Last week, 26 participants — including crew members from the Big Island — returned from Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, completing the first-ever joint expedition expressly combining traditional navigators, cultural practitioners and government and university researchers.
Last week, 26 participants — including crew members from the Big Island — returned from Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, completing the first-ever joint expedition expressly combining traditional navigators, cultural practitioners and government and university researchers.
The Polynesian double-hulled sailing canoe Hikianalia and modern research vessel Searcher embarked on an expedition to conduct navigator training for future legs of the Polynesian Voyaging Society’s Malama Honua Voyage, shoreline opihi (Hawaiian limpet) counts, reef fish surveys and exchange of ideas on how to better manage Hawaii’s marine resources.
“The best part about the joint expedition was being able to talk with the Hikianalia crew about ways to malama, or care for, our ocean resources,” said Makani Gregg, cultural researcher traveling aboard the Searcher. “We were able to get on the shoreline with each other and count opihi on some of the healthiest shorelines in the world.”
Hikianalia’s voyage to Nihoa was yet another step toward the important and necessary transition of leadership to the next generation of voyagers and navigators. For navigator Kaleo Wong, it was his first time as captain of a voyage.
“Nihoa and Mokumanamana have always been places of high spiritual mana (power),” said Wong. “Situated near the transition of po and ao (the realms of light and dark, and life and afterlife), they remain sacred wahi pana (celebrated places) and allow us to practice many aspects of our culture, one of which is gaining vital open ocean navigation experience while remaining relatively safe in our home waters of Hawaii.”
Once at Nihoa, team members from Hikianalia and the Searcher surveyed reef fish habitat, conducted opihi monitoring, and offered mele (chants) and hookupu (gifts) to honor the islands.
“It was amazing to have such a dedicated group of people willing to participate in all aspects of this expedition,” said Hoku Johnson, NOAA expedition coordinator. “This was the first time researchers specifically collaborated on projects that have cultural, scientific and management benefit for Papahanaumokuakea and beyond.”
Chris Bird and Patricia Crockett, researchers with Texas A&M University, continued their years of research on opihi, a Hawaiian delicacy and culturally important species, making some interesting findings.
“It appears that Nihoa is the ‘Fort Knox’ of opihi in terms of genetic diversity,” said Bird. “This is significant because opihi populations in the monument could be more resilient to human-derived effects like ocean acidification and disease outbreaks than populations in the main Hawaiian Islands.”
This ongoing research continues to provide managers with insights into how to make better-informed management decisions concerning opihi harvesting in the main islands.
“After six years of conducting research on opihi in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, it is apparent that there are 99.9 percent more opihi on the shorelines of the monument than those of Oahu,” Bird said. “On Oahu there is an average of one opihi per square meter, versus an average of 100 to 200 opihi per square meter in the monument. Working in Papahanaumokuakea continues to provide insight into what a healthy shoreline should look like.”
The Searcher team also visited Mokumanamana and surveyed opihi for the first time on the north shore of the island. Researchers collected samples of opihi living near a freshwater seep on the island and discovered that those opihi spawn at a different time than those collected elsewhere on the island. Future research efforts will focus on understanding more about opihi habitat and gene flow between islands.