This Week in Nature: The 3rd Week in June

What's happening in Hawaii 
during the 3rd week in June:

'Āhinahina; silversword on Mauna Kea
photo: Anya Tagawa

'Āhinahina, the silversword (Argyroxiphium sandwicense subsp. sandwicense), is opening its earliest blossoms at Haleakalā. This unique Hawaiian member of the sunflower family was so abundant 100 years ago that crater slopes appeared to be covered with snow or bathed in moonlight. But in the next fifty years, goats and cattle nearly killed it off. People took a large toll, too, as tourists rolled large 'āhinahina downhill for fun and exporters shipped dried specimens to Asia.

'Āhinahina bush on Mauna Kea
photo: Anya Tagawa

'Āhinahina remains a bush for up to fifteen years, then sprouts a single, towering flower stalk before dying.

'Āhinahina in bloom on Mauna Kea
photo: Anya Tagawa

Hina means "silver" or "grey," so the plant's Hawaiian and English names both derive from the color of its leaves, which are narrow and hairy, adapted for the extreme temperatures encountered in its mountaintop environment.

To see more photos of silversword, visit Forest and Kim Starr's gallery at the Hawaii Ecosystems At Risk website (HEAR.org).

Taken from "Hawaii: A Calendar of Natural Events"
published by the Bishop Museum and Kamehameha Schools in 1989

This Week in Nature: The 2nd week in June - Breadfruit

What's happening in Hawaii

During the 2nd week in June:

"Hua ka 'ulu ku mai ka he'e

When the breadfruit is ripe, the squid comes in."

 This month begins the main bearing season for 'ulu, or breadfruit. The Hawaiians brought 'ulu to the islands as an important source of starchy food. Here, the tree fruits year round but bears most heavily in the summer, and this seems to have served as a reminder that squid would also be abundant.

He'e can refer to either squid or octopus, and on first reading of this proverb, octopus seems more likely because it is found near the shore, while squid stays in deep water. But the cultural historian who translated this proverb probably chose squid with good reason. 


Though modern science has no evidence that either animal "comes in" to shore during the summer, the orange-backed flying squid is the more plentiful at this time and would have been accessible to Hawaiian fishermen at places where the sea floor slopes off sharply from land.

Text and image  from "Hawaii: A Calendar of Natural Events"
published by the Bishop Museum and Kamehameha Schools in 1989

This Week in Nature: The 4th week in May - Spinner dolphins

What's happening in Hawaii 
During the 4th week in May:

Spinner dolphins, (Stenella longirostris longirostris) are brilliant aerial performers, known especially for the long, spiraling leap that has given them their common English name. Spinners frequent calm, inshore waters of all the major Hawaiian islands, entering bays and other protected areas to rest after nights spent hunting in deeper waters. In May, probably because food is plentiful, they remain near shore longer that at other times of year - up to nine hours a day - so now is a good time to look for them in places like Kealakekua Bay on Hawaii, or at Mākua and Keawa'ula on the Waianae coast of Oahu.

Hawaiians may have distinguished among dolphin species, but all went under the same name nai'a. Their cleverness and dexterity won the nai'a such respect that some families regard them as 'aumākua. And if a person jumped to conclusions, another was apt to comment, "He nai'a, he i'a lele!" - "It is a dolphin, a leaping fish!"

Taken from "Hawaii: A Calendar of Natural Events"

published by the Bishop Museum and Kamehameha Schools in 1989

This Week in Nature: The 3rd week in May - Ohia lehua

What's happening in Hawaii
During the 3rd week in May:

"Ola aku la ka 'āina kaha

ua pua ka lehua i kai 

Life has come to the kaha lands,

for the lehua blooms are seen at sea."

In Kekaha and the "kaha lands" of the Kona coast, the phrase pua ka lehua - "flowers of the lehua" - was a way of alluding to aku without saying their name outright, which is thought to scare off fish.

Red lehua blossom.
Photo: DOFAW

Lehua may mean an "expert" as well, so a master of fishing arts would be called "a lehua blossom in fishing." Lehua of this sort are busy in Kona because summer brings not only large schools of aku but also other tuna and the great a'u (marlin).

Yellow lehua blossom.
Photo by Forest & Kim Starr

The source of this wordplay is that 'ōhi'a lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha) blooms profusely during the summer. Today, 'ōhi'a forests are found mostly at high elevations, so their brilliant blossoms would rarely be visible from the sea even in June or July, when flowering is at its peak.

Orange lehua blossom

Photo by Forest & Kim Starr

But some 'ōhi'a can still be found near sea level, and Hawaiians of an earlier time could have seen the flowers from their canoes and taken it as a reminder of the good fishing at Kona.

'ōhi'a fruit.

Photo by Forest & Kim Starr

To learn more about 'ōhi'a lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha), visit the National Tropical Botanical Gardens website, or the 'ōhi'a info page at Hawaii Ecosystems At Risk (HEAR.org).
 

Kamehameha butterfly resting on an 'ōhi'a tree.
Photo by Forest & Kim Starr

To see more photos of this species, visit Forest and Kim Starr's gallery at HEAR.org.

Text and drawn image from "Hawaii: A Calendar of Natural Events"

published by the Bishop Museum and Kamehameha Schools in 1989

Ocean Education "For The Sea" - Pearl and Hermes Atoll - Papahānaumokuākea

On a research cruise to the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument aboard the Hi'ialakai ship.
For more information please log on to: www.hawaiianatolls.org

This Week in Nature: The 2nd week in May - Honu

What's happening in Hawaii 
During the 2nd week in May:

Honu, the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas), is entering its main nesting season. A few turtles can be found laying eggs on isolated windward beaches of the main islands, but most migrate hundreds of miles to uninhabited islands of the French Frigate Shoals, northwest of Kauai.

Honu, the green sea turtle.

Capture of honu was restricted by a kapu in the old days and made illegal in 1978, but the intervening years were hard, and only a few hundred females now lay eggs in a breeding season. By August, these eggs will produce thousands of young, but few will survive the 10-50 years it may take for honu to reach maturity. Hatchlings fall prey immediately to crabs, and tiger sharks pose a life-long threat.

Honu resting on the rocks at Punalu'u beach, Hawaii Island. 

Honu holds a prominent place in Hawaiian myths and is among the animals that serve some families as ‘aumākua. In a legendary battle with a Moloka‘i chief, the hero Kana of Hilo crushed a “floating hill” which was actually the back of the giant turtle Ka-honu-nui-maeleka. Each piece of the shell came alive, thus populating Hawai‘i with turtles.

Honu at Punalu'u black sand beach, Hawai'i Island. 

To find out more about the green sea turtle, visit the HEAR.org honu info page.

Text and drawn image from "Hawaii: A Calendar of Natural Events"

published by Bishop Museum and Kamehameha Schools in 1989 

Grant Writing Workshop available on Oahu

Institute for Strategic Funding Development 
Strategic Grant Writing Proposal Workshop (Sponsored by ISFD)  

Location: University of  Hawaii - Manoa (Oahu)  May 19 - 21, 2010

In today’s challenging environment, learning the secrets to effective grant writing is critical to secure funding. What if you could learn directly from the experts? Think of the time you could save and the mistakes you could avoid.  This may be the one simple action you take that will dramatically increase your chances of securing grant funding.
All ISFD Workshops are considered CFRE Accredited Courses for 20 contact hours or 20 CFRE Continuing Education Points!  

Participants completing the ISFD grant writing workshop will receive the following: a Certificate of Completion accredited by CFRE, grant funding CD, bonus fundraising CD, expert grant training instruction from grant industry leaders and much more! Please visit our website at  or give us a call 877.414.8991 to sign up now.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND? Educators, non-profit professionals, graduate students, administrators & researchers in the sciences and social sciences should register as soon as possible. Spaces fills up quickly, which means registration is on a first-come-first serve basis. 

The Institute for Strategic Funding Development's grant writing workshop designed to teach the basics of grant writing for industry professionals. It provides a comprehensive overview of effective grant development techniques, including: finding best fit funding sources, creating innovative programs, and planning for funding sustainability. The workshop is great for government, academic, research, health and non-profit professionals new to the grant writing world as well for professionals looking to expand their grant writing knowledge. The workshop will provide an intensive and interactive grant proposal development experience where you will learn the proposal writing process in its entirety. As an added bonus, you will be able to develop a draft proposal or have our instructor review one of your existing grant proposals. 

The Strategic Grant Writing Proposal Workshop will be presented in 3 sessions: 

Strategic Proposal Writing 
Preparing a successful written proposal requires an organized, systematic approach to effectively convey your story. This workshop provides a step-by-step writing process to deal with any and all application requirements. What's more, you will learn why proposal writing is much different than other kinds of writing. 

Strategic Program Planning
Planning a winning proposal requires developing ideas that are clear, significant and compelling. Your ideas must not only meet the criteria of a grant maker, but they must also demonstrate your in-depth knowledge about a grant maker.

                                                                
Strategic Grant Research 
Through interactive exercises, discussions, applicable research assignments and individual consultations, you will learn how to strategically identify appropriate funding agencies. This course will expose you to database applications, online research tools, as well as traditional publications that contain information about multiple grant opportunities.
Tuition for our three-day grant writing workshop is $598 per person, with a $50 discount for early sign-ups (10 business days or more before the workshop). 

Each participant will receive the following:
* ISFD Certificate of Completion accredited by CFRE with 20 Continuation Education Units (CEU) or 20 Contact Hours 
* Strategic Grant Proposal Writing Workbook and Fundraising & Research CD
* Strategic Grant Proposal Personalized Materials
* On-Going Consulting Services with ISFD Instructors & Staff 

Registration:
1) Online - www.isfdonline.com/strategic.html
2) Phone - Call us at 877.414.8991. An ISFD consultant will be more than happy to assist you with your registration and answer any questions or concerns.
3) Email - Send an email to info@isfdonline.com with your basic contact information and a seat will be reserved.