Chapter 2: Big Island of Hawaii - Kings, Lava, & Manta Rays

Do you know only five of the fifty United States were their own countries before becoming a state? One is the island chain of Hawaii. (The others are Texas, where I grew up, California, Vermont, and some parishes of Louisana). Hawaii is the only one that was a monarchy, which means the people of Hawaii had a king and a queen. King Kamehameha the Great was the king who, by 1806, had united all the islands under his rule. How's that for a cool name? Do you think you can pronounce it? (Kah-MAY-ha-MAY-ha)

Toto went to the Big Island of Hawaii. I bet you can guess which island that is on the map!  The big island of Hawaii is very diverse.  It is basically the top of the world's largest mountain formed by a volcano (measured from the bottom of the ocean to the top of Mauna Kea volcano). I know you probably think of beaches when you think of Hawaii, but Mauna Kea volcano has snow at the top!  The Big Island also has one of the largest cattle ranches in America, the Parker Ranch.  It was founded in 1847 and has over 175,000 acres.  The cowboys in Hawaii are called "Paniolos," the Portuguese word for cowboy.  This is because the first ranch hands moved from Portugal to Hawaii even before Texas had cowboys.  Hawaii also has its own language.  So there is quite a bit to see and learn there above and below the water.

At Volcano National Park I saw remains of lava flows from Kileaua, the world's most active volcano.  Here you can see how the lava flowed over the road several years ago (double click on the pictures to see them larger).  You can see just how much lava flows across the land when the volcano erupts.

I guess there was a road at one point next to this old road sign.  I thought this was a funny picture.   

One of the coolest (or should I say hottest) things I saw was the lava flowing into the ocean.  This is the newest land on earth, as the island gets bigger every day here.  When lava cools, it becomes rock.  Since the lava is flowing constantly now into the ocean and hardening, this part of the island is gaining more land every day. The park rangers don't let you get too close, as the lava is very hot and dangerous.  We walked across a mile of hardened lava where you could

see how it had once flowed, just like in the pictures above.  We got to the edge of the trail and saw this view of the lava hitting the water and forming instant clouds.  It is just like when you boil water, except it was molten rock that was boiling the water instantly as it hit the ocean waves.

One of the consequences of all this lava is that Hawaii has black sand beaches.  Sand is basically small rocks.  Since all the rock around this part of the island is black, instead of white or brown sand, the sand is black!  Here is a picture of some coconuts hatching into palm trees on a black sand beach that did not even exist several years ago.  I enjoyed seeing the white waves crash on the contrasting black sand.

Beyond the sand you are in the middle of the large Pacific Ocean.  If you find Hawaii on a globe or atlas, you will see that there is not any land anywhere near Hawaii.  That means that you get to see some amazing animals underwater.  When I was there, the humpback whales were giving birth.  While I was snorkeling by the beach, I could hear the whales talking to each other out in the ocean.  Then I went in a boat to go scuba diving, and we saw a baby whale and his mother.  The mom jumped way in the air, and it looked like this.  Scientists call this "breaching," and they think whales do it to either clean parasites off their skin or to just show off.

Perhaps the coolest thing I did in Hawaii was to go scuba diving at night with the manta rays.  Manta rays are also called devil rays because their cephalic fins by their mouths make them look like a devil, though they are actually nice and docile. When they are feeding, they roll these cephalic fins out like a shovel to scoop the small plankton they eat into their big mouths.  We went diving at night and took flashlights, which attract the plankton who need light to make their food. The mantas come to eat the plankton attracted by the scuba divers' lights.  You can see it yourself in the video link below taken by Martina from www.DolphinDreams.com. Click here to see the Manta Ray video.

You wouldn't believe how big these manta rays are.  Can you guess how big the four mantas we saw were?  The biggest, named Koie, was twelve feet or over 3.5 meters long.  Measure out how big twelve feet is with a ruler and you will be impressed.  As you can see in the video, they "fly" underwater and are very graceful.  Manta rays tails do not sting like the smaller sting rays, so they are completely harmless and quite friendly even though they weigh over 1000 pounds!  They must eat a lot of plankton to get that big.  In fact manta rays can grow up to a 25 foot wing span.  That means they can grow to the size of an 18 wheel truck, which is pretty big when you think about it!  In fact, manta rays are the fifth biggest creature in the ocean.  Their main predators are man and sharks.  They defend themselves from sharks by swimming away faster than the sharks can swim.  We did not see any sharks while we were diving.  My diving buddy and I did have to wear wet suits as the water was a bit cold at night after a while.

We also saw dolphins and turtles in Hawaii.  The turtles were really relaxed.  Now I know why Disney made the turtle characters like surfer dudes in "Finding Nemo" as they seemed really laid back and carefree in the water.  You can see a turtle video for yourself by clicking here.

I hope you get a chance someday to visit Hawaii as it is full of history, geology, and beautiful marine life beyond its great beaches.

If you want to see a video of Toto diving with the manta rays, click on the following link. You will need the latest version of QuickTime to watch it. Download TotoTravelsMantaVideoFeb06.mov

Big Island Questions:

1. How many states were their own country before joining the United States of America?
2. Which is the only state to have been a monarchy?
3. Define the word "lava".
4. How were the islands of Hawaii formed?
5. Why is steam created when the lava meets the ocean?
6. Why do humpback whales breach out of the water?
7. What do manta rays eat and how do they eat?
8. How big can manta rays grow?
9. What is the nick name for a manta ray? How did it get that name?
10. Are manta rays dangerous?
11. What are Hawaiian cowboys called?  From what country did that term come?
12. Why do you think the Manna Kea volcano has snow on top of it?
13. Toto saw a twelve foot manta ray.  How many classroom desks do you need to lay end to end to get the equivalent distance?
14. If there are 2.2 pounds in a kilogram, how many kilos does a 1000 pound manta ray weigh?

Global Citizen Questions about Hawaii:

1. Draw a picture of the creatures you might see underwater in Hawaii.
2. Look on a map and name all the Hawaiian islands that make up the state of Hawaii.  Write down the capital of Hawaii and which island it is on.
3. If manta rays are the fifth largest creature in the ocean, what do you think the other four might be?
4. Research the Paniolos of Hawaii and why they might have moved to Hawaii in the 1800s.
5. Research the Hawaiian monarchy to determine the name of the last king or queen and how Hawaii became a state.
6. Find the elevations of the Hawaiian islands.  Compare those to land forms or buildings near you.

Epilogue:

Sadly, when Toto was in Zanzibar, Tanzania, he saw an example of the Manta Rays' worst predator - humans. Here is a picture of five manta rays for sale on the ground of the fish market there. Hopefully we can work together to help prevent humans from killing these beautiful animals for food.

Comments

[Barnabas Nemec]

You're article is wonderful, and I'm a bit reluctant to inform you, but it needs to be done. As if it were fact, you ask: "Do you know only two of the fifty United States were their own countries before becoming a state? One is the island chain of Hawaii. (The other is Texas, where I grew up)." This is untrue…and the kind of attitude that understandably yet unintentionally leads many from other states to consider Texans as arrogant. As a Texan now myself, (though many die-hard Texans would never consider me “true” since not born here), I’ve left many a proud Texan with hurt ego when I enlighten them on this issue. You’re aware of Hawaii’s history, and that’s better than most Texans vocal on this issue, who proudly proclaim Texas as the only state who’s roots lead back to independence as a country. But Texas and Hawaii are not alone.
The state of Vermont, (not one of the 13 colonies simply because it’s “up there”), was indeed it’s own country from 1777 to 1791, a full 5 years longer than Texas, (1836-1845). In fact, The Vermont Republic drafted and ratified it’s own constitution outlawing slavery. Predating the US constitution, (which was adopted in 1787 from the Articles of Confederation of 1781) The Vermont Republic constitution was the first constitution in the western world, therefore Vermont could be considered the first organized country in the western world.
Also, California was it’s own short-lived republic for a time, and there may even be others. This isn’t as unique of a phenomena as many people, (mainly Texans), would have you believe.
Barnabas

[Barnabas Nemec]

You're article is wonderful, and I'm a bit reluctant to inform you, ...but Texas and Hawaii are not alone. The state of Vermont was indeed it’s own country from 1777 to 1791, a full 5 years longer than Texas, (1836-1845). In fact, The Vermont Republic drafted and ratified it’s own constitution outlawing slavery. Predating the US constitution, (which was adopted in 1787 from the Articles of Confederation of 1781) The Vermont Republic constitution was the first constitution in the western world, therefore Vermont could be considered the first organized country in the western world.
Also, California was it’s own short-lived republic for a time, and there may even be others...
Barnabas

Editor's note: Thanks for this comment! I have updated the text to reflect the fact that Texas and Hawaii are not the only states to have been countries prior to joining the United States of America. In fact, according to wickipedia.org, "Vermont is one of only five U.S. states or parts of states to have once been an independent nation, the other four being California, Hawaii, Texas, and the Florida Parishes of Louisiana."