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The robot launched from the ship Nautilus explored the
seafloor of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monuments and found the
seafloor was composed of pillow basalt with a manganese crust, a texture that
tested the use of the grabber for samples. Nautilus returned to port in
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HURRICANE WALAKA COULD SLAM INTO MAIN GREEN SEA TURTLE NESTING grounds in the Hawaiian Islands. The Central Pacific Hurricane Center predicts that Wednesday night, Major Hurricane Walaka will tear between Gardner Pennacles and French Frigate Shoals, where more than 90 percent of green sea turtles, including those living at Punaluʻu Black Sand Beach, travel to lay their eggs.
Also living at French Frigate Shoals is the biggest population of Hawaiian monk seals, along with many seabirds, including Laysan Albatross, Black-footed Albatross, Red-tailed Tropicbirds, Bonin Petrels, Tristram's Storm-Petrels, and White Terns.
The place is also staffed full time by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, with many researchers coming and going for their projects. While the land area is only 64 acres, the coral reef area is 233,000 acres and offers the greatest diversity of coral in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands.
Hurricane Walaka, downgraded to a Category Four today, was located southwest of Hawaiʻi, 45 miles west of Johnston Island a.k.a. Kalama Atoll, at 5 p.m., traveling at 13 mph, with winds of 130 mph. The Coast Guard sent a helicopter yesterday to evacuate four Fish & Wildlife employees from Kalama Atoll ahead of the hurricane.
Within Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, French Frigate Shoals to Maro Reef is under a hurricane warning. Nihoa to French Frigate Shoals is under a Tropical Storm Warning.
Walaka and Super Typhoon Kong-rey earlier today marked the first time since 2005 that two Category Fives plowed through the Pacific simultaneously.
THE NAUTILUS BROUGHT BACK NEW FINDINGS FROM LŌʻIHI SEAMOUNT AND PAPAHĀNAUMOKUĀKEA MARINE NATIONAL MONUMENT this Fall. The research ship and its Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicles weathered Hurricane Lane, just off the Kaʻū Coast when exploring Lōʻihi, and avoided Hurricane Walaka, making it back from the Monument to a Honolulu safe harbor today.
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| Hawaiian monk seals and green sea turtles basking at French Frigate Shoals, which is in the path of Hurricane Walaka. Photo from US. Fish & Wildlife Service |
The place is also staffed full time by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, with many researchers coming and going for their projects. While the land area is only 64 acres, the coral reef area is 233,000 acres and offers the greatest diversity of coral in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands.
Hurricane Walaka, downgraded to a Category Four today, was located southwest of Hawaiʻi, 45 miles west of Johnston Island a.k.a. Kalama Atoll, at 5 p.m., traveling at 13 mph, with winds of 130 mph. The Coast Guard sent a helicopter yesterday to evacuate four Fish & Wildlife employees from Kalama Atoll ahead of the hurricane.
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| Image from The Weather Channel |
Walaka and Super Typhoon Kong-rey earlier today marked the first time since 2005 that two Category Fives plowed through the Pacific simultaneously.
Both were downgraded to Category Fours, with Typhoon Kong-rey on track to impact South Korea and Japan.
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Reflective cilia of an unusually-colored lobate ctenophore,
caught in the lights of the Hercules ROV.
Photo from Ocean Exploration Trust
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The Papahānaumokuākea expedition onboard Nautilus, starting Sept. 14, was the first-ever deep underwater exploration of ten Monument seamounts. The ship was scheduled to stay in the area through Oct. 1, but the approach of Category Five Hurricane Walaka cut the trip short.
Researchers said on their nautiluslive.org website that they gathered data to learn how this "unusual chain" of underwater mountains formed parallel to the Hawaiian Islands ridge, and whether these seamounts support vibrant coral and sponge communities like others in the region. Lead Scientists Dr. Christopher Kelley, University of Hawaiʻi, and Dr. Thomas Hourigan, NOAA Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Program, joined Expedition Leader Allison Fundis, of Ocean Exploration Trust. Research and expedition partners included NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, University of Hawai’i, NOAA DSCRTP, and Oregon State University.
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A squat lobster caught in a slurp sampler operated by the ROV Hurcules
off the ship Nautilus while looking for rare crustacea on Seamount 7 at
Papahānaumokuākea. Photo from Ocean Exploration Trust
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The scientists gathered geologic samples from five previously unexplored seamounts. The team documented previously undescribed life from depths of over 2,000 meters. Species that could not be identified as known from other locations in the Monument or around the Pacific were sampled, when allowed by permit conditions, "and will provide experts around the world specimens to study and describe for years ahead," according to nautiluslive.org.
The Nautilus team also began to create new seafloor maps for seamounts never before mapped, their summits ranging from 700 m to 2,500 m below the ocean surface. These measurements, says the website, "are derived solely from satellite altimetry data that can be off by hundreds of meters. Not one of the ten seamounts has ever been dredged or dove on, using deep water vehicles--and only Naifeh Seamount has been named!" |
An anglerfish, living at depths below 2,000 meters at
Papahānaumokuākea. No light from the sun reaches these
animals living on the
seafloor. Photo from Ocean Exploration Trust
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The unnamed seamounts run parallel to the Hawaiian Ridge, a chain of undersea mountains that rises up to include the main Hawaiian Islands. Geologists are interested in the unusual position of these seamounts as there is only one known "hot spot" or "plume" that created all of the volcanoes along the Hawaiian Ridge – and these seamounts run parallel to this source. The distance from the ridge of the 10 enigmatic seamounts suggests that these seamounts were not created by the Hawaiian hot spot but rather by a different process called arch volcanism. However, this unusual process has only been known to create lava fields, not volcanoes. The team plans to test their hypothesis by
analyzing the chemistry of collected rock samples at UH, and determining their age through radiometric dating carried out at Oregon State University.
The seamounts have similar summit depths to the Hawaiian Ridge and the Musicians Seamounts, which sandwich the reserve area. Both of these locations sport "spectacular communities of deepwater corals and sponges," recently discovered at depths between 1,000 m and 2,500 m.
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| A deep water rattail fish, studied by an ROV from the Nautilus. Photo from Ocean Exploration Trust |
An expedition goal was to collect unusual specimens of corals, sponges, and other invertebrates to try to understand whether these seamounts are important for connectivity between the Hawaiian Ridge and the Musicians seamounts.
Tools and technology used on the expedition included Remote Operated Vehicle Hercules – with a manipulator arm to pick up rocks and benthic samples, and Niskin bottles for eDNA and water samples, WHOI MISO still camera – Remote Operated Vehicle Argus, EM302 multibeam sonar, Knudsen sub-bottom profiler, a suction sampler for benthic samples, a low temperature probe, a NASA JPL Gecko Gripper (testing), MIT 360 camera, and UCTD and XBT for mapping.
See more on the expeditions at the Monument and at Lōʻihi, at nautiluslive.org.
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| Nāʻālehu Fruit Stand was demolished this week, possibly making way for senior housing. Photo by Julia Neal |
The 1.9-acre property was earlier listed
for $625,000. However, owner Asha Mallack has arranged a discount for the
senior housing proposal.
Nāʻālehu Fruit Stand was once
the recommendation of many Big Island
The stand shut down years ago, and
the buildings sat empty and deteriorated on 1.94 acres that is zoned
RS-7. Almost 1.5 acres is zoned Residential.
Among other uses of the
buildings were a real estate office, school library, and windsurfing shop.
There were 11 buildings of record and all were unoccupied for years
before the demolition.
The main building was named Nāʻālehu Fruit Stand and operated by John Santangelo, a former County Council member. Several other operators followed.
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| Nāʻālehu Fruit Stand in its heyday, as featured in the Momona Japanese guide book. Historic photo from Momona |
The main building was named Nāʻālehu Fruit Stand and operated by John Santangelo, a former County Council member. Several other operators followed.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story,
see Facebook. Follow us
on Instagram and Twitter. See our online calendars and our
latest print edition at kaucalendar.com.
HAWAIʻI TAKES FIRST PLACE IN EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND INNOVATION in the
In addition to
those rankings, Hawaiʻi received an overall grade of B+ in the Digital States
Survey, up from B in 2016. Under the Digital States criteria, a grade of B reflects
states that are trending up. These states "show results in many survey
categories, and their leaders use modernization to change entrenched practices
to prepare for more sustainable operations. Incentives for collaboration are in
place, and performance measures are used in key areas."
Ige says, "I'm
proud of the progress we've made in technology and innovation. Modernizing
government has been my one of my top priorities since becoming governor."
Todd Nacapuy,
chief information officer, says, "Although there is still much work to be
done, I am pleased with this achievement and look forward to improving our
overall grade. I congratulate all our team members for their hard work in
helping us earn this recognition."
Since its
inception 21 years ago, this biennial e-survey has helped benchmark state
government use of digital technologies to improve service delivery, increase capacity,
and reach policy goals, says the governor's release. The survey was also
designed to highlight best and emerging practices that can be shared across
borders, using success in one state to help fuel progress in others. The survey recognizes these
achievements and provides a common reference for all 50 states in the ongoing
work of finding better ways to do the public's business.
A national
overview of all 50 states and their grades can be viewed at centerdigitalgov.com.
To see the awards article and the 50-state summaries, visit govtech.com/computing/Digital-States-2018.html.
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See public Kaʻū events, meetings, entertainment.
Print edition of The Kaʻū Calendar is free to 5,500 mailboxes
throughout Kaʻū, from Miloliʻi through Volcano, and free on
stands throughout the district. Read online at kaucalendar.com
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Football:
Sat, Oct 6, 12pm , host Kohala
Sat, Oct 13, BIIF Semi-Finals at Kamehameha
Girls Volleyball:
Fri, Oct 5,6pm , host Keaʻau
Sat, Oct 6,2pm , @ Kealakehe
Sat, Oct 13, BIIF Semi-Finals at Kamehameha
Sat, Oct 20, BIIF Finals - Higher
Fri, Oct 5,
Wed, Oct 10, 6pm , @ Parker
Fri, Oct 12, 6pm , host St. Joseph
Mon, Oct 15, BIIF DII Qtr - Higher
Wed, Oct 17, BIIF DII Semi-Finals @ Kona
Thu, Oct 18, BIIF DII Finals @ Kona
Thu, Oct 18, BIIF DII Finals @ Kona
Sat, Oct 6,
Sat, Oct 13, BYE
8:30am , HHSAA
Sat, Oct 20, 9am , BIIF @ HPA
Sat, Oct 27,
NEW and UPCOMING
The hands-on class provides all supplies to make two baskets, including the following embellishments collected by Clay: philodendron sheaths, seed stems, jacaranda seed pods, and other items. Students learn a folding technique and Clay demonstrates mounting sheaths to blocks for tall elegant works of art.
The class fee is $45 per Volcano Art Center member, or $50 per non-member, plus a $30 supply fee per person. Pre-registration is required. Call 967-8222 or visit volcanoartcenter.org.
Clay is a master fiber artist and nationally recognized gourd artist who has produced "an ever-increasing variety of contemporary and traditional work in every natural fiber she can find," states the event description on volcanoartcenter.org.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter. See our online calendars and our latest print edition at kaucalendar.com.
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| Learn to make Palm Sheath Baskets with Jelena Clay. Photo from volcanoartcenter.org |
Clay is a master fiber artist and nationally recognized gourd artist who has produced "an ever-increasing variety of contemporary and traditional work in every natural fiber she can find," states the event description on volcanoartcenter.org.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter. See our online calendars and our latest print edition at kaucalendar.com.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3
Open Mic Night, Wed., Oct. 3, 6-10pm, Kīlauea Military Camp inside Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Call 967-8365 after 4pm to sign-up and for more details. For patrons 21+. Park entrance fees may apply. kilaueamilitarycamp.com
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4
Ocean View Neighborhood Watch Meeting, Thu., Oct. 4, 6-7pm, Ocean View Community Center. 939-7033, ovcahi.org
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5
Annual Oktoberfest Dinner, Fri., Oct. 5, 5pm, St. Jude's Episcopal Church. Tickets: Singles $8, doubles $15, family $20. stjudeshawaii.org, 939-7000
Ocean View Neighborhood Watch Meeting, Thu., Oct. 4, 6-7pm, Ocean View Community Center. 939-7033, ovcahi.org
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5
Annual Oktoberfest Dinner, Fri., Oct. 5, 5pm, St. Jude's Episcopal Church. Tickets: Singles $8, doubles $15, family $20. stjudeshawaii.org, 939-7000
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6
Hi‘iaka & Pele, Sat., Oct. 6, 9:30-11:30am, Kahuku Unit of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Discover Hawaiian goddesses and the natural phenomena they represent on this free, moderate, one-mile walk. nps.gov/hawaiivolcanoes
Kāwā Community Workday, Sat., Oct. 6, Meet 9:30am, Northern Gate, Kāwā. Sign-up w/James Akau, Nā Mamo o Kāwā, namamookawa@gmail.com, jakau@nmok.org, 561-9111. nmok.org
Keiki Science Class, Sat., Oct. 6, 11-noon, Ace Hardware Stores Islandwide, including Nā‘ālehu, 929-9030, and Ocean View, 929-7315. Free. First Sat every month. acehardware.com
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7
Hawai‘i Wildlife Fund Kamilo Point Clean-Up with Hilo Bay Café, Sun., Oct. 7, contact in advance for meet up time at Wai‘ōhinu Park. BYO-4WD vehicle only. Free; donations appreciated. kahakai.cleanups@gmail.com, mattie.hwf@gmail.com, wildhawaii.org
Pu‘u o Lokuana, Sun., Oct. 7, 9:30-11 a.m., Kahuku Unit of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Short, moderately difficult, 0.4-mile hike to the top of the grassy cinder cone. Learn about the formation and various uses of this hill over time. Enjoy breathtaking view of lower Ka‘ū. Free. nps.gov/hawaiivolcanoes
]sites.google.com/view/southhawaiiares/home. Rick Ward, 938-3058
MONDAY, OCTOBER 8
Ka‘ū Homeschool Co–op Group, Mon., Oct. 8 and 22, 1pm, Ocean View Community Center. A parent led homeschool activity/social group building community in Ka‘ū. Call to confirm location in case of field trip. Laura Roberts, 406-249-3351
C.E.R.T. Discovery Harbour/Nā‘ālehu, Tue., Oct. 9, 4-6pm, Discovery Harbour Community Hall. Public invited to see what Community Emergency Response Team is about, and participate in training scenarios. Dina Shisler, dinashisler24@yahoo.com, 410-935-8087
CANCELLED: After Dark in the Park, Ōpe‘ape‘a: The Hawaiian Bat, Tue., Oct. 9. 985-6011, nps.gov/hawaiivolcanoes
VOTE: Voter Registration Deadline for 2018 General Election, Tue., Oct. 9. elections.hawaii.gov
ONGOING
CU Hawaiʻi Federal Credit Union's Nāʻālehu Branch is taking applications for a Member Service Representative.
The job description reads: Serve as a liaison between the member and the Credit Union. Provide a variety of financial services to members including savings, share drafts, and loan transactions, as well as sales of merchandise items: money orders, traveler's checks, postage stamps, etc., in accordance with Credit Union procedures and policies.
CU Hawaiʻi offers medical, drug, dental, vision and retirement benefits.Mail, hand-deliver, or fax application to: CU Hawaii Federal Credit Union, Attn: Human Resources, 476 Hinano Street, Hilo, HI 96720, Fax (808) 935-7793. Applications can be downloaded online at cuhawaii.com/about-cu/career-opportunities.html
One Lucid Dream: A Retrospective of Art Works by Ken Charon. Exhibit open Mon.-Sat., through Oct. 6, 10-3pm, Volcano Art Center's Ni‘aulani Campus, Volcano Village. Original paintings, drawings, and other objects. 967-8222, volcanoartcenter.org
Volunteers Needed by St. Jude's Episcopal Church for community outreach, especially soup cooks and shower organizers, towel laundry, alter guild, and for the computer lab. Volunteers do not have to be members of the church. "Volunteering for St. Jude's Saturday Shower and Soup ministry is an opportunity to serve God in a powerful way," states St. Jude's. Contact Dave Breskin, 319-8333.
Tūtū and Me also offers home visits to those with keiki zero to five years old, to aid with parenting tips and strategies, educational resources, and a compassionate, listening ear. Free. Visits last 1.5 hours, two to four times a month, total of 12 visits. Snacks are provided.
To enroll in either program, fill out enrollment forms found at pidf.org/programs/tutu_and_me/enrol
lment_forms, or call Linda Bong at 464-9634. Questions: Clark at 929-8571 or eclark@pidfountation.org.
Open Enrollment for Harmony Educational Services through Oct. 15. Partnered with four local public charter schools, offers benefits of homeschooling with resources available to public schools. Interested families can contact Ranya Williams, rwilliams@harmonyed.com or 430-9798. harmonyed.com/hawaii
