It was a beautiful Saturday morning, but there was the annual overwhelming cacophony from backed-up traffic and on-foot crowds headed to the Punahou Carnival one block from my apartment. Thus, I decided to get far away (as far as one can drive on an island) by going on a photography adventure to Kaʻena Point, the westernmost tip of land on the island of Oʻahu. In Hawaiian, kaʻena means 'the heat'. The State of Hawaiʻi has designated the point as a Natural Area Reserve to protect nesting Laysan Albatrosses and wedge-tailed Shearwaters, Hawaiian monk seals (Monachus schauislandi), and the fragile (to vehicular traffic) native strand vegetation that has been restored there.
Laysan albatross are very large birds, their wingspan can reach to 13 feet and they may weigh as much as 25 pounds. Its range extends to most of the north Pacific Ocean. These albatross are white with a black tail and upper wings, dark patterns under the wings, and a black patch around the eye and pink bills, legs and feet.
What was especially rewarding was watching the albatross glide above. An albatross in flight can be so perfectly attuned to wind conditions that it may not flap its wings for hours, or even for days, as it can sleep while flying. It takes advantage of the air currents just above the ocean’s waves to soar in perpetual graceful motion.
Nearly all of the 400 or so Laysan albatrosses that spend the nesting season at Kaena have been fitted with leg rings (see #0390 leg ring on bird below) and have had their DNA taken, and many have been given GPS tracking devices. Albatross begin breeding and nesting in October, and leave in late spring. They live from forty to sixty years. They can stay out at sea for as long as five years before returning to the same island on which they were born. They have elaborate courtship dances, and once mated they tend to remain faithful to their mate. In adulthood they rendezvous each year with their partner at the same nest site. Nesting time is the only time they spend on land and each year the pair stays just long enough to hatch and raise a single chick.
During the winter months, Oʻahu's North Shore is typically bombarded by large, powerful waves that attract surfers from around the world.
Finally, in addition to Kaena Point’s natural beauty and the thrill of seeing the albatross and monk seal up close, my day was full of pleasant encounters with a diversity of people representing both our local population as well our national and international tourists. I joked with locals who were fishing and drinking (at minimum) because I caught them grilling steaks! They countered that they were frying “cowfish.” I spoke with young men and women from Argentina (e.g., the two women sitting on the auto roof and the couple sitting by the beach); I discovered that one of the Argentinian women had a grandmother who was originally from Italy. I met three German teenagers who are attending school in Waianae and conversed with them and their sponsor (who lived in Manoa) on the way out of the Park. The Japanese woman standing on the bunker was celebrating having arrived at the edge of the Point. It was heartwarming to see parents sharing all this with their children. The gentleman with his little daughter reminded me of the days when I walked hand and hand with my little girls.
