Protecting Our Streams From Pollution and Graduation

On our last day of the program, we met with civil engineers from the City and County of Honolulu's Environmental Services Division to learn about non-point source pollution and how to prevent it.

Ping Quidica of the City explained how non-point source pollution gets into our ocean -- basically whatever comes from land that enters the storm drains drains into the ocean, untreated. That's not good for the ocean or for our own health!  Part of the problem is that many people don't realize that storm drains lead straight to the ocean. Education is needed!

We donned our safety gear and went through the Kapolei community to spray stenciled messages above storm drains with a clear and simple message. In less than two hours, we stenciled more than 90 storm drains!

Go team 'o'opu!

After we got back to the classroom, we heard a great presentation by Auli'i Silva of LCC about choosing colleges and paying for college. She gave such helpful information!  Too bad Pauline was too busy listening to her to take any pictures!  But she was able to capture Tia Brown's quick talk about her background and how she got involved in work at NOAA. She's a wonderful role model!

Then it was the final paperwork time, completing evaluations and getting ready for the big moment!

Here's a happy graduate walking down the aisle for graduation. Doesn't he look really excited?

Everyone's excited!

Aloha 'ia 'oe, HGCI Winter 2011 Class!  You did good and made us proud. Good luck as you go forth into pursuing a green career!

Ending the day at He'eia Fishpond

After we cleaned up at the lo'i, we went a couple of blocks down to He'eia fishpond (where the water from the lo'i enters the ocean).  Hope did an amazing 'oli, which we wished we could have recorded. She asked for permission for all of us to enter.  Once we saw the fishpond, we could see the direct connection of the lo'i to the sea.  Hi'ilei Kawelo, Executive Director of Paepae O He'eia, a non-profit organization, spent some of her valuable time with us to talk about the history of the loko i'a.

Hi'ilei told us that there were once more than 400 fishponds throughout Hawai'i, most around the island of O'ahu. Now there is only a fraction of that remaining and He'eia fishpond is one. We walked on the fishpond walls that are being carefully restored.

Hi'ilei showed us some native plants that are sprouting up on their own. This is the ahu 'awa, a sedge, that is used to filter the 'awa drink.

We walked to the makaha -- one of the gates that regulates the entry and exit of fish. The tide was going down so the water was rushing out of the pond and into the ocean. It was cool to watch!

We sat by the hale kia'i, which was built about a year ago.  Hi'ilei told us a lot of very interesting information about how fishponds work, how the Hawaiians farmed fish, and why it's important in today's modern world.

Everything she said made so much sense!

Mahalo, Hi'ilei, and the good people of Paepae O He'eia, for providing this great learning center where we can see first-hand a real loko i'a.

A hui hou, till we meet again.

We're in the Lo'i!

We returned to the ahupua'a of He'eia, on the windward side of the island of O'ahu.  We met Uncle Koa Shultz of The Nature Conservancy who also works for Kako'o 'Oiwi, a culture-based non-profit organization trying to restore taro wetlands to feed the community and take care of the land and sea.

We saw some of the lo'i kalo (taro patches) that they've brought back.  Their vision is to restore more than 180 acres of lo'i kalo to produce kalo and at the same time protect the coral reefs by controlling erosion. Scientists have installed water quality monitoring stations to measure how much silt is going into the ocean after heavy rains.

We wanted to work hard so we soon got into an area that is being prepared to be a lo'i. Notice our bright shirts in the beginning.

With shovels and our bare hands, we started removing dense mats of grass.

We found that teamwork really helps.

And it probably is best not to wear a white shirt, or any shirt for that matter!

After awhile, it didn't really matter what we were wearing because it all turned the same color!

There were some interesting creatures in the mud, including foot-long worms!

After about two hours of work, we finished digging and then walked across the lo'i to stamp down the earth.

 

 Some people took it to the extreme.

All smiles!

'Au 'au time in the stream!

 

All in a day's work. What a great day!

Being Marine Biologists for a Day on Moku O Lo'e

Today we drove to the windward side of the island to the ahupua'a of He'eia. We actually got to ride on a boat, a landing craft to be specific, to get to Moku o Lo'e (also known as Coconut Island), which is the home base of the UH's Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology. It took about 30 minutes to get to the island, which is actually not far away.

Our ride took a bit longer because we slowed down to do a "plankton tow." Mike of HIMB showed us how to do it and explained how important plankton is to all of us -- we didn't realize that it creates 50% of the Earth's oxygen.

There's the island!  It's only 27.5 acres big.

Once on land, we went on a walking tour led by our guides, Mike and Sylvia.  One of the first stops was to see the Super Sucker. This modified boat is used to suck up invasive algae that is taking over the bay. It's a great innovation!

We also stopped by the shark pen area and saw a black-tip reef shark swimming peacefully. We learned that it isn't really dangerous to people.

Here's a large pufferfish that was swimming in the same area.

In this tank, we saw a really large octopus that is being studied by a researcher.

In another tank we saw two baby hammerhead sharks. A researcher is studying whether or not hammerheads can navigate by magnetic fields.

Scientists are also doing aquaculture research to grow fish like yellow-fin tuna, which are becoming more rare in the wild.

During lunch, Stephanie, who is a marine mammal researcher, talked to us about her work. She fascinated us with her studies on dolphins and false kililer whales. She's studying the impact of human-made noises on these mammals. Scientists use brain waves to determine their hearing abilities.

It was soon time to leave this little island that is home to a lot of marine research. We only saw a bit of it but hopefully we can come back to see more.  

We're glad that Aunty Tia from NOAA got to come with us on this trip.

Mahalo the people of the Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology for allowing us to visit and learn about marine biology research. It was eye-opening and fun!