a hawaiian experience - fieldtrip to the big island of hawaii

8/14/2019 A Hawaiian Experience - Fieldtrip to the Big Island of Hawaii

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The Island of Hawaii - an uncommon fieldtrip

(c) Stefan Thiesen, 1994Introduction............................................................................11) The Trip..............................................................................22) Origin of the Hawaiian Islands ..........................................73) Climate and Weather in Hawaii.......................................154) Hawaiis Biological Heritage ...........................................195) Astronomy and Space Science in Hawaii.........................25Literature:............................................................................32


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Introduction

The big island of Hawaii is among the places on

Earth with the best conditions for scientific research in

practically all major sciences, ranging from marine over

earth to the space sciences as well as ecology and

conservation biology and many more. The unique geographic

situation of the Hawaiian islands as well as their

natural history and relatively young geological age make

them a profound source for interdisciplinary research.

Geological and geophysical processes similar to those

driving volcanism around the world but also the

biological evolution of species which - due to the

islands isolation - has gone it's own distinct ways can

be easily observed. The Pacific ocean is a vast, still

mostly unexplored area of research by itself and Pele -

the ancient Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes - has provided

us with Mauna Kea, the worlds foremost astronomical

window to space. Hawaii is of course more than just a

collection of intriguing scientific phenomena - the

culture that evolved in the islands is just as unique as

their nature since in present time here is the merging

point of the Americas, Asia and Oceania bringing together

elements of all world cultures.

During this Field trip I had the chance to explore

two of the big Islands most exciting aspects: Volcanoes

National Park with it's vast, almost surrealistic

landscapes shaped by lava flows, craters, cinder cones,

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unique tropical forests and the more and Mauna Kea

observatory, still caught in the excitement about

observing the effects of the Comet Shoemaker Levy 9

impact on Jupiter.

In the following report I will attempt to present a

brief survey of the field of Hawaiian Studies including

some historical and geographical aspects. Our scarce

knowledge about the achievements of the ancient "Kahuna",

the scientists of old Hawaii, will guide me through my

explorations. Since there is a lot of literature about

the islands, and knowledge about geology and ecology is

quite common nowadays, I will concentrate a little more

on some aspects of their history rather than only

summarizing the conclusions of the modern textbooks I

read. This paper is not designed like a traditional field

trip report. Instead I chose to present a cross-section

of my impressions and insights, those gained during the

excursion as well as those I derived from lectures and

textbooks.

1) The Trip

During the time I lived in the State of Hawaii I

only had the chance to explore two islands to some

extend: Oahu, where I have spent most of my time and Maui

where I visited during spring break 1994. This is why I

originally decided to participate in the Hawaiian Field

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Studies course offered by Hawaii Pacific University

which unfortunately didnt take place due to a lack of

interest among the students. Hence I decided to organize

a tour to the Big Island myself and do some independent

studies on my own as part of my external degree program.

I arrived at Hilo airport in the morning of July

25th 1995 and immediately left for Volcanoes Natl. Park

with my rented Jeep. I purchased a one week ticket for

the Park and spent the rest of the morning at the

visitors center, gathering information and watching

movies about recent volcanic activities of Kilauea and

Mauna Loa volcanoes. Later I drove around the Kilauea

caldera on the crater rim drive, exploring sites around

Kilauea and Kilauea Iki craters and exhibitions at the

Hawaiian Volcanoes Observatory and Thomas A. Jaggar

Museum. The crater rim drive was partly closed due to

recent earthquake activity. Some scenic stops included

sulfur banks, steam vents, the rift zone with the 1982

lava flow, Keanakakoi crater and as said before: Kilauea

Iki.

During the following time I drove to the tourist

centers of the Kona coast which gave me the opportunity

to validate the effects of extensive development on the

natural environment. Apparently the culture of the Big

Island still is far more shaped by native Hawaiians than

it is the case on the other large islands, so naturally

the current political tensions involving the legitimate

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Hawaiian Independence Movements represented by the "Ohana

Council" and others are more obvious. Here on Hawaii the

most recent conflict was partly caused by plans of the

State Government to allow extensive real estate

development as well as the building of Golf courses on

sacred ancient Hawaiian grounds. What would you say if

somebody would just go ahead and built Hotels on your

cemeteries? a young Hawaiian asked me. Many of the beach

parks however were closed or occupied by protesting

natives with Hawaiian War Flags displayed at park

entrances. This made it difficult for me to find

campsites where I could spend the night - I was forced

for example to spend my first night at a rather expensive

hotel in Kailua since all official campgrounds were

closed. The situation wasnt as difficult in the Natl.

Park area and on the Hilo side and most Hawaiians

actually were very friendly and peaceful and didnt have

anything against backpackers and campers - their protest

was mainly directed against the government policy and

mass tourism. As soon as they found out that somebody was

really interested in Hawaii they immediately invited them

to stay in Hawaii as long as they wanted to.

Despite the bad weather which was caused by a whole

chain of hurricanes passing by the islands in the South I

spent some time at South Point Hawaii, named Ka Lae in

Hawaiian, simply meaning the point which is the

southernmost point of the US. South Point has coastal

cliffs and a very turbulent ocean, and it was here where

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some of the first Polynesians landing in Hawaii settled

down. Most of the area now is under the jurisdiction of

Hawaiian Homelands. Sites of archeological interest can

be found here, including those of a heiau and a rather

well-preserved fishing shrine. There also are many canoe

mooring holes drilled into the rock ledges. Ancient

Hawaiians used to anchor one end of a rope through the

holes and tie the other end to their canoes, so the

strong current would pull the boat straight out to the

deep, turbulent waters where they could take advantage of

the splendid fishing grounds without being swept out to

the sea.

A surprising feature nearby is the unexpected

scenery of a modern wind park: 37 high-tech windmills

lined up beside the road, cattle peacefully grazing under

them. It is a rather surreal scenery. Each of these

generators however can produce enough electricity to

serve 100 households and it was calculated that the

entire electricity demand of the complete state could be

served - at least in theory - by wind energy conversion.

It is truly intriguing to observe the change of

landscape and climate along the road from Kona to Hilo,

the street leading the traveler through completely

different zones ranging from tropical rain forests to

arid volcanic deserts. There are several reasons for this

natural diversity, some due to differences in altitude,

others as a result of lacking precipitation on the

leeward side as well as ongoing volcanic processes. I am

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doing some extensive hikes to get an impression of the

landscape and nature beyond the road, exploring ancient

petroglyphs and burial sites, the biggest impression

being quietness and solitude in a seemingly untouched

nature, especially in Kau desert and along the southern

slope of Mauna Loa.

Together with Fred Conroy, a retired navy nuclear

technician whom I had met at Namakani Paio Campground in

Volcanoes Natl. Park , I spent some more time at the

Park, attending lectures at the visitors center and

driving down the Chain-of-Craters road to the current

eruption site of one of the minor breakouts of Kilauea

down by the ocean, where new land is formed. Fred was

looking for a house to buy in Hilo, which gave me the

chance to get to know Hilo and some of its inhabitants a

little better than I would have otherwise.

The last item on my itinerary was Mauna Kea with

its unearthly volcanic landscape, intriguing

archeological sites and of course the observatory. A

unique Hawaiian mystery awaits the curious visitor in the

summit region of Mauna Kea: about half an hour from the

summit road, walking and climbing over volcanic rock in

the thin air, one finds lake Waiau, right there in the

center of a cinder cone at an altitude of 13,020 feet

(which makes it the third highest lake in the USA). The

lake is mysterious for several reasons. How can a lake

exist in the center of a porous cinder cone in desert-

like conditions with less than 15 inches annual rainfall?

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It is fed by melting winter snow and permafrost which

quickly evaporate at other locations on Mauna Kea and

although the lake doesnt have any freshwater springs, is

no more than 10 feet deep and even feeds a little creek,

it somehow maintains its water level. Up to now

geologists were unable to solve this mystery. For the old

Hawaiians however, there was no mystery at all: for them

it is a lake of the gods.

The freshwater reservoir probably also was the

reason why there were early settlers on Mauna Kea in

ancient times, mostly people who worked in the stone

quarries found everywhere around the summit area.

Native Hawaiians used to bring the umbilical cords

of their babies and throw them into the lake, hoping the

children would gain the power and strength of the

mountain...

2) Origin of the Hawaiian Islands

From the geological point of view, the Hawaiian

Islands are considered to be young, the big island being

the youngest member of a still growing family of

islands. Here nature was so kind to give us easy access

to the complete natural history of tropical volcanic

islands, ready to be examined and analyzed by scientists.

In the case of for example the French Frigate Shoals,

Necker Island or the Midway Islands far in the northwest

of the chain, we find small atolls - remedies of formerly

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much larger volcanic landmasses - in their very latest

state of development, whereas in the southeast we can

observe "islands in the making", the big island still

growing due to the activity mainly of Kilauea volcano.

Beside the existing landmasses there is Loihi Seamount,

an active submarine volcano in it's shield building

stage, already rising approximately 4000 meters above the

floor of the Pacific Ocean. Here it is interesting to

review the knowledge the native Hawaiians themselves had

about natural history and origin of their homeland, their

"aina" which approximately means "the living land". Those

carrying and passing on the secret scientific knowledge

were called the "Kahuna" who were far more than just

mystic priests of a religious order. Actually they had

more in common with the modern western scientist,

mastering their profession only after more than two

decades of studies and training in a strict scientific

discipline. They were the trained professionals of their

time in the fields of medicine, agriculture,

architecture, education and the sciences, responsible for

conserving natural resources as well as passing on and

advancing knowledge with all means accessible to them.

Usually the members of the Kahuna were recruited among

the children of the ali'i, the ruling class of old

Hawaii. However children of exceptional ability from the

commoners, the lower ranks of society were accepted also.

The main criterions were intelligence, interest and

willingness to learn and study hard. A short survey of

their history and customs is given in L.. McBride's book

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"The Kahuna", which I refer to below. I will concentrate

on some of the actual knowledge of the Kahuna and compare

it to modern day scientific research results.

There was one order of the Kahuna that specialized

on "Earth Studies" (kilohonua) and another group of

experts was learned about the configuration of the

landscapes, both being the ancient pendants of modern

Geologists and Geographers. The greatest of these learned

specialists were supposed to be able to identify any rock

specimen from any district on the island of Hawaii as

well as the place it was cropped out. Density, color and

usability were the parameters applied for rock

classification, and there were about two dozens of

different types in the three categories that could be

identified by these experts. Even nowadays scientists all

over the world use the Hawaiian termspahoehoe and a'a to

distinguish between smooth and rough lava flows.

Similar to the practices elsewhere around the world,

much of what the Kahuna knew was passed on to their

students by means of poems and mystical stories about

ancient gods and heroes, and the mental abilities

required in oral traditions often dramatically exceed

those in societies that use writing for information

storage. In the case of geology and the earth sciences

the main protagonist of these living stories was Pele,

the goddess of volcanoes, earth and fire. These Tales

show us that the Kahuna had advanced far beyond the realm

of common sense and every day knowledge. One of the most

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striking examples is the mystical story about the

creation of the islands by Pele. The legends tell that

Pele arrived at the unknown islands far in the northwest

and proceeded along the island chain finally settling on

the Big Island, where she found perfect conditions to

stay. This story corresponds surprisingly well with the

view of modern geologists regarding the relative age and

origin of the islands, but the analogies go even further.

An ancient chant says:

She comes first to the top of the mountain

Young and beautiful, dancing in all her glory

Then she sleeps, becomes old and ugly

Moves through the hidden ways of the mountain

To come out near the seashore

Angry and capable of great destruction

This is a type of cyclic volcano behavior that has been

observed again and again by scientists: melted rock rises

from 35 Miles below and fills a huge reservoir just

beneath the summit of the volcano, splitting the top of

the mountain as soon as the pressure exceeds stability

limits. Spurts of lava shoot into the air like beautiful

gigantic fireworks. After the summit eruption the

mountain behaves calmly, sealing itself off on the top.

The lava then invisibly seeks it's way downward the

slopes through cracks and old lava tubes towards the sea

and breaks out wherever the system is weakest, usually

near the shore or even underwater as I could observe

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myself at the end of the chain of craters road during my

visit to Volcanoes Natl. Park. Interesting is also that

the legend tells us that after a fight between Pele and

her mortal husband Kamapua'a they divided the land of

Hawaii between them, Pele claiming the parts south of

Mauna Kea (the Mauna Loa and Kilauea region) whereas the

remainder of the island chain was given to Kamapua'a and

the mortal humans. This too corresponds with our current

knowledge: Mauna Loa and Kilauea are active volcanoes and

the remaining area to the north-west is comprised of

dormant volcanic structures such as Mauna Kea, Haleakala

on Maui and others. Bearing in mind the existence of

Loihi, the following is an intriguing prediction Pele

gave to Kamapua'a:

Someday I will build for you a new island

Another land in Hawaii

And there we will live together

Forever in Harmony...

While the Kahuna Knowledge regarding temporal order of

events during the creation of Hawaii can be explained by

their thorough exploration and observation of nature

(they new about erosion and were aware of the process of

volcanic land formation), it is hard to imagine how they

could have had any knowledge whatsoever about the

existence of submarine volcanic activity south east of

Hawaii. It is thought to be a coincidence but I prefer to

think that a brave Kahuna made what nowadays would be

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called an "educated guess". Another chant also displays

how far advanced the Kahuna's understanding of natural

processes was. They may have been the only ones in

ancient time who knew about the connection between tidal

waves and volcanoes and earth quakes and in distant

places. Somehow they figured out or guessed that Tsunamis

in Hawaii originated in places far away and had their

origin in volcanic type events:

In far Kahiki1

Pele stamps the long wave

The high wave

The broad wave

The wave that dashes the shore

Of Hamakua

And of Hilo - And overturns the land...

It is of course true that modern Geology knows more

about the Hawaiian Islands than the Kahuna new. We know

the chemical composition of rocks, measure the movements

of volcanoes and landmasses as well as seismic events and

the exact temperature of lava and many other parameters.

We know that the islands were formed as the result of a

volcanic "hot-spot" transferring heat from the earth's

interior to the upper crust and that the Pacific plate

slowly moves over the spot so that instead of a single

large island an island chain is formed. We don't know for

1 Kahiki originally is thought to be the name for Tahiti, or even forJava according to different sources. Later it became the generalword for "far abroad".

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sure however, how this hot spot came into existence. Is

it the result of a meteor penetrating the earths crust

in a catastrophic event? Until now this question remains

unanswered.

If we take into account that we have the means of

satellite remote sensing, deep drilling, submarine

vessels, high precision chemical and physical analyzing

methods and more at our hands, whereas the Kahuna only

had the techniques accessible to a stone age society, we

cannot appreciate their achievements high enough.

It is believed that most of the land area nowadays

comprising Volcanoes Natl. Park possibly will be subject

to a catastrophic land-slide in the future. It is proven

that several similar events took place in the islands in

the past. Some of the steepest cliffs - such as those on

the Windward coast of Kohala on Hawaii or the Nuuanu-Pali

on Oahu have been formed through this process. Extensive

geologic undersea mapping around Hawaii revealed that

complete sectors of all volcanoes, including Mauna Loa

and Kilauea, have been lost after frequent landslides

which is the second reason for landloss in Hawaii -

besides ordinary erosion. These repeated processes:

eruptions, subsidence, landslides and erosion together

are responsible for the formation of the distinctive

Hawaiian landscape. The big island is actually built of

five different volcanoes, Kohala being the northernmost

and oldest one. Kohalas rainy northeast flank has been

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eroded into steep cliffs and fantastic canyons, south of

Kohala we find Mauna Kea which - as I mentioned before -

is thought to be dormant. Its last eruption occurred

long before humans settled in Hawaii, approximately 4000

years ago. The summit of Mauna Kea is covered with snow

during winter time, and during the last ice age even a

glacier formed at an altitude of more than 4000 meters -

its terminal moraines are still visible today. Hualalai

volcano dominates the western part of the island which

the last time erupted in 1801. Mauna Loa and Kilauea are

considered to be the most active volcanoes in the world,

which was one of the reasons to establish volcanoes natl.

Park through a division of the original Hawaii Natl.

Park, the other part now being Haleakala Natl. Park on

Maui.

Volcanic activity is different around the world and

so is the chemical and physical composition of the

erupted material, namely lava and subterranean gases. The

most abundant oxide in lava is silica (between 40 and

75%). As the fraction of silica increases, the fraction

of the alkalis increases too (potash and soda), and as it

decreases, the percentage of iron oxide, magnesia and

lime rises. This can be observed in Hawaii where the lava

mostly is near the lower end of the silica scale while

being rich in iron, magnesia and lime. Most of the

islands landmass consists of basaltic rock and most of

the lava extruded by the active volcanoes in the Natl.

Park is olivine basalt.

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Average chemical composition of Lava:

Oxide Symbol Percentages

Hawaii Mt.St.Helens

___________________________________________________

Silicon SiO2 48.4 63.5

Aluminum Al2O3 13.2 17.6

Iron FeO 11.2 4.2

Magnesium MgO 9.7 2.0

Calcium CaO 10.3 5.2

Sodium Na2O 2.4 4.6

Potassium K2O 0.6 1.3

Titanium TiO2 2.8 0.6Other 1.4 1.0

___________________________________________________

The above table shows a comparison of lava composition at volcanoes

in Hawaii and Mt. St. Helens in weight percent (source: Hawaii

Natural History Association).

The absolute and relative abundance of oxides is

only one parameter that is used to characterize lava

types. Others are viscosity, temperature and the amount

of gaseous substances in the lava, the latter two greatly

influencing the first. All this is described in great

detail in Macdonalds, Abbotts and Petersons splendid

book Volcanoes in the Sea - the Geology of Hawaii as

well as in the field guides available at Volcanoes Natl.

Park.

3) Climate and Weather in Hawaii

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Frequently rumors occur that the Hawaiians never

developed a word for "weather" since it is nice and

beautiful anytime anyway. It is obvious that whoever

invented this rumor never actually visited the islands

for their weather system is comprised out of a great

variety of micro climates and also seasonal and daily

changes. This must have been so in ancient times too

since there was a Kahuna order devoting their lives to

the science of "Meteorology", called nanauli. On the top

of the hill named "Halekamahina" (house of the moon) was

their residence, maybe the oldest known weather station

conducting systematic synoptic meteorology whatsoever.

From what we know, their knowledge of the art of weather

forecasting was about as far advanced as our knowledge

was before the introduction of satellites and high speed

computers enabling us to use complex numerical modelling

- a technique not more than 30 years old!

The Kahuna had names to describe each change of the

wind, denoting it's strength, direction and temperature.

They also had a system naming every type of rain taking

into account the amount of relative precipitation,

direction and duration. Once more thorough observation of

natural phenomena such as cloud morphology, wind speed

and direction, waves, visibility, the twinkling of the

stars, the color of the sunset etc. allowed the Kahuna to

draw correct conclusions and apply them to every day

tasks.

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It seems that the Kahuna generally were not so much

concerned with the question "Why is this or that?". Their

main goal was to gain knowledge for the purpose of

practical application. Since Hawaii is fairly isolated

knowledge transfer from other regions and cultures was

limited, so the Kahuna didn't have the chance to "stand

on the shoulders of giants" during their scientific

pursuits. When Hadley for example developed his first

simple model of global atmospheric circulation, he had

the advantage to have the resources of European

universities at his hands - compiled knowledge of

thousands of years of research and academic work from

around the world, an advantage no Kahuna ever had,

especially since to our knowledge the Hawaiians never

developed any writing at all beyond petroglyphs. When

analyzing the factors that drive the Hawaiian weather

system, we need to apply a more global perspective than

the Kahuna were capable to imagine.

There are two factors that are responsible for most

of the weather phenomena in Hawaii: the north-east trade

winds and the local relief of the islands. Hawaii is

situated just north of the intertropical convergence zone

(ITCZ), so the climate is subtropical and fairly well

described by the idealized Hadley circulation model. The

trade winds are carrying air of high humidity from the

north so that due to the high rising volcanic mountains

and mountain chains all of the large islands can be

clearly divided into a leeward zone of low and a windward

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zone of high precipitation. The effects are so extreme

that Hilo is "Americas rainiest city" (up to 300 inches

annual rainfall) whereas less than a two hour drive away

a desert like landscape can be found, beginning just a

couple of miles beyond Volcano village. The differences

between the micro climates are extreme on the Big Island

due to the windward/leeward effect but also due to

drastic altitude changes. The extremes during my visit

were a temperature of above 40C in Ka'u desert, high

precipitation in Hilo and dry weather with frosty

temperatures on the summit of Mauna Kea. The lack of

rainfall and almost perfect weather is the reason why the

leeward Kona coast of the Big Island is the preferred

tourist spot and subject to rampant real estate

development. However - without the high rising mountains

intercepting the clouds of the trade winds and so being

responsible for the "bad weather", the south-western

Hawaiian islands would be as barren and hostile as the

flat atolls in the north-west, and there simply wouldn't

be enough water in Hawaii to support a large human

population. This is a good example for the influence of

physical geographic factors on human settlement: although

the dry and sunny leeward areas of the islands, be it

Oahu, Maui or Hawaii bring the tourism industry to the

island state (in itself a double edged sword), this

wouldn't be possible without the windward weather zones.

Hawaii's setting in the Pacific ocean and close

proximity to the inner tropical convergence zone are the

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reason for the fact that two other climatic phenomena

have large impact on the local weather system: the

occurrence of Hurricanes and the El Nio Southern

Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, the latter being closely

connected to the atmospheric/oceanic circulation system

of the Pacific. El Nio is also thought to be an

indicator for the effects of antropogenic climate change.

In 1994 it probably was responsible for the formation of

the numerous hurricanes north of the convergence zone as

well as almost three months of rainstorms in a row during

winter and spring 1994 in Hawaii that caused considerable

damage. Because of Hurricanes and the repeated danger of

flash-floods, an extended warning system, shelters and

evacuation plans were developed to help insure the

security of locals as well as visitors.

4) Hawaiis Biological Heritage

I will begin this chapter citing Charles Darwin himself:

"The archipelago is a little world within itself, or

rather a satellite attached to America, whence it has

derived a few stray colonists, and has received the

general character of it's indigenous productions.

Considering the small size of these Islands, we feel the

more astonished at the number of their aboriginal beings,

and their confined range. Seeing every height crowned

with it's crater, and the boundaries of most lava-streams

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still distinct, we are led to believe that within a

period geologically recent the unbroken ocean was here

spread out. Hence both in space and time, we seem to be

brought somewhat near to the great fact--that mystery of

mysteries--the first appearance of new beings on earth."

These words of Darwin describing his impressions of

the Galapagos islands almost sound like a religious

experience. Hawaii certainly is no geographic Satellite

of America, but otherwise the same words could have been

told about Hawaii. Isolated islands proved to be crucial

for modern evolutionary biology, and continuing

evolutionary studies largely depend on the survival of a

meaningful sample of endemic island flora and fauna. The

ancient Kahuna however were not very much concerned with

the survival of species and studies of evolutionary

processes - it was their duty to put nature to the use of

man and their admiration and adoration of their natural

environment might have had quite pragmatic roots. As

other Polynesians the old Hawaiians had a highly

developed agriculture and may also have been the first to

introduce the systematic science of botany, including a

detailed plant taxonomy. The classification system

consisted of groups and sub-groups allowing the

identification and description of certain plants. The use

of a general name such as a'e, pilo, hapu, kokio, or

ohia had the purpose to associate those plants sharing

certain characteristics. Then the plant was given an

additional name to further specify the type of bloom,

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form of leaves or some other trait and in some cases yet

another name was used to still further distinguish plants

from another. I found the following example of Kahuna

plant taxonomy in McBride's book "The Kahuna":

"For example, using Ohia as the general name, lehua

was added to describe the feathery nature of the bloom.

In addition the color of the blossom is described or

another trait included to name the tree exactly.

Ohia lehua apane Red bloomed ohia

Ohia lehua polena Yellow blossomed ohia

Ohia lehua puakea White blossomed ohia

Ohia lehua ai Ohia with edible fruit

Ohia ha Ohia with tiny edible fruit

Ohia maka noe A Kauai shrub

Ohia lehua haole Foreign Ohia"

Even today many problems in Hawaiian plant taxonomy

remain to be solved. Among the local flora there are many

complex and only poorly understood groups and species

that require further field and laboratory study. Although

a large number of specimen has been collected, there

definitely hasn't been enough study of natural

populations in the field. A big problem is that a large

number of studies were based on dried herbarium specimens

only and few attempts have been made to find correlations

between the results of biosystematic laboratory study and

field observations. Therefore, taxonomic entities such as

species or varieties were often described with poor

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biological understanding of the plant, solely based upon

one or a handful of specimens only.

One order of Kahuna were expert farmers (Kahuna

hoouluai) with highly specialized knowledge about the art

of agriculture, horticulture and the use and plantation

of numerous herbs (the latter together with the Kahuna

la'au lapa'au, the pharmacologist and general

practitioner of his time). According to legend Kahuna

medicine, pharmacology and herbology were developed to a

stage enabling the doctors to even treat some of the

worst maladies, including cancer.

Little is known nowadays about the agricultural

tricks of old Hawaii, however, we have some knowledge

about the results. It was reported that when Captain Cook

discovered the islands in 1779, there were 70 different

types of bananas, 24 kinds of sweet potatoes and hundreds

of varieties of kalo or Taro, which probably was the most

important of all Hawaiian crops. The entire plant can be

used for human nutrition, and based on an estimate of the

botanist Dr. Otto Degener, as little as one square mile

of intensively cultivated Taro fields would be necessary

to continuously feed as mmany as 15,000 people.

It is not known whether or not the Kahuna had a

systematic knowledge of what nowadays is conservation

biology. From old chants we get the impression that they

were aware of the fact that the damage to nature is

inevitably followed by damage to man. One consequence of

this knowledge was a number of Kapu, or "dos and don'ts"

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restricting the tempering with the environment. The

"aloha aina" may have been a central theme throughout

Hawaiian history, although the term itself originates in

the political movements of more recent times.

Modern conservation biology is concerned with a much

greater variety of problems than the Kahuna had in mind.

Hawaii is no longer an almost completely isolated island

chain virtually in the middle of nowhere, but a modern

country, one of the Earths largest military bases and

one of the worlds most preferred tourist spots, all

putting tremendous strains onto local environment and

culture.

The following words of Danielle and Charles Stone

are suited well for the purpose of expressing the scope

of modern conservational biology in Hawaii and elsewhere.

"Conservation biology is the combination of art and

science, compromise and stubbornness, judgment and

serendipity necessary to perpetuate some semblance of

natural biological diversity on Planet Earth. Concern for

natural areas and native plants and animals is not just

something that is "nice" to do if all else is taken care

of. Nor is it an exercise in futility. The global loss of

biota is approaching a crisis - one more severe than the

widespread extinction of dinosaurs or even the loss of

most life of the seas in the distant past. It is a crisis

that may be irreversible this time, because plants are

being widely affected and because the stock for future

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evolution of life on Earth is being severely depleted.

And this time, the cause is humans - our numbers,

aspirations and decisions.

Human populations depend on other life forms more

than most of us realize - for food, medicine, and

economic well-being; for "ecological services" including

oxygen, climatic effects, cleansing and sanitation; and

for aesthetic satisfaction. All of this is ultimately

related to the perpetuation as well as the quality of

human life, no matter how much we may take it for

granted. It has been said that we need fewer "ego-

logical" and more ecological decisions - ironically, for

our own good!

Hawaii is on the leading edge of species loss

curves. (...) Extinction and endangerment have

accompanied uniqueness and endemism at dramatically

increased rates since humans arrived; (...)

Hawai'i is also a world leader in studies of

evolution and biological invasions, two contradictory

processes - with the deck stacked heavily in favor of the

invaders. Alien or introduced plants and animals from

other parts of world stifle the exuberance of the natural

creative process of evolution and lead the rush to

"deadly dullness". Much of Hawaiis lowland landscape

looks like many other areas of the world because rooted,

crawling, running and flying "weeds" prevail - species

that are really out of place in Hawai'i, no matter how

much people may appreciate them. (...)"

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I chose to adapt these words from the preface of the

book "Conservational Biology in Hawaii" since I don't

think I could express it better. I can only add that the

whole variety of Hawaiian nature is at stake, endangered

not only by accidentally introduced alien species but

also by deliberate economical, developmental and large

scale agricultural activities ranging from huge cattle

ranches and pineapple plantations (namely Parker and

Dole) over enormous touristic developments (Waikiki and

Kona) to the omnipresent facilities of the worlds

largest military machinery all over Hawaii. Hawaii still

has the chance to become a role model for the world and

show others how to deal effectively with severe

ecological and cultural problems - it may also become a

nightmare, an example for what is yet to come on a global

scale.

5) Astronomy and Space Science in Hawaii

Hawaii is leading in oceanography thanks to the

Pacific, in biology thanks to the unique environment, in

geology and volcanology thanks to the "hot-spot"

underneath the seafloor, and Hawaii is a world leader in

astronomy mainly thanks to Mauna Kea and Haleakala and

their splendid observation conditions. Mauna Kea is

considered to be the worlds best observational site for

a number of reasons, the most obvious of which is it's

altitude of 4200m enabling the observatory domes in the

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summit area to remain far above the humid trade winds and

their clouds most of the time. Besides this, the

geographic setting in the middle of the ocean is

responsible for a smooth, laminar airflow almost

completely lacking turbulent disturbances and thus

enormously reducing the effects of "seeing" during

observations. Another welcomed fact is that since Mauna

Kea is a dormant shield volcano with quite gentle slopes,

it is not to difficult to get access to the summit, which

is an important economical locational factor during the

evaluation phase of a prospective observatory site. If

modern engineers would have to design the theoretically

perfect observational site, it certainly would closely

resemble Mauna Kea - what wonder that the ancient Kahuna

also were experts in astronomy (although they had no

observatory on the summit). Nowadays astronomy is one of

the fundamental research disciplines with little apparent

connection to every day life and only few direct

"earthly" applications, at least none that have anything

to do with deep space and planetary observations as

conducted at modern observatories. During the times of

the Kahuna there was a completely different situation:

astronomy mainly was astrometry, was the precise

measurement of positions of celestial bodies. High skills

had to be developed to become perfect in this difficult

task having only stone age means at hand. The precise

knowledge of the star positions and their change during

the year was essential for safely navigating the Hawaiian

seafarers over the oceans and allow them to cross the

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vast abyss of the Pacific, regularly reaching

destinations as distant as Tahiti, Samoa and possibly

even South East Asia. The following again is largely

taken from L.R. McBride, The Kahuna.

Our knowledge about the astronomer Kahuna (kilo

hoku) again comes mainly from ancient chants, one of

which reads like this:

Innumerable are the stars

The large stars

The small stars

The red stars of Kane, O infinite space

The great moon of Kane

The great sun of Kane

Moving, floating

Set moving about in the great space of Kane

The great earth of Kane

The rain encircled earth of Kane

The earth that Kane set in motion

Moving are the stars, moving is the moon

Moving is the great earth of Kane

Today only few stars and formations still can be

named by their traditional Hawaiian names. Of the several

thousand stars that can be seen from Hawaii only the

names of approximately 120 have been preserved. Gemini

for example was called Kamahana (The Twins), the Big

Dipper's name was Na Hiku (The seven) and the Pleiades

were known asMakali'i (Little Eyes). Only few of the

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Hawaiian constellations were identical with their western

pendants. They actually more closely resemble the

asterisms, smaller groups such as the Hyades cluster in

the Head of Taurus (Kanuku o Kapuahi), the "belt and

sword" of Orion (Na-Kao), and most likely Lyra and Vega

together were baptized Keoe.

The Kahuna astronomers had reached approximately the

same standard as their European colleges prior to

Galileos invention of the telescope, with exception of

the mathematical abilities for which they substituted a

fabulous memory. The oldest known astronomical

observatory in Hawaii is situated on the saddle between

Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea (although its exact function

remains a mystery) and another one on the eastern point

of Hawaii. The latter was called Ha'eha'e, "where the

great stones caught the sun". The Hawaiians of old were

able to "calculate" the equinox without the means of

actual calculation at hand. It was known to them that the

ecliptic (heleakala) changes slowly throughout the year

and so the sun constantly rises at a different point of

the horizon, oscillating between the two extremes. Once

the solstices were fixed, the equinox could easily be

measured halfway between them. This way the nineteen year

cycle of 235 lunar months was determined, which

harmonizes lunar an solar year.

The Kahuna learned to utilize the cycle of 223 lunar

months to predict eclipses. These days there of course

still was a close relation between astronomy and

astrology, the chiefs and people of Hawaii expecting the

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Kahuna to predict future events from celestial phenomena.

There is no doubt however that the most skilled

astronomers were the navigators, who had to virtually

become human computers to master their task. By the time

a Kahuna Navigator completed his long years of study, he

had to be capable of recalling at any time the setting

and rising points of at least 120 stars as they changed

throughout the year. They also learned the directions of

foreign lands from stone alignments as well as the seas,

weather and winds found along the way. I think it was

Niels Bohr who once had said to Einstein: A dog will

never be able to learn Newton's laws!" and the great man

answered: Well, well, I think he knows them very well!

Have you never seen a dog catch a ball?" Just like a a

dog or a child learns to apply Newton's laws without ever

knowing the mathematics behind them, the Kahuna had

managed to master precise measurement, experience and

intuition and merge them into an incredibly complex

system of highly complex sciences.

Modern astronomy is dominated by computer systems,

electronically operated ground based and space telescopes

and complex mathematics. Astronomy is a high tech science

and some of it's current masterpieces and brightest minds

can be found in Hawaii. The astronomy programs and

facilities in Hawaii are under the supervision of the

Institute for Astronomy of the University of Hawaii at

Manoa on Oahu. The first realized observatory was the

Mees Solar Observatory on Haleakala/Maui in 1963,

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followed by the UH 2.2m telescope on Mauna Kea in 1970.

During the 1970s three additional large instruments were

built on it's summit: the 3-meter NASA Infrared Telescope

Facility (IRTF), the 3.6m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope

(CFHT) and the 3.8m United Kingdom Infrared Telescope

(UKIRT). In 1993 the largest Telescope that was built up

to date became operational at the W. M. Keck Observatory:

the 10m Keck I Telescope, it's identical twin being

currently under construction. Also under construction is

the 8m Japan national Large Telescope (JNLT or "Subaru").

All these instruments benefit from the remarkably low

seeing at this site and the unique atmospheric

transparency to infrared wavelengths. By the end of the

century, an unprecedented eleven of the worlds largest

observatories, among them the Gemini Northern 8m

Telescope (a joint venture of the UK, Canada, USA, Chile,

Argentina and Brazil) will be located on Mauna Kea. The

optical and infrared observatories are accompanied by two

sub millimeter telescopes, the 15m James Clerk Maxwell

Telescope (JCTM), run by an international group sponsored

by the UK, the Netherlands and Canada and the 10m Caltech

Sub millimeter Observatory (CSO). Also near the Mauna Kea

summit region is a recently installed 25m VLBI radio

telescope.

On Haleakala the Mees Solar observatory conducts

observations of the sun following a daily schedule. A

variety of detectors mounted on a Sun-tracking spar are

used. Some of the projects currently under way are

coronographic, oscillation and magnetic field studies.

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The LURE lunar laser ranging observatory is also situated

on Haleakala, as will be the 3.7m advanced electrical-

optical system (AEOS) telescope which is currently under

construction by Philips Laboratory. Of particular

interest to astronomers and physicists world wide are the

gamma ray observatory on Haleakala and project DUMAND

(Deep Underwater Muon And Neutrino Detector), a gigantic

telescope for cosmic rays under construction in a deep-

ocean trench off the island of Hawaii.

To reduce disturbances of stray light from

artificial light sources (mainly street lights), there is

a law in effect on Hawaii regulating the type of lights

to be used in public areas. A gas-charge light system is

used, emitting light at a single wavelength in the orange

part of the visible spectrum. The advantage is that a

single line can be easily reduced from the observations.

There also are strict regulations regarding the use of

car-lights above the cloud layer in the Mauna Kea area.

There are many other active local and international,

private and governmental research and educational groups

in astronomy in Hawaii besides the Institute for

Astronomy. Planetary sciences, theoretical and high-

energy astrophysics, stellar astronomy and cosmology -

only to mention a few fields - are examples for the

thriving and blooming research landscape of Hawaii

(recently the Planetary Society tested its

Russian/American Mars Rover in Volcanoes Natl. Park -

following in the footsteps of the Apollo crew testing

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their Moon-Buggies in Moon Valley on Mauna Kea).

Research and education in Hawaii are a mirror image of

the islands' nature and culture. They are highly diverse,

active and in many cases innovative and successful and in

a distinct, almost unrecognizable way, all of it somehow

still seems to be imbued with the "Aloha Spirit" although

one has to look for it with patience and open minded to

still find it these days. Hawaii by no means is a

paradise, but it is a thriving state, almost a country by

itself, where internal problems are settled quite

reasonably and sources of conflict such as racism are

virtually nonexistent so it really can be an example for

other parts of the world.

Literature:

The following literature was used:

Macdonald, Abbott & Peterson: Volcanoes in the Sea, Univ.

of Hawaii Press 1990

Robert and Barbara Decker: Volcano Watching, Hawaii

Natural History Assoc., 1980

Macdonald and Hubbard: Volcanoes of the National Parks in

Hawaii, Hawaii Natl. History Assoc., 1993

L.R. McBride: The Kahuna, Petroglyph Press, 1992

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James Cook: Entdeckungsfahrten im Pazifik, 1768-1779

Charles and Danielle Stone: Conservational Biology in

Hawaii, Univ. of Hawaii Press 1989

Department of Geography: Univ. of Hawaii: Atlas of

Hawaii, Univ. of Hawaii Press, 1983

Martha Beckwith: Hawaiian Mythology, Univ. of Hawaii

Press, 1976

Katharine Luomala: Voices on the Wind, Bishop Museum,

1956

David Lewis: We, the Navigators, Univ. of Hawaii Press

1972

Will Kyselka: An Ocean in Mind, Univ. of Hawaii Press,

1987

Glenda Bendure: Hawaii travel survival kit, LonelyPlanet, 1990

Inst. for Astronomy: Astronomy in Hawaii, Univ. of Hawaii

Inst. for Astronomy, 1994

Various handouts from HPU and newspaper articles from

Hawaiian newspapers

a hawaiian experience - fieldtrip to the big island of hawaii

Documents