“An hour in the garden puts life’s problems in perspective.” This is on a sign posted on the door of Ho‘omaluhia Botanical Garden’s visitor center. I’ve only been here a minute, but I can already understand the sentiment on a spiritual level. Ever since my girlfriend, Kaila, and I crossed the the Ko‘olau Mountains on […]
November is when the koholā (humpback whales) return to Hawaiʻi to breed, birth and nurse calves. An estimated 8,000 to 12,000 of the protected marine mammals migrate from Alaska to the Islands’ warm, shallow waters through April, when they head back north again. This year, though, the first North Pacific humpback whale sighting was reported on Oct.
Hawaiʻi Island residents woke up to an unexpected overnight eruption at Kīlauea’s Halemaʻumaʻu crater this morning. On Sunday night an eruption sent plumes of smoke into the air but posed no immediate threats to nearby communities. No evacuations were needed. By 1 a.m. U.S. Geological Survey officials reported lava fountains that shot 165 feet into the
n an effort to mālama (take care) of Hawaiʻi, Alaska Airlines is planning to plant a small forest on Oʻahu’s Gunstock Ranch—nearly 900 trees—now through the end of 2020. READ MORE: Help Reforest Gunstock Ranch on Oʻahu’s North Shore More specifically, the airline has partnered with Mālama Hawaiʻi and the Hawaiian Legacy Reforestation Initiative to plant one milo
In ancient Hawaiʻi, loko iʻa (fishponds) served as vital resources for Hawaiian communities. By some accounts, there were an estimated 350 fishponds in operation in ancient Hawaiʻi, growing a variety of fresh and saltwater plants and fish, including ʻamaʻama (mullet) and ʻawa (milkfish). Loko kuapā, or walled shoreline ponds, were the most common. These had sluice gates, or mākāhā, to keep fish
Maybe I’m a bird nerd, but every summer I log in my calendar when I see the first kōlea of the year. It’s one of those momentous occasions for me, seeing a Pacific golden plover flap its long wings—these birds have a 17-inch wingspan—or perch on a rooftop in my neighborhood. Growing up on Oʻahu, I
On the North Shore of Kaua‘i, there’s a farm where plants are called allies and the farmers are herbalists. Kaua‘i Farmacy creates plant-based medicine from crops grown on the company’s Kīlauea organic farm. My first experience with its medicinal potions was eight years ago, through the screened window of a mobile “farmacy” parked on a side road off the
If there was a silver lining to COVID-19 in Hawaiʻi, it’s Hanauma Bay. The protected marine bay in East Honolulu on Oʻahu closed to visitors on March 18 and still hasn’t reopened. (Other city beaches had reopened since, but the bay remained closed this whole time because visitors are required to watch an educational video
In a historic effort to help repopulate the endangered Hawaiian Petrel, or ʻuaʻu in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language), project partners were happy to see the first of 87 birds return to the protected bird sanctuary of Nihoku at Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge on the island of Kauaʻi. With a small population of 6,000 to 8,000 mating couples in
It’s almost 11 a.m. and my friend and I don’t have much time to find out way back to the entrance of the Harold L. Lyon Arboretum in Mānoa. This 200-acre botanical garden, founded in 1918 and run by the University of Hawaiʻi, recently reopened to the public for two-hour visits. And we’re getting really
Did you know that Honolulu used to have billboards? In fact, they littered Diamond Head and cluttered the space along city streets, which at the time were dry, dusty and lacked the vibrant flora we see today. And then, in 1912, a handful of women came along determined to beautify their city and eradicate the
We could all use some good news. And what‘s better than news that two adorable twin ring-tailed lemurs were born at the Honolulu Zoo on April 18? Photo: Courtesy of the Honolulu Zoo Ring-tailed lemurs are listed as endangered and can only be found living in the wild in Madagascar. They are recognized for their approximate two-foot long
