Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Cindy McArthur's Reflection

From Tourists to Family, Observations of Student Evolution in the Galapagos
By Cynthia McArthur


Being able to explore the Galapagos Islands with the Hawaiian Student Delegation to support Hōkūle’a and the Worldwide Voyage was a dream come true. Although I found the famous Darwin finches and giant tortoises fascinating, I was more intrigued by the changes I witnessed in the students. Through the photos and examples below, I will playfully demonstrate how key evolutionary concepts that typically take generations to manifest were witnessed in just a few days by our students living on a new and foreign island called Santa Cruz.
Photo Credit Mike Henley


The ABCs of evolution:
A.  Adaptation: a trait that helps an organism survive in an environment.
B.  Competition: when resources like food and water become limited, species must compete to survive. Competition is part of natural selection or survival of the fittest.
C.  Galapawareness: a new term invented by the students to emphasize culturally sensitive conservation efforts. Galapawareness means learning to conserve natural resources and care for each other like a family.
Example #1 limited fresh water. We quickly learned that American style showers in the Galapagos were not sustainable. Regularly, the power would go out and the water pump would stop the flow of fresh water. During one occasion, we accidentally used all the water in the hostel’s storage tank and had to wait until morning for the water delivery truck. No showers, no flushing toilets. Naturally, under these unfamiliar circumstances, students with short hair were better adapted to survive. However, students defied Darwin’s theory of competition by sharing their own bottled drinking water to remove shampoo out each other’s eyes and hair. 
Example #2 limited understanding of the local language. Students quickly adapted to the language barrier by learning, laughing and repeating important phrases. Fortunately, one member of our twenty-seven person team spoke fluent Spanish so we didn't get into too much trouble. The language barrier led to some pretty cool experiences when we realized the spirit or mana of traditional Hawaiian chants like Oli Mahalo needed no translation to be appreciated by local residents. We also discovered that songs by Justin Bieber and Vance Joy’s Riptide were part of a bizarre universal language that all the students from both countries understood perfectly.

Photo Credit Mike Henley

Example #3 limited access to Wi-Fi and mobile technology. Wi-Fi is an endangered species in the Galapagos. Students who were used to working almost exclusively on mobile devices at home evolved to recording their observations in weather resistant field notebooks by hand. Because the internet was challenging to access, students adapted their research techniques drawing from personal observations and face to face interviews with local experts and scientists. Besides, who needs Google when we had Dr. Sam Ohu Gon on our highlands expedition!

Photo Credit: Bryson Hoe PVS/'Oiwi TV

 Alejandra Mejia of the Charles Darwin Foundation uses a stuffed animal
 to demonstrate how not to handle marine iguanas (photo credit C. McArthur)

In conclusion, the most inspiring part of the evolutionary changes witnessed during our adventure in the Galapagos is that they will live on when the students return home. Watching these young people working together makes me believe that Hōkūle’a will be in good hands. I am confident these students will successfully adapt to the many new challenges and environments they will face in the future.

Photo Credit Kristi Desuacido

Friday, February 17, 2017

Paisley Reflections

Animals


Seeing new animals and learning about them from locals in the Galápagos was a truly amazing and once in a lifetime experience. One of the most well known Galápagonian animals is the marine iguana. Throughout my ten-day stay in the islands, I saw at least 100 of these reptiles—even more if I count the lizards. The large iguana I saw ranged in sizes: 1-3 ft in length, and 2-12 inches in height. Our official guide, Nick, explained how female iguanas reproduce and lay their eggs. Mothers usually lay 4-7 eggs and those eggs hatch in about 100 days then run to the closest rocks for camouflage by instinct so they don’t get eaten by large predators like birds.
     We also saw a whole lot of sea lions during our visit. They liked the pier that was near our hotel, so we got to see a lot up close. Some even laid on the benches there!
     Pink, tall flamingos were another thing we got to see while in the Galápagos. There were some wild ones on National Park grounds just eating and cleaning themselves. We even got to see one fly! Did you know that their wings are black underneath? I sure didnʻt! Since flamingos are in the Honolulu Zoo, I wasnʻt as excited to see them compared to my excitement when seeing the other animals, but it was really awesome seeing one do something other then stand all weird. The guide told us that the flamingos have a filter within their beak that allows them to filter through the mud in the sediment to eat their prey, and the more pink a flamingo is, the more healthy it is!
     We also saw Galápagos penguins and the famous endemic Galápagos Blue-Footed Booby. It was awesome seeing a penguin in its natural habitat! The booby was also really cool to see because of its strangely colored feet. Some people say that the coloration of their feet are a result of a certain fish they have in their diet, but thatʻs not confirmed.
     We also saw forest birds, like warblers and finches, and sea birds, like ʻiwa, noio, pelicans, and herons. We also saw a lot of tortoises. Some were in the middle of the road. We also got to go to a tortoise breeding center (Centro de Visitantes) and see little baby tortoises! At the center, we learned that the tortoises can weigh up to 300 kg and can live up to 100 years or longer. On a different day, we learned that their shells never stop growing and that you can distinguish the tortoises between male and female by their body shape. Females are 2/3 - 1/4 the size of a male, and they have short, pointy tails. The males, on the other hand, have long tails and are usually much bigger than the females unless there is a large age gap.
- Paisley Richards


Kalama Reflections

Plants


The plants in Galápagos are very unique. All of the plants in the archipelago have adapted to its low rain yet high humid climate. A couple prominent plants in Galápagos are cactus, mangrove, scalecia, miconia, and coffee. During this trip I learned about a couple of cool differences between the plants of Hawaiʻi and the plants of the Galápagos. If you have ever heard of miconia in Hawaiʻi, you would know that it is extremely invasive in upland forests because it grows fast, close, and easily overtakes native plants. Lots of effort goes into eradicating miconia in Hawaiʻi. Suprisingly, miconia is native to Galápagos - and it’s an important part of the ecosystem there. In Galápagos, efforts are put into restoring miconia because it is endangered. Another interesting species that is found in both Galápagos and Hawaiʻi is mangrove. For anyone that has been through seventh grade here, you have probably spent hours at Paepae ʻO Heʻeia removing mangrove from the fishpond because it holds so much sediment and creates a poor environment for fishes. By contrast, the Galápagos, mangrove is celebrated as well as protected because it grows along the coasts creating a friendly ecosystem for baby fish to live in with beautiful clear water. If there is one lesson that I have learned while researching plants in the Galápagos islands, it is that a plant that may be considered invasive in one place can be considered crucial in another, and that plants will do good as long as they are growing where they belong.
- Kalama Abad

Kamualiʻi Reflections

Hōkūleʻa

One of our main kuleana on this trip was to welcome Hōkūleʻa into the Galápagos. We offered oli to aloha the crew who just arrived from Panama. The crew allowed us to board the waʻa and asked us to help move the paepae or boom and raise the ʻopeʻa or spar. The crew sailing to Rapanui will have to sail into the wind, so removing the paepae and changing the type of sail will help to make the trip much safer. Another part of our kuleana was to help Pacific Voyaging Crew educate local students about Hōkūleʻa and Mālama Honua. We visited schools Tomás de Berlanga and Galo Plaza Lasso to briefly share the Kūkuluokalani and Hōkūleʻa Haʻa. We were moved by these experiences of sharing our aloha for the waʻa and for our home. Some of the best times were hanging with the PVS crew and learning directly about voyaging and navigation. On the last day, we visited Hōkūleʻa again for a final protocol giving the crew and waʻa mana for their voyage to Rapa Nui.  - Kamualiʻi Estrada

Kamalu Reflections

Our Trip


¡Hola! We just got back from the Galápagos! We traveled with Kamehameha Schools and the Marine Scholars from Castle High School and their teachers from Pacific American Foundation, Smithsonian Institute, and Hawaiʻi Institute for Marine Biology. The purpose of our trip was to greet Hōkūleʻa and support their mission of Mālama Honua. We also toured the islands with our science teachers and saw the famous examples of evolution and learned about ecology and conservation.  
     The Galápagos is a volcanic archipelago made up of five main islands and several smaller ones. No one had successfully inhabited the islands, due to the lack of water and harsh environment, but there were signs of pre-Incan activity. It was accidentally discovered by the Spaniard, Tomás de Berlanga in 1535, who said its harsh conditions were the “closest thing to hell,” and it became a part of Ecuador in 1832. There are no indigenous people who settled in the Galapagos and the current residents have only been on the island for four to five generations. Even though their history with their islands is a short one, they are very connected to their ʻāina. Countless efforts have been put in place with the purpose of protecting their island home, like the Galapagos 2050 initiative with the goal to restore large parts of the land with endemic plants.

     We spent most of our time on Santa Cruz island where we visited the Charles Darwin Research Station and learned about the history and conservation efforts in the Galapagos. We also spent time touring different islands, where we learned about underwater marine habitats, forest restoration, and programs designed to protect animals like tortoises, finches, and iguanas.  - Kamalu Abad






 

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

And still continues!!

Our plane had troubles with the flaps and we have been diverted to San Francisco. We should be getting into a new plane. We do not yet know the departure time, but it has been estimated between 2 and 3 hours, putting us back into Honolulu around 8:00pm.

The Adventure Continues

We have safely arrived in Houston and cleared customs, yeah!!  Now our flight has been delayed at least three hours, so we are hunkered down at the airport.