Kalalau ridge see-through hole got bigger this summer

Keanapuka feature at center bottom.
Credit: Photo by Jan TenBruggencate

A ridge on Kalalau Valley’s northeast wall has long had a hole punched right through it, but the hole is now much bigger and more visible than it once was--thanks to a series of landslides this summer

.

That’s the conclusion from numerous Kalalau veterans about a feature known as Keanapuka. It is identified by that name on old maps.

The name Keanapuka itself—meaning cave with a hole—suggests the existence of the feature. But a series of rock slides earlier this year—likely late this summer—expanded its size.

Steve Perlman, a researcher with the state Plant Extinction Prevention Program, has spent many hours rappelling down the Kalalau cliffs, locating and preserving native plant species. He and longtime botanical partner Ken Wood arguably know the Kalalau cliff faces better than anyone alive.

And he knows Keanapuka well.

“There was always a smaller puka there on that ridge. But a few months ago, about 3, there were major rock slides with a much larger hole now,” Perlman said in an email.

Others, responding on Facebook, confirmed that they were aware of the long-existing smaller hole.

Kimberlee Stuart thought the size had changed: “Saw this last spring- not sure if it was that big though.”

Paul Clark, who has operated by boat along Na Pali Coast, said it has been visible from the sea: “Have seen this by boat and pointed it out since 1995 - (sure it was there before then too).”

And Wayne Jacintho, a longtime hiker in Kaua`i’s uplands, said that the hole can sometimes in the late afternoon be a lens through which the sun shines from the west, creating a window of light on the valley wall next door to the east.

“It's an old hole. If you're down the ridge on the left (southwest) side of Kalalau Valley, at the correct time of the year, in the afternoon, (looking northeast) you'll see the sun shine thru the hole and illuminate the wall to the right in the ravine,” Jacintho wrote. (I slightly edited his post for clarity.)

Keanapuka place name on the Kauai Recreaation Map of the
Na Ala Hele Hawai`i Trail & Access System. 

The site is noted on the Western Kauai Recreation Map of the Na Ala Hele Hawai`i Trail and Access System.

Keanapuka is not easily visible from anywhere accessible by road. The best view is late afternoon from the Pihea Trail along the back (southeast) end of Kalalau Valley. The trail starts at Pu`u O Kila, a promontory and lookout at the end of the Koke`e Road.

As we noted in a previous post, there are many examples of such voids or arches in the volcanic ridges of the Islands, where a narrow middle section of a rock feature breaks away, but leaves the rock arch overhead.

© Jan TenBruggencate 2017

Hole in Kalalau ridge visible in unique light

Hole in Kalalau ridge at Keanapuka. Author photo,
enlarged and color corrected by John Wehrheim

The Hawaiian Islands are constantly eroding, and an example of that erosion is a huge hole through one of the prominent ridges of Kalalau Valley on Kaua`i—a window through a rock wall.

For most people viewing it, it looks like something brand new, because they haven’t seen it in that location before. But perhaps it’s not so new, and only being noticed now because it is only readily visible in absolutely perfect lighting.

The nearly circular hole on the northeast wall of the valley is a distinct feature visible near sunset this week from along the Pihea Trail, which runs along the cliffs at the back Kalalau Valley.

It is only barely visible from the Pu`u O Kila Lookout, from which the pierced ridge is viewed nearly end-on. Most of the popular photos of the valley are taken from the lookout. 

The hole is best viewed when the ridge can be viewed from the side--a half mile or so from the lookout along Pihea Trail.

Was it always there, with the light just perfect in late afternoon on November 5, 2017, so that it was suddenly visible?

Famed Isle photographer John Wehrheim said he has viewed the same ridge from the same vantage point and from closer, and he never noticed the big hole or puka. But the name of that part of the valley wall, Keanapuka, (cave open at both ends) suggests there was at least some feature like it at that location.

“I’ve not seen it before and I’ve experienced this view many times and from much closer vantages.  But that light is uniquely perfect for separating the puka from the ridge. My guess is that the puka can only be seen clearly and obviously at this time of year with its long low angle of light,” Wehrheim said.

His enlarged and color corrected version of my image is shown ar the top of this story

So, a sheet of rock fell out of a narrow ridge, creating an opening—at some point. But did it happen recently, or decades ago, or was it an existing feature that got bigger?

Geologist Chuck Blay reviewed the images and said it may be an unnoticed older feature in a particularly thin ridge on the Hawaiian landscape.

“I can see why the hole in the ridge may have been there without notice for some time.  The lighting seems to be just right for it to be noticeable at the time you saw it.  From its shape and location it doesn't seem probable that it just all of a sudden developed,” Blay said.

The key to the visibility this week is that the near face of the ridge is in late afternoon shadow, but the cliff face behind it is in full sun, so the window-like brightness emphasizes the feature. Otherwise, the greenery of the near side of the cliff would be indistinguishable from the greenery immediately beyond it.

Also, the sunlight is at the perfect angle to illuminate the rock that forms the inner wall of the puka. That helps put a pale gray border around the hole and enhances its visibility.

These kinds of features—holes right through a rocky ridge—are not uncommon in the islands. But they are also transient, as the islands’ lava cliffs, piers and pillars erode from wind and water, and even from feral animal traffic.

There is a feature on Kaua`i that was commonly called the Hole in the Mountain, although it has mostly closed because of a collapse of its roof. It was famous in Hawaiian legend as a hole pierced in the mountain by a prodigious spear-throw from a Hawaiian hero.

Along the Na Pali Coast, there is a hole through a ridge that separates the two beaches of Honopu Valley.

On the Big Island, there is the Holei Sea Arch in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, and there was the Onomea Arch north of Hilo, which has since collapsed.

On Molokai’s north shore, there is a walk-through cave called Keanapuka just along Hakaaano. There are arches on Lana`i, Lehua, South and East Kauai, and elsewhere in the Islands.

And there are lots more in these dynamic islands. Why does the rock of the Islands erode so quickly? Geologist Blay has an answer.

“The shield volcanics in Hawaii are rather chemically metastable owing that they were derived from the melting of upper mantle material which is stable at high temperature and pressure but unstable at earth surface temperature and pressure,” he said.

And in that is a caution. Hawaiian cliffs are notoriously crumbly and risky to walk under or climb on.

“The lava rocks of Kauai are mostly pretty rotten,” Blay said.

“There is a good reason that sand size lava rock fragments are rather uncommon in most of the beaches of the island.  They fragment and dissolve before they get to the coastal zone.

“We all know that rock climbing is not a good idea in areas like Na Pali and Waimea Canyon,” he said.

© Jan TenBruggencate 2017

New federal climate report: it just keeps getting worse

A new federal climate report rejects the positions of much of the U.S. government’s executive branch under President Donald Trump, and slaps down climate denial.

The New York Times said the U.S. Global Climate Change Program’s Climate Science Special Report was approved for release by the White House, but the Times quoted scientists who wonder how the Administration squares its climate positions with the science.

“This report has some very powerful, hard-hitting statements that are totally at odds with senior administration folks and at odds with their policies. It begs the question, where are members of the administration getting their information from? They’re obviously not getting it from their own scientists,” said Philip B. Duffy, president of the Woods Hole Research Center, quoted in the Times. 

The climate report is unequivocal. Not only is human activity “extremely likely” to be causing climate change, but there is no longer any rational alternative explanation for what we’re seeing in climate, the report says.

For the Hawaiian Islands, the report presents a bleak outlook. For example, while Hawaii coastal geology experts have presented alarming predictions of the impacts of a 1-4-foot rise in sea levels, the new Climate Science Special Report says 8 feet is not impossible by the end of the century.

That would entirely reshape Island coastlines, drowning some of our most expensive properties, destroying harbors and flooding airports, and driving saltwater intrusion into our groundwater reservoirs.

The report’s conclusions suggest possible consequences far worse than the scenarios being considered by the Hawai`i Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission. 

That commission is charged with overseeing the state’s response to climate change, and its first task is the development by the end of 2017 of a sea level rise and adaptation report.

University of Hawai`i coastal geologist Chip Fletcher said that just a few years ago, 3 to 4 feet of sea level rise was a worst case scenario, but climate change has advanced so fast that it’s now a mid-range view.

“We need to model two meters (more than 6 feet) of rise and see what that looks like,” Fletcher said.

Perhaps the most frightening suggestion in the new federal climate report is that things are changing so fast that there may be impacts we can’t predict—ones we don’t see coming.

“There is significant potential for humanity’s effect on the planet to result in unanticipated surprises and a broad consensus that the further and faster the Earth system is pushed towards warming, the greater the risk of such surprises,” the report says.

“That’s been one of our concerns: feedbacks that we can’t predict,” Fletcher said.

Here is some of the opening language of the Climate Science Special Report, prepared by more than a dozen agencies of NOAA, NASA and the Department of Energy, operating together as the U.S. Global Climate Change Program.

“This assessment concludes, based on extensive evidence, that it is extremely likely that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century. For the warming over the last century, there is no convincing alternative explanation supported by the extent of the observational evidence.”

For Hawai`i, the report’s key statistics are sobering, and familiar. We will focus on the actual language of the report to minimize suggestions that they are being overstated.

SEA LEVELS COULD GO UP A LOT, AND MAYBE MORE THAN A LOT

It says sea levels have risen 7 to 8 inches in the past century, and the rate of rising is increasing. It has come up 3 inches since 1993.

“The incidence of daily tidal flooding is accelerating in more than 25 Atlantic and Gulf Coast cities,” the report says.

And for the future?

“Global average sea levels are expected to continue to rise—by at least several inches in the next 15 years and by 1–4 feet by 2100. A rise of as much as 8 feet by 2100 cannot be ruled out.”

HEAVY RAIN EVENTS MORE COMMON

“Changes in the characteristics of extreme events are particularly important for human safety, infrastructure, agriculture, water quality and quantity, and natural ecosystems. Heavy rainfall is increasing in intensity and frequency across the United States and globally and is expected to continue to increase.”

Because of incomplete data, the report did not make specific predictions for heavy rain events in the Hawaiian Islands.

NO AVOIDING INCREASING HEAT

“Over the next few decades (2021–2050), annual average temperatures are expected to rise by about 2.5°F for the United States, relative to the recent past (average from 1976–2005), under all plausible future climate scenarios…

‘Without major reductions in emissions, the increase in annual average global temperature relative to preindustrial times could reach 9°F (5°C) or more by the end of this century. With significant reductions in emissions, the increase in annual average global temperature could be limited to 3.6°F (2°C) or less.”

MARINE LIFE THREATENED BY WARMING, INCREASING ACIDIFICATION, DECLINING OXYGEN

“The rate of acidification is unparalleled in at least the past 66 million years. Under the higher scenario the global average surface ocean acidity is projected to increase by 100% to 150%.”

“Increasing sea surface temperatures, rising sea levels, and changing patterns of precipitation, winds, nutrients, and ocean circulation are contributing to overall declining oxygen concentrations at intermediate depths in various ocean locations and in many coastal areas.”

CARBON DIOXIDE GROWTH IN ATMOSPHERE SLOWING, BUT NOT ENOUGH

“In 2014 and 2015, emission growth rates slowed as economic growth became less carbon-intensive. Even if this slowing trend continues, however, it is not yet at a rate that would limit global average temperature change to well below 3.6°F (2°C) above preindustrial levels.”

The University of Hawai`i’s Fletcher said he was surprised that the report was publicly published in spite of the Trump administration’s antipathy to climate science.

“I think it shows that they haven’t yet swept the staff wholesale out of these agencies,” Fletcher said.

© Jan TenBruggencate 2017

USGCRP, 2017: Climate Science Special Report: Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume I [Wuebbles, D.J., D.W. Fahey, K.A. Hibbard, D.J. Dokken, B.C. Stewart, and T.K. Maycock (eds.)]. U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, USA, 470 pp.

Lehua Island restored to the birds; Rats appear to be gone

Shipwreck remains on Niihau beach, with Lehua in background.

The `iwa or great frigatebird swept low over a cluster of trucks, stacks of equipment and a Jet Ranger helicopter on the northern end of Ni`ihau.

As I followed its black-winged form with binoculars, the angular bird made several passes and then returned to its roost on Lehua Island, a gray-brown tuff cone island, just a thousand yards across the Kumukahi Channel from Ni`ihau.

Teams of wildlife professionals worked both Ni`ihau and Lehua in late August and early last month,  using a helicopter guided by computer mapping programs to deliver rat bait across the rugged islet. I was present for one of the sessions.

A month after the final application, indications are that rats no longer populate Lehua, although a final determination of rat presence will be made a year from now, which any survivors--if they exist--will have had a chance to reproduce and make their presence known.

For now, survey teams are finding no footprints at burrows or other indications of rat activity, according to Sheri Mann, head of the Kaua`i office of the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife. They will keep monitoring for the next year, to confirm that preliminary finding.

The Lehua Island rat eradication project should improve habitat for frigatebirds and dozens of other bird and plant species on the little island—just as wildlife has thrived after similar eradications at other offshore Hawaiian islands, like Mokoli`i Island off O`ahu and Mokapu off north Molokai.

After eradication of black rats on Mokoli`i, successful shearwater nesting became common, coastal naupaka sprouted, and seashore rat-predated species like pipipi and `a`ama crab became abundant.

At Palmyra Atoll to the south of Hawai`i, after rat removal long-absent seabird species established successful nests, shoreline fiddler crabs thrived, and native tree seeds sprouted where they once were eaten.

Lehua has now been given three applications a pale blue pellets of rat bait containing diphacinone—less than a pound of the anticoagulant in several thousand pounds of food grade cereals like wheat and oats and other rat-friendly food items. The new bait was developed by Bell Laboratories in Madison, Wisconsin.

“We’ve had really high acceptance rates of this new, more palatable bait,” said Gregg Howald, North America regional director for Island Conservation, the non-profit that conducts invasive species eradication efforts on islands around the world, in association with partners and landowners.

The Lehua operation’s partners include the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife and its parent agency the State Department of Land and Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Wildlife Research Center in Hilo, Niihau Ranch, U.S. Coast Guard, National Tropical Botanical Garden and several other associated organizations and agencies.

The $1 million Lehua project has funding from several sources, including the Department of Land and Natural Resources, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Island Conservation. The results will be monitored for several years.

Several hundred small islands from the equator to the arctic have now been cleared of rats and other invasives. Why islands? Because although their land area is small, they are important crucibles of biological diversity--home to many endangered species, and once home to many species now extinct.

Through my binoculars, I could see the white, brown and black forms of petrels, great frigatebirds, boobies, noddies and other bird species, wheeling on the thermals above Lehua’s sloping spine.

One species, the tiny band-rumped storm petrel, is now entirely missing—arguably because its small size and noisy habits on the nest make it particularly vulnerable to rats, said Nick Holmes, Island Conservation’s Director of Science.

Perhaps on a rat-free Lehua, it will be able to re-establish itself.

Meanwhile, planning in Hawai`i is already underway for a much bigger challenge—clearing the island of Kaho`olawe of species like mice that are inhibiting the island’s revegetation. The Kaho`olawe Island Reserve Commission is in discussion with Island Conservation and others about the best ways to accomplish that goal.

© 2017 Jan W. TenBruggencate 

Want to lose weight? Go with your gut, or your mom, but not the internet.

You need to lose a little weight, so you go to the internet for solutions, right?

Wrong.

Asking the internet for advice is like asking random people for technical help, except that the internet is also populated with an oversupply of trolls who rejoice in misleading you, along with a whole lot of hucksters trying to sell you things that may or may not help.

I came across a news report that suggested the body’s natural messenger to prevent overeating is a hormone called leptin. So, how do you increase leptin and decrease your appetite?

I went online.

Oh my, the lies, the errors, the active commerce, and the answers from people who know less than you do. 

Here’s Wikihow, which has a long list of tips, including that you should eat protein for breakfast, and definitely not cereal, because after all, cereal is “full of lectin, which actually binds to your leptin receptors, keeping leptin from being able to do its job.”

Of course, then you go to Livestrong.com and the first recommendation is to eat plenty of cereal with fruit, because of the fiber: “Fiber gives you a feeling of fullness, causing your intestinal tract to send a signal to your brain to release more leptin.” 

Some sites say get lots of sleep, because if you don’t sleep your leptin levels drop and you eat.

This guy says it’s all about diet. 

These paleo diet folks say it’s all about diet and lifestyle. They’ll sell you a daily diet program.

These guys will sell you a different diet program to help you “master your metabolism.” All you need to do is buy their book. They’ll also sell you dietary supplements like collagen protein, and “performance coffee”, which cost more than the book.

There are lots of websites that talk about secret foods you must never eat. And others that talk about supplements you must use—and particularly the high quality supplements available exclusively through their particular firms.

I appreciate Healthline for telling you what you already knew. They key to health and weight is no secret: Eat more protein, fewer carbs, more fiber, avoid processed food, sleep better, exercise

Wow. Forget about leptin. Eat right, sleep well and stay fit. You didn’t need the internet for that. Your mom could have handled the job.

© 2017 Jan W. TenBruggencate