ocean-floor sediment it carries is scraped off against the front of the overriding plate. We know know much about the mechanics of these junctions from geophysical studies and particularly from seismic-reflection profiles made across them with instruments developed for oil-field exploration. Farther back under the overriding plate, zones of earthquakes, inclined down into the mantle to depths that reach 700 kilometers (450 miles), show the trajectory of the descending plate. Typically, a belt of volcanoes lies above the part of this inclined earthquake zone, which is about 125 kilometers (80 miles) deep.

New oceanic-plate (lithosphere) material is generated by the upwelling processes at spreading ridges. Old lithosphere is consumed, and recycled deep into the mantle, at the same rate as the convergent trenches. The balance is global only: the formation of lithosphere at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is compensated by subduction primarily in the western Pacific.

Plates slide past one another along strike-slip faults, which can be either on land or at sea. The best known of these faults is the San Andreas Fault of California.

Plate motions have dominated tectonic and magmatic processes for the past 2,500 million years.

If present major plate motions continue for another 50 million years, Australia will be crowded against China, and the island complexes of Indonesia and the Philippines will be squashed into a mountain system between the colliding continents.

Most volcanoes are products of lithosphere-plate motions. The "ring of fire" around the Pacific represents one type of this volcanism. The chains of volcanoes in the island arcs (such as the Aleutian Islands) and continental margins (such as the Andes) around much of the ocean form above undersliding oceanic plates. The main volcanic axis is typically about 125 kilometers (80 miles) above the inclined zone of earthquakes that marks the descent of the lithosphere plate into the deep mantle indicating that processes related to the descent and to that depth must control the melting of the magmas. The melts that arrive at the surface, to erupt in volcanoes, have been profoundly modified by reactions with the mantle and crustal rocks through which they have risen. Lavas formed in this setting have distinctive compositions and systematic variations that relate directly to their height above the subducting plate. These characteristics permit us to recognize rocks formed in similar settings in the geologic past and to estimate the depths to the long-dead seismic zones above which they formed. Where, in ancient terrains, the volcanic rocks have been eroded away, we now see granites and other rocks which crystallized slowly within the crust from similar magmas.

The high volcanoes of the Cascade Range in Oregon and Washington -- Mount Hood and Mount Rainier, for example -- form a short chain of this type, vigorously active until not many thousand years ago but now showing only infrequent activity. The decline in volcanism reflects a plate-boundary change now underway to the west: there was until recently rapid subduction of a small Pacific plate beneath northern California, Oregon, and Washington, but the pattern is presently changing; the San Andreas Fault system is now breaking across the small plate.

Earth scientists believe that most earthquakes are caused by slow movements inside the Earth that push against the Earth's brittle, relatively thin outer layer, causing the rocks to break suddenly. This outer layer is fragmented into a number of pieces, called plates. Most earthquakes occur at the boundaries of these plates. In Washington State, the small Juan de Fuca plate off the coast of Washington, Oregon, and northern California is slowly moving eastward beneath a much larger plate that includes both the North American continent the land beneath part of the Atlantic Ocean. Plate motions in the Pacific Northwest result in shallow earthquakes widely distributed over Washington and deep earthquakes in the western parts of Washington and Oregon. The movement of the Juan de Fuca plate beneath the North America plate is in many respects similar to the movements of plates in South America, Mexico, Japan, and Alaska, where the world's largest earthquakes occur.

The plate tectonics theory is a starting point for understanding the forces within the Earth that cause earthquakes. Plates are thick slabs of rock that make up the outermost 100 kilometers or so of the Earth. Geologists use the term "tectonics" to describe deformation of the Earth's crust, the forces producing such deformation, and the geologic and structural features that result.

Earthquakes occur only in the outer, brittle portions of these plates, where temperatures in the rock are relatively low. Deep in the Earth's interior, convection of the rocks, caused by temperature variations in the Earth, induces stresses that result in movement of the overlying plates. The rates of plate movements range from about 2 to 12 centimeters per year and can now be measured by precise surveying techniques. The stresses from convection can also deform the brittle portions of overlying plates, thereby storing tremendous energy within the plates. If the accumulating stress exceeds the strength of the rocks comprising these brittle zones, the rocks can break suddenly, releasing the stored elastic energy as an earthquake.

Hawaiian "Hot Spot"

From: Tilling, Heliker, and Wright, 1987, Eruptions of Hawaiian Volcanoes: Past, Present, and Future: Department of the Interior/U.S.Geological Survey Publication

The great majority of the world's earthquakes and active volcanoes occur near the boundaries of the Earth's shifting plates. Why then are the Hawaiian volcanoes located near the middle of the Pacific Plate, more than 2,000 miles from the nearest plate boundary? In 1963, J.Tuzo Wilson, a Canadian geophysicist, provided an ingenious explanation within the framework of plate tectonics by proposing the "Hot Spot" hypothesis. Wilson's hypothesis has come to be accepted widely, because it agrees well with much of the scientific data on the Pacific Ocean in general, and the Hawaiian Islands in particular.

According to Wilson, the distinctive linear shape of the Hawaiian-Emperor Chain reflects the progressive movement of the Pacific Plate over a deep immobile hot spot. This hot spot partly melts the region just below the overriding Pacific Plate, producing small, isolated blobs of magma. Less dense than the surrounding solid rock, the magma rises buoyantly through structurally weak zones and ultimately erupts as lava onto the ocean floor to form volcanoes.

Over a span of about 70 million years, the combined processes of magma formation, eruption, and continuous movement of the Pacific Plate over the stationary hot spot have left the trail of volcanoes across the ocean floor that we now call the Hawaiian-Emperor Chain. Scientists interpret the sharp bend in the chain, about 2,200 miles northwest of the Big Island, as indicating a change in the direction of plate motion that occurred about 43 million years ago, as suggested by the ages of the volcanoes bracketing the bend.

Part of the Big Island, the southeasternmost and youngest island, presently overlies the hot spot and still taps the magma source to feed its two currently active volcanoes, Kilauea and Mauna Loa. The active submarine volcano, Loihi, off the Big Island's south coast, may mark the beginning of the zone of magma formation at the southeastern edge of the hot spot. The other Hawaiian islands have moved northwestward beyond the hot spot, were successively cut off from the sustaining magma source, and are no longer volcanically active.

The progressive northwesterly drift of the islands from their point of origin over the hot spot is well shown by the ages of the principal lava flows on the various Hawaiian Islands from northwest (oldest) to southeast (youngest), given in millions of years: Kauai, 5.6 to 3.8; Oahu, 3.4 to 2.2; Molokai, 1.8 to 1.3; Maui, 1.3 to 0.8; and Hawaii, less than 0.7 and still growing.

Even on the Big Island alone, the relative ages of its five volcanoes are compatible with the hot-spot theory. Kohala, at the northwestern corner of the island, is the oldest, having ceased eruptive activity about 60,000 years ago. The second oldest is Mauna Kea, which last erupted about 3,000 years ago; next is Hualalai, which has had only one historic eruption (1800-1801), and lastly, both Mauna Loa and Kilauea have been vigorously and repeatedly active in historic times. Because it is growing on the southeastern flank of Mauna Loa, Kilauea is believed to be younger than its huge neighbor.

The size of the Hawaiian hot spot is not know precisely, but it presumably is large enough to encompass the currently active volcanoes of Mauna Loa, Kilauea, Loihi, and, possibly, also Hualalai and Haleakala. Some scientists have estimated the Hawaiian hot spot to be about 200 miles across, with much narrower vertical passageways that feed magma to the individual volcanoes.

Three major types of plate boundaries are recognized. These are called spreading, convergent, or transform, depending on whether the plates move away from, toward, or laterally past one another, respectively. Subduction occurs where one plate converges toward another plate, moves beneath it, and plunges as much as several hundred kilometers into the Earth's interior. The Juan de Fuca plate off the coasts of Washington and Oregon is subducting beneath North America.

Ninety percent of the world's earthquakes occur along plate boundaries where the rocks are usually weaker and yield more readily to stress than do the rocks within a plate. The remaining 10 percent occur in areas away from present plate boundaries -- like the great New Madrid, Missouri, earthquakes of 1811 and 1812, felt over at least 3.2 million square kilometers, which occurred in a region of southeast Missouri that continues to show seismic activity today.

The Cascadia subduction zone off the coast of Washington, Oregon, and northern California is a convergent boundary between the large North America plate and the small Juan de Fuca plate to the west. The Juan de Fuca plate moves northeastward and then plunges (subducts) obliquely beneath the North America plate at a rate of 3 to 4 centimeters per year. In sum, the subduction of the Juan de Fuca plate beneath the North America plate is believed to directly or indirectly cause most of the earthquakes and young geologic features in Washington and Oregon.

Lava Flows

LAVA: A SAGA OF HAWAII

What are Lava Flows?

For up to date eruption information click here.

Lava flows are streams of molten rock that either pour from a vent quietly or explosively by lava fountains. Lava flows destroy everything in their path, but most move slowly enough that people can move out of the way. The speed at which lava moves across the ground depends on several factors, including the type of lava erupted (viscosity), the steepness of the ground, and the rate of lava production at the vent.

Fluid basalt flows may extend tens of kilometers from their source, and the leading edges of basalt flows can travel as fast as 10 km/hour on steep slopes. The flow front of a basalt flow on a shallow slope typically advances less than 1 km/hour. Where basalt lava flows are confined within channels or lava tubes, however, velocities can reach over 30 km/hour.

Viscous andesite flows move only a few kilometers per hour and rarely extend more than 8 km from their vents. Viscous dacite and rhyolite flows often form steep-sided mounds called lava domes right over an erupting vent. Lava domes often grow by the extrusion of many individual flows over a period of several months or years. Such flows will overlap one another and typically move less than a few meters per hour.

Lava flows in two distinct types, for which the Hawaiian names have become universal geological terms: a'a and pa'hoehoe. They're easily distinguished in appearance, but chemically they're the same. A'a is extremely rough and spiny and will quickly tear up your shoes if you do much hiking over it. Also, if you have the misfortune to fall down, you'll immediately know why they call it a'a. Pa'hoehoe, a billowy ropey lava that looks like burned pancake batter, can mold itself into fantastic shapes. Examples of both lavas are frequently encountered on various hikes throughout the Big Island. Other lava oddities that you may spot are peridots, green gem-like stones called "Pele's Diamonds," clear feldspar like white cotton candy called "Pele's hair," and gray lichens covering the older flows known as "Hawaiian snow."

Kilauea Volcano: lava-flow hazards where lava enters the ocean.

Collapse of new land into the sea USGS Page about Lava Flows

About the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) enjoys a world-wide reputation as a leader in the study of active volcanism. Due to their usually benign natures, Kilauea and Mauna Loa, the most active volcanoes on the Island of Hawai`i, can be studied up close in relative safety. While observations made by 19th-century missionaries and travelers constitute a large part of the early and colorful history of volcano watching in Hawai`i, HVO's origins are rooted in a desire to use scientific methodology to understand the nature of volcanic processes and to reduce their risks to society.

What We Do

HVO is part of the Volcano Hazards Program of the U.S. Geological Survey. Our staff conducts research on the volcanoes of Hawai`i and works with emergency-response officials to protect people and property from earthquakes and volcano-related hazards. We work to reduce the risks from these hazards by:

Monitoring volcanoes and earthquakes to track their behavior before, during, and after eruptions and to determine the nature of their activity.

Studying the eruption histories of Hawai`i's volcanoes in order to achieve a long-term perspective that can help to anticipate their future behavior and identify potentially hazardous areas.

Communicating results of our studies with the public, emergency managers, educators, and students through the media, presentations and workshops, field trips, and the USGS Volunteer Program.

Knowledge of past eruptions and earthquakes, and careful monitoring of ongoing activity, form the basis of our current hazard assessments in Hawai`i and our studies of volcanic and seismic processes. By keeping abreast of what is happening, and by knowing what has happened, we can coexist with Hawai`i's active volcanoes, living, working, and playing on them and minimizing their dangers to people and property.

Early Hawaiian History

Herb Kawainui Kane

Settlers

Original settlers of Polynesia migrated through South-East Asia and Indonesia across Melanesia, before settling the Polynesian islands from 1000 BC to 500 AD. Hawaii was one of the last island groups to be settled. Archaeological evidence indicates the first Polynesians arrived in Hawaii from the Marquesas between 500 and 700 AD.

The first wave of Tahitians arrived in Hawaii in about 1000 AD conquering and subjugating the Marquesans, forcing them to build temples, irrigation ditches and fishponds. The menehune legends of a tribe of little people may well refer to the Marquesans for the word ‘menehune’ is very similar to the Tahitian word for ‘outcast’.

The earliest Hawaiians had simple beliefs which were the result of being in tune with the spirits of nature. Offerings to their gods consisted mainly of praying and a sharing of their harvest. The Hawaiians had gods for all natural phenomena, consisting of the four main gods: Ku, Lono, Kane, and Kanaloa. Ku was the ancestor god and took charge of the male gods and Hina took charge of the females. They were responsible for heaven and earth, fishing, forests, and farming. Lono was the god of the rain, the harvest, fertility, and peace. Kane created the first man and was the god from which all Hawaiians descended. Kanaloa was the god of the underworld and ruler of the dead. Under these main four were many lesser gods.

Temples erected in ancient Hawaii, called heiaus, were built in two basic styles using lava rock. One was a rectangular enclosure built directly on the ground, the other consisted of raised terraced platforms with rocks piled high. Many of these heiaus can still be found throughout the islands today and are considered sacred places.

The Makahiki

According to legend, the god Lono, after a spiff with a chief who was lusting after Kaikilani, his wife, killed her and set sail on a canoe with a tall mast hung with sails and promised to return one day on a “floating island”. The Hawaiians remembered Lono each year with a harvest festival, called the makahiki, which lasted from October to February. Even during wartime, fighting would be suspended for the festivities dedicated to Lono.

The Polynesian Settlement of the Pacific

The Polynesian migration to Hawai'i was part of one of the most remarkable achievements of humanity: the discovery and settlement of the remote, widely scattered islands of the central Pacific. The migration began before the birth of Christ. While Europeans were sailing close to the coastlines of continents before developing navigational instruments that would allow them to venture onto the open ocean, voyagers from Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa began to settle islands in an ocean area of over 10 million square miles. The settlement took a thousand years to complete and involved finding and fixing in mind the position of islands, sometimes less than a mile in diameter on which the highest landmark was a coconut tree. By the time European explorers entered the Pacific Ocean in the 16th century almost all the habitable islands had been settled for hundreds of years.

The voyaging was all the more remarkable in that it was done in canoes built with tools of stone, bone, and coral. The canoes were navigated without instruments by expert seafarers who depended on their observations of the ocean and sky and traditional knowledge of the patterns of nature for clues to the direction and location of islands. The canoe hulls were dug out from tree trunks with adzes or made from planks sewn together with a cordage of coconut fiber twisted into strands and braided for strength. Cracks and seams were sealed with coconut fibers and sap from breadfruit or other trees. An outrigger was attached to a single hull for greater stability on the ocean; two hulls were lashed together with crossbeams and a deck added between the hulls to create double canoes capable of voyaging long distances.

The canoes were paddled when there was no wind and sailed when there was; the sails were woven from coconut or pandanus leaves. These vessels were seaworthy enough to make voyages of over 2,000 miles along the longest sea roads of Polynesia, such as the one between Hawai'i and Tahiti. And though these double-hulled canoes had less carrying capacity than the broad-beamed ships of the European explorers, the Polynesian canoes were faster: one of Captain Cook's crew estimated a Tongan canoe could sail "three miles to our two."

After a visit to the Society Islands in 1774, Andia y Varela described the canoes he saw: "It would give the most skillful [European] builder a shock to see craft having no more breadth of beam than three [arm] spans carrying a spread of sail so large as to befit one of ours with a beam of eight or ten spans, and which, though without means of lowering or furling the sail, make sport of the winds and waves during a gale, their safety depending wholly on two light poles a couple of varas or so long (about eight feet), which, being placed athwartships, the one forward and the other aft, are fitted to another spar of soft wood placed fore and aft wise in the manner of an outrigger. These canoes are as fine forward as the edge of a knife, so that they travel faster than the swiftest of our vessels; and they are marvellous, not only in this respect, but for their smartness in shifting from one tack to the other." (Corney, Vol. II, 282).

The voyaging was by no means easy. There was always a danger of swamping or capsizing in heavy seas, of having sails ripped apart or masts and booms broken by fierce winds, of smashing the hulls against unseen rocks or reefs; and while there were grass or leaf shelters on the decks of voyaging canoes, the voyagers were often exposed to the wind, rain, and sun, with only capes of leaves or bark-cloth wrappings for protection. A stormy night at sea, even in the tropics, can be brutally chilling. If supplies ran short during a long voyage, and no fish or rainwater replenished them, then starvation became a possibility. As a tradition about a voyage from Hiva (the Marquesas) to Rarotonga puts it: "The voyage was so long; food and water ran out. One hundred of the paddlers died; forty men remained."

A long voyage was not just a physical, but a mental challenge as well, particularly for a navigator without compass or chart. To navigate miles of open ocean required an extensive and intimate knowledge of the ocean and sky. Captain Cook noted that Polynesian navigators used the rising and setting points of celestial bodies for directions. Andia y Varela was told how Tahitians also used the winds and swells to hold a course: "There are many sailing-masters among the people, the term for whom is in their language fa'atere (Hawaiian: ho'okele). The fa'atere are competent to make long voyages like that from Otahiti to Oriayatea [Ra'iatea] (about 150 miles) and others farther afield. One of these sailing masters named Puhoro came to Lima on this occasion in t he frigate; and from him and others I was able to find out the method by which they navigate on the high seas.

"They have no mariner's compass, but divide the horizon into sixteen parts, taking for the cardinal points those at which the sun rises and sets.

"When setting out from port the helmsman partitions the horizon, counting from E, or the point where the sun rises; he knows the direction in which his destination bears. He observes, also, whether he has the wind aft, or on one or the other beam, or on t he quarter, or is close-hauled. He notes, further, whether there is a following sea, a head sea, a beam sea, or if the sea is on the bow or the quarter. He proceeds out of port with a knowledge of these [conditions], heads his vessel according to his calculation, and aided by the signs the sea and wind afford him, does his best to keep steadily on his course.

"The task becomes more difficult if the day is cloudy, because the sailing-master has no mark to count from for dividing the horizon. Should the night be cloudy as well, the sailing-master regulates his course by the wind and swells; and, since the wind i s apt to vary in direction more than the swell does, he has his pennant, made of feathers and palmetto bark, by which to watch changes in the wind, and he trims his sails accordingly, always taking his cue for holding his course from the indications the sea affords. When the night is clear, he steers by the stars; and this is the easiest navigation for him because he knows the stars which rise and set over not only the islands he is familiar with, but also the harbors in the islands, so that he makes straight for the entrance by following the rhumb of the particular star that rises or sets over it. These sailing masters hit their destinations with as much precision as the most expert navigators of civilized nations could achieve" (Corney, Vol. II, 284-6) .

To keep track of their position at sea during long sea voyages, the navigators used a system of dead reckoning and memorizing the distance and direction traveled until the destination was reached. Finding islands before they could actually be seen was also part of the art of navigation. Voyagers followed the flight of land-dwelling birds that fished at sea as these birds flew from the direction of islands in the morning or returned in the evenings. The navigators also watched for changes in swell patterns, cloud piled up over land, reflections on clouds from lagoons, and drifting land vegetation.

When European explorers found the islands of Polynesia, the common ancestry of the Polynesians was evidently the inhabitants of widely separated islands looked alike, spoke alike, and had similar cultural practices. Their manufactured products such as fishhooks, trolling lures, adzes, and ornaments also revealed similarities. And they had the same basic stock of domesticated plants and animals.

The peoples of Polynesia came from a common ancestral group that developed a distinctive fishing and farming culture in the islands of Tonga and Samoa.

While dates constantly change with new archaeological discoveries, the general sequence for the settlement of Polynesia has been relatively well established (Dates represent earliest archaeological finds; they almost certainly do not represent the earliest presence of human beings.):

Hunters and gatherers inhabited Australia and New Guinea by 50,000 years ago.

Around 1600-1200 B.C., a cultural complex called Lapita (identified by a distinctive pottery and named after a site in New Caledonia) spread from New Guinea in Melanesia as far east as Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga. Polynesian culture developed at the eastern edge of this region (i.e., in Samoa and Tonga).
Around 300 B.C. or earlier, seafarers from Samoa and Tonga discovered and settled islands to the east, the Cook Islands, Tahiti-nui, Tuamotus, and Hiva (Marquesas Islands).
Around 300 A.D. or earlier, voyagers from central or eastern Polynesia, possibly from Hiva, discovered and settled Easter Island.
Around 400 A.D. or earlier, voyagers from the the Cook Islands, Tahiti-nui, and /or Hiva settled Hawai'i.
Around 1000 A.D. or earlier, voyagers from the Society and/or the Cook Islands settled Aotearoa (New Zealand).

The ethnobotanical evidence reflects this progression of settlement from the Western Pacific islands, through central Polynesia (the Cook Islands, Society Islands, and Hiva), and then to Hawai'i. Of the 72 plants identified as having been transported to Polynesia by people, 41-45 are found in the Cook Islands, the Society Islands, and Hiva; 29 are found in Hawai'i, including taro, breadfruit, sugar cane, bamboo, ti, yam, banana, 'awa, paper mulberry, kukui, coconut, gourd, sweet potato, and mountain apple . The settlers also brought the pig, dog, chicken, and rat along with them. The transport of plants and domesticated animals on voyaging canoes suggests that the early settlers planned to colonize Hawai'i, after having discovered its location.

The Settlement of Hawai'i

Hawai'i, which contains the largest islands in Polynesia outside of Aotearoa, must have appeared particularly rich in land and resources to its discoverers. The tradition of Hawai'iloa records the event as follows: "[The voyagers] went ashore and found the land fertile and pleasant, filled with 'awa, coconut trees, and so on, and Hawai'iloa, the chief, gave that land his name. Here they dwelt a long time and when their canoe was filled with vegetable food and fish, they returned to their native country with the intention of returning to Hawai'i-nei, which they preferred to their own country." (Fornander, Vol. 6, 278; other traditions suggest that 'awa and coconut were brought by those who settle Hawai'i.)

Scholars believe that early settlers of Hawai'i came predominantly from Hiva (Marquesas). The argument for a Hivan homeland is based in part on linguistic and biological evidence: "Indeed, the close relationship between the Hawaiian and Marquesan languages as well as between the physical populations constitutes strong and mutually corroborative evidence that the early Hawaiians came from the Marquesas" (Kirch 64).

The Marquesan language has been grouped under the category Proto Central Eastern Polynesian, along with Hawaiian, Tahitian, Tuamotuan, Rarotongan, and Maori. Vocabulary comparisons seem to indicate that the dialect of the Southern Marquesan Islands (Hiva Oa, Tahuata, Fatu Hiva), is the closest relative of Hawaiian language (Green 1966).

TALES OF PELE

AIA LA O PELE

No Kahiki mai ka wahine o Pele, The woman Pele comes from Kahiki,

Mai ka aina mai o Polapola, From the land of Polapola,

Mai ka punohu a Kane, From the rising mist of Kane,

Mai ke ao lapa I ka lani. From the clouds that move in the sky.

According to early Hawaiian traditions, there was a time in the mysterious past when the air was surrounded with spiritual beings, and a thin veil divided the living from the dead, the natural from the supernatural. During that time Pele, goddess of the volcano, came to Hawai'i.

Having traveled for many miles in search of a suitable home for her fire and family, Pele settled in the crater of Halema'uma'u at the summit of Kilauea.

Pele is volcanism in all its forms. Her poetic name is Ka wahine 'ai honua, the woman who devours the land. When her molten body moves, the land trembles and the sky is afire with a crimson glow. Those present whisper in awe, "Ae aia la o Pele, there is Pele".

In her presence, our senses are awakened. We smell the sulfur. We feel the heat where the steam dances above the earthcracks at Wahine Kapu. Pele's tears hide in the cinder outfall at Pu'u Pua'i, her golden hair sparkles between the rope folds of pahoehoe lava. A play of sunlight on her ebony rock reveals a shimmering rainbow of color.

Hawaii's native plants and animals, and prehistoric cultural relics add to the mystical feeling of her extraordinary lava landscape. Kupuna, respected Hawaiian elders, teach malama o ka'ina, care for the land and the land will care for you. Today we can protect the integrity of the park and the culture of Hawaii's indigenous people by leaving everything in its rightful place.

At Kilauea, where the very ground is sacred to the Hawaiian people, remember to E nihi ka hele, walk softly!

Pele and Kamapua'a

Many Hawaiian legends speak of the relationships between Pele and other gods and human. One story tells why Pele's home in Kilauea's summit caldera is called Halema'uma'u.

The hog-man, demi-god Kamapua'a of human, animal, fish and fern forms came to Kilauea to woo Pele She rejected his love and cried out at him, "A'ohe 'oe kanaka he pua'a, you are not a man, you are a pig."

He was insulted. And a furious battle ensued between them. Pele hurled fire and molten lava. Kamapua'a retaliated with storms of rain.

The battle raged and the two weakened as fire won, then rain, the fire.

Desperate to escape, Kamapua'a turned himself into the "ama'u fern and surrounded the summit caldera."

Thus the name Halema'uma'u house surrounded by the 'ama'u fern.

Ohelo

To the Hawaiian eye the ohelo is no mere plant. It is Pele's sister, Ka'ohelo, out of who bones spring the red-berried bush.

Embodied in earthly and heavenly phenomena, Pele's 'ohana (family) is ever present in the volcano region. Another sister, Hi'iaka-i-ka-pua'ena'ena, is the rosy glow of dawn on clouds and mountains. Pele's brothers, Ka-moho-ali'i, Kane-hekili, and Ke-ua-ake-po are steam, thunder and rain of fire.

'Aumakua

To some Hawaiian families, 'io, the Hawaiian hawk, is a sacred 'aumakua or ancestral spirit. What was human in life became upon death a guardian god possessing awesome power and loving concern.

Ka 'io nui maka lana au moku, the great hawk with eyes that see everywhere on the land.

As both godly ancestors and spiritual parents, 'aumakua assumed myriad kino lau (body forms) of plant, animal or mineral. They brought warnings of coming misfortune and deliverance from immediate danger through dreams, visions and physical manifestations.

When pueo (owl) cried in a strange way, 'eu'eu, it was a sign to get away. When a canoe capsized in a storm, mano (shark) appeared and men rode to safety on its back.

At one with nature, Hawaiians were at home in a world alive with spirit forces.

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