Friday, June 19, 2009 PA’A: “steadfast, learned, determined, strong, to hold, keep, retain.” I walked along the paths with the albatross once more today and even made an attempt to teach them about their parents’ journeys out to sea (see Ms. Sutton Teaches Albatross video in the Midway Movie...
Papahānaumokuākea ‘Ahahui Alaka’i
A Visit to Eastern Island
Thursday, June 18, 2009 We headed across the channel this morning for a visit with the residents of Eastern Island (See map on June 7, 2009 blog entry). Eastern Island is home to 3 species of albatross (Laysan, Black-footed, and Short-tailed), 2 species of booby birds, including the...
Clearing the Runway
Wednesday, June 17, 2009 One of the objectives of Papahānaumokuākea ‘Ahahui Alaka’i (PA’A) program is to assist the Midway Wildlife Refuge with some stewardship activities. In addition to helping them with their tagging program on Midway, we have also assisted them with the removal of invasive species from...
Comparative Analysis of Adolescents and Albatross Chicks
June 16, 2009 Have you ever been in a situation where you keep thinking that there’s something really familiar about what you’re experiencing? I’ve had that feeling for the past couple of days and I think I’ve finally identified the similarity. These albatross chicks are a lot like...
Midway History Class
June 15, 2009 A home isn’t a home until you know its history; whether that history be happy, sad, trivial, or monumental. We headed out on our bikes for a historical island tour of the island, led by Tracy Ammerman (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). In 1903, the Commercial...
Sand Island Scavenger Hunt
June 14, 2009 Our PA’A facilitators designed a scavenger hunt to help us become familiar with Sand Island, our home for the next 7 days. We checked-out bikes from the “garage”, referenced our Sand Island map and began our journey to locate various landmarks and points of interest for...
Papahānaumokuākea ‘Ahahui Alaka’i Coming In For Landing
June 13, 2009 My Hawaiian cohorts have been tutoring me in their native language and, during the flight to Midway, I was told that their language does not have words for everything. After spending the morning walking among the birds, sea turtles, and monk seals who call this island...
Final Day of Preparation and Departure for Midway
Friday, June 12, 2009 Our last day in Honolulu focused on final preparations for our voyage to the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. As this week has progressed, there has been an absorption of the culture and heritage associated with the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, and today I truly began to...
Aia ka mo’olelo i ka ‘aina (The story is in the land)
Wednesday, June 10, 2009 The Papahānaumokuākea ‘Ahahui Alaka’i (PA’A) workshop began today with a trip to the windward side of Oahu where all the PA’A participants finally got a chance to meet each other and start forming our bonds for our upcoming adventure to Midway. After a brief orientation...
USS Arizona Memorial – Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawai’i
Tuesday, June 09, 2009 East Coast time was still playing tricks with me at 3:30AM this morning so I grabbed the laptop and started planning a day trip to Pearl Harbor. By 6:30AM, I was boarding The Bus (Oahu’s mass transit system) for a trip to the Memorial. By...