#Hawaiian Islands

Circular ocean currents, called “eddies,” play an important role in supplying nutrients for marine life and can stimulate blooms of phytoplankton, microscopic plant life that lives on the ocean surface, according to new research published by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa oceanographers.

The Hawaiʻi Department of Health Office of Public Health Preparedness reminds residents statewide to “Prepare N.O.W.” while still in hurricane season.

The Nature Conservancy first purchased statewide coral reef insurance in 2022. The new policy doubles the area covered – as well as the minimum payout following a damaging hurricane or tropical storm.

Decades of conservation work led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and American Bird Conservancy has paid off for Hawaiʻi’s Millerbird, now downlisted from critically endangered to endangered status.

During a press conference Monday, Green said they would share when people could return to visit West Maui. As of right now, only returning residents and authorized emergency relief workers should come.

The scourge that threatens the health and livelihood of humans and other life on the planet will increase opportunities to see rainbows, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.

The system includes the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary and Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Free ocean leraning kits will be distributed to students on Maui on Oct. 1 at sites sponsored by the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.

The public can watch live streamed undersea footage from the Luʻuaeaahikiikekumu expedition that is exploring underwater mountains at Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument on NautilusLive.org.

usands of residents. The voluminous lava flow had a major impact on the Island of Hawaiʻi, but how does it compare to other lava flow eruptions on Earth in recent history?

The US Geological Survey has updated its ground shaking model, published on-line in the journal Earthquake Spectra, which shows a 90% chance the 345,000 people on the islands of Hawai’i and Maui could experience damaging levels of shaking during the next 100 years.

During a 20-day deep-sea research expedition in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, researchers from NOAA, Ocean Exploration Trust and their partners found “amazing” rich and diverse deep coral and sponge communities.

Lava fountains are spectacular to observe at Kīlauea and provide insight into eruption dynamics. If you are lucky enough to see fountaining, you too can measure lava fountains! Or you can simply estimate the height knowing that the spatter cone is about 20–25 m (65–80 ft) high. Either way, enjoy the view.

On the Island of Hawai‘i, lava delta collapse at lava-ocean entries can cause small tsunami that impact areas adjacent to the delta. Slip on the fault underlying Kīlauea’s south flank, associated with M7–8 earthquakes, caused local tsunami in 1868 and 1975 that took lives. These are processes that have happened repeatedly in human history; they will happen again, and their associated hazards deserve our attention.

The US Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are working together on Operation Kapena Kohole, a law enforcement effort to curtail illegal boat charters within the Hawaiian Islands.

Tourism to Maui has rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic with 215,148 visitors in May 2021, but the number of tourists is still less than the 251,655 in May 2019, according to preliminary statistics from the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority. But despite having 36,517 fewer visitors in May 2021 than May 2019, tourist spending on Maui was $409.23 million, an increase of 2.2% from two years ago, the report said.

During the 140th meeting of the Scientific and Statistical Committee of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, the Committee supported the combined management of the commercial and noncommercial sectors of the main Hawaiian Islands uku fishery and reviewed mitigation tactics for endangered false killer whales.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service and Pacific Rim Conservation joined with the Mexican government and a Mexican conservation group to launch a long-term conservation project to protect the black-footed albatross, a threatened seabird species.

Words matter in volcanology just as in the rest of society. Words matter among volcanologists themselves, of course, but they particularly matter in our dealings with the public, when we attempt to both tell what is happening and educate about how volcanoes work. Accuracy of words promotes understanding and clarity of thought and is essential to both telling and educating.

Visitors to the Hawaiian Islands spent a total of $9.26 billion in the first half of 2018, an increase of 10.8% compared to the first half of last year, according to preliminary statistics released by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA).