Cut and run

The project is dead. At least my role in it is. I have worked for a year on this as part of my Master's project and, despite being told on several occasions 'don't worry about the money', it was eventually the money that I needed to worry about. So now, with one year left to find, study and write up a project for my thesis, I can't wait any more. Cut and run, I guess they'd say. To say I'm very disappointed would be an understatement. I'll be deleting the 'donate' button but leaving the pages up so that if anyone is interested in the project sometime in the future, they'll have something to google.

Over and out.

Kaho'olawe, Episode III: A New Hope

After postponements, delays, and the near-complete destruction of their project, seven researchers from the McGill and Rutgers systems retreat and gather their forces for a final push to accomplish their mission: get to the red island.
Their ally on the ground, Lyman Abbott, has identified a possible entry point in November, bringing a new hope to the allied scientists. Danger lurks, however, in ominous winter storms whose dark shadows bring with them torrential overland flow, blocking escape routes and making data collection impossible. Their fate, and the fate of all they have worked for is in the balance...

This is the sound of ugh.

First, thanks to all the friends and family who have helped to spread the word about this project. I know you're all busy and have your own causes/projects/work.

An update:
It's looking less and less like it will be my Master's project and more and more like it will fit into that grey zone after thesis submission and before graduation. Our contact at the KIRC confirmed that if this work doesn't happen two and a half weeks from now, it won't happen this year. He is giving us until Aug. 25 to commit to the Sept. 5 boots-on-the-ground date or cut and run. I'm skeptical that, even if we do get funding, we'll be able to coordinate arrangements for seven people (some of whom have, understandably, other priorities at the beginning of the school year) in such a short time. Even I have started working on my Plan 'B', leaving the Kaho'olawe research in limbo until something happens to transform the situation or until that deadline ticks by, whichever comes first.

But this is not all bad news. It gives us more time to come up with decent support for a worthwhile project.

A speedbump or a screeching halt?

We're going to have to postpone or cancel the fieldwork. Last Friday was supposed to be do-or-die day but there was no news about the funding before the weekend. This morning we learned that the grant application is still in the works, meaning that nothing will happen by September 5, as had been planned. I'm desperately hoping that it's just a postponement, but based on my most recent conversation with folks at the KIRC, it sounds like October can't happen, and November is a huge question mark. Delaying any longer than that won't work for me because I need to start analyzing the data and getting my thesis written up and handed in by June. Now I face the possibility that my entire Master's project has just collapsed, and that this important research on the island will not likely happen in the near future.

I keep hoping for some sort of angel donor, but... who's got $10,000 to part with?

Should I stay or should I go now?

Today we find out if September 5 is the first day of field work, or if things get pushed back to October or...<grinds teeth> later. We're waiting to hear back from CUAHSI about our grant proposal. If we have no news by the end of the day (and therefore no sure money) it sounds like we'll have to wait. Please help get the word out about this project and consider clicking the little yellow button on the left right. Every little bit helps!

Would you trust this goat? Hint: his name is Judas.

While we were on Kaho'olawe, we asked how they managed to find every last goat on the island. It's not an easy island to get around, and there were thousands upon thousands of goats at one time. It would probably be easy to find the first 49,000, but how do you catch the last thousand - the cleverest of the critters?

The answer, it turns out, is to use the goats against themselves. Goats are social creatures who like to hang out in groups. So, the math is easy:

lonely goat + radio collar + time = directions to goatpalooza

If you're a member of the ultimate goat fansite, you might not want to read the next step:

goatapalooza + helicopters + guns = a lot of goat meat

But our lonely goat with the radio collar is spared... because he's got another mission. Find more goat friends.

If sheep go to heaven and goats go to hell, where do these Judas Goats go?

Dry wind in Ahupu 'ili

The background picture for the website is a picture I took of Jeff while we were visiting the Ahupu 'ili in the central part of the island. An 'ili is a division in the traditional Hawaiian land tenure system. Kaho'olawe has eight 'ili (condensed from twelve), each running from the sea to the island's spine. The picture is fairly typical of the island, which usually receives less than 25 inches of rain each year.

Much of the green in the background is Australian saltbush, an invasive species which is drought and salt tolerant. In the foreground, most of the topsoil has been stripped away, leaving small patches of grass surrounded by hardpan, which is almost impervious to water. Restoration projects on Kaho'olawe include planting native species which can protect the topsoil that remains and trap rainwater, giving it more time to percolate down into the island. More photos to come.

Tell me why this is important

I have my own ideas about why this project is important. This post is dedicated to asking you why you would support research that may lead to the discovery of fresh water on Kaho'olawe. Use the comments section to share your ideas. The most original, inspiring entries will be selected and put together in a special blog entry. Here are a few early ideas to get you started:

• It's a simple, effective way to help make a little bit of earth a little bit greener.
• Your single action today could have positive effects for generations to come. That's pretty cool to think about.
• If you love Hawai'i and have always wondered how you can give back, here's your answer.
• Restoring dignity to Kaho'olawe is what Aloha is all about.

Launch!

After considerable time, energy and self-doubt, it's time to get this baby off the ground. In case there are any doubts, the purpose of this blog is twofold: to raise money for hydrological research on Kaho'olawe (coming this fall!) and to keep supporters updated on the progress we make. Have a look around the blog. Please feel free to use the share buttons you see here liberally and tell your friends about our project. Take a little bit of time to learn about the island of Kaho'olawe, and thank you in advance for your support!

Liftoff!

Why not just Kaho'olawe?

Some people have asked me why I use the name "Kanaloa" in the blog title instead of Kaho'olawe. Is this the case of some mainlander co-opting the name of a Hawaiian deity in order to raise money? Not at all. It was intended as a show of respect for the deep and ancient relationship between the island and the Native Hawaiians who wait for its final return to them. It implies that while we may be here only briefly, the island will be here for a very long time, firmly anchored to its place in history. And the money we raise from this will go directly back to the island.

Kana what? The story behind the island behind the blog

If you look on a modern map and try to find the island of Kanaloa, you probably won't have much luck. If, however, you were training to be a navigator in sixteenth century Polynesia, it was probably the first island you learned about.

Kanaloa or, by its modern name, Kaho'olawe, is the smallest of the major Hawaiian Islands. Due partly to its central location in the Hawaiian chain, it was where many navigators-in-training went to learn their trade. It lies just east of Maui, which turns out to have been bad luck since Haleakala - Maui's 10,000 foot volcano - strips the trade winds of their all-important moisture before they reach Kaho'olawe. So every year, Kaho'olawe receives less than 25 inches of rain, and most of that rain comes from intense winter Kona storms.

View Larger Map

OK... so the island doesn't get much rain. Fine. There's nothing we can do to change that. Besides, plenty of other places receive a lot less rain than Kaho'olawe but still manage to do OK. What I mean is they still have an active water cycle: it rains, water gets into the soil, plants use the water, water evaporates from the plants into the atmosphere, it rains, and so on. Unfortunately, because of Kaho'olawe's history, the water cycle on the island is broken. When rain falls, most of it doesn't penetrate the soil. Instead, it runs off to the ocean and takes the soil with it as erosion. So instead of helping the plants, the rain actually makes it harder for plants to survive. Don't get me wrong: rain is a good thing. But on Kaho'olawe the system is terribly broken. The island's water cycle has been replaced by an erosion cycle, which looks like this: Less soil means less plants --> less plants means less leaves and roots to stabilize the soil and protect it from rain --> less soil stability means more erosion --> more erosion means less plants.

So what happened? The short answer: We happened.