Hawaii’s “First Industry” -- Sandalwood

The history of Hawaii after European contact can be traced through a succession of dominant industries: first sandalwood, followed by (beef on the Big Island), whaling, sugarcane, pineapple, military, tourism, and education. Since statehood in 1959, tourism has been the largest industry, despite efforts to diversify.

Sandalwood ('iliahi) is the name of different fragrant woods. These woods are often used for the essential oil they contain. The wood is heavy and yellow in color as well as fine-grained, and unlike many other aromatic woods it retains its fragrance for decades. The sandalwood fragrance is very distinctive and is used in countless applications. Sandalwood has been valued and treasured for many years for its fragrance, carving, medical and religious qualities.

Unlike most trees, sandalwood is harvested by toppling the entire tree instead of sawing them down at the trunk. This way, valuable wood from the stump and root can also be sold or processed for oil.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandalwood

By the time Captain Cook landed on the Hawaiian Islands in 1778, India's supply of sandalwood was nearly depleted.  This set the stage for Hawaii's entry into the international commercial market. During the 1800s, traders made deals with Hawaiian chiefs to cut down the native sandalwood trees, and sailing ships carried thousands of tons of heartwood to India, Asia and Europe. Soon the native forests of sandalwood and other beautiful hardwoods (such as Acacia koa) were all cut down, a massive deforestation from which the islands have never recovered. http://www.indiadivine.org/audarya/hinduism-forum/189256-sandalwood-india-hawaii.html

http://www.pacificislandbooks.com/cookislands.htm
(Sandalwood trade in Rarotonga)

In 1811 Kamehameha controlled the sandalwood trade as a near-monopoly through the use of his agents. While a few individual chiefs also dealt directly with traders, it was not until the death of Kamehameha I that a wholesale pillaging of sandalwood forests took place. While Kamehameha I still held the reigns, he placed a kapu on young trees and no transaction was ever done on credit.

After Kamehameha's death in 1819, his son Kamehameha II fell into debt with sandalwood traders. Having given away his own lands, he relied on the wood supplies of others. http://www.hawaiihistory.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=ig.page&PageID=274

In December 1826, the kingdom of Hawai'i enacted its first written law — a sandalwood tax. Every man was ordered to deliver to the government a half picul of 'iliahi, or pay four Spanish dollars, by Sept. 1, 1827. Every woman older than 13 was obligated to make a 12-by-6-foot kapa cloth. The taxes were collected to reduce a staggering debt level.

This period saw two major famines as 'iliahi was harvested to the point of near extinction in Hawai'i forests. The common people were displaced from their agricultural and fishing duties, and all labor was diverted to harvesting sandalwood.  http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Apr/14/il/FP604140306.html

By 1830, the trade in sandalwood had completely collapsed. Hawaiian forests were exhausted and sandalwood from other areas in the Pacific (e.g., Rarotonga) drove down the price and made the Hawaiian trade unprofitable. Although forests were ravaged, sandalwood trees still survive today, tucked away on less accessible mountain slopes.  http://www.hawaiihistory.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=ig.page&PageID=274> 

Spinning Dolphins?

Last April we witnessed an astounding sight, at least for us.  Off of our lanai, too far out to be seen clearly, were what appeared to be about seven huge fish seemingly walking on their tails.  It turned out that they weren’t fish, nor were they walking on their tails – they were actually dolphins that were spinning while virtually totally out of the water.

And they are known as Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins (Nai’a).  They can leap into the air and make as many as seven complete spins rotating around their longitudinal axis before diving back into the ocean.  And, no one seems to know why they spin.

Around Hawaii, spinner dolphins congregate at night in large herds in the deep channels between the islands to feed. During the day, they break up into smaller groups and come near shore to rest and play. One of the places where they can commonly be seen is in Kealakekua Bay on the island of Hawaii.

Kealakekua Bay is twelve miles south of Kailua-Kona on the west side of the Big Island.  The bay is historic because it marks the site where Captain James Cook landed on the island. Cook was the first British explorer to establish contact with Hawaii in 1778 (on Kauai). Only a year later, he was killed in a skirmish with native Hawaiians in Kealakekua Bay.

A white obelisk on the shore of the bay memorializes his death. On the east side of the bay there is also the Hikiau Heiau (sacred temple) dedicated to the Hawaiian god, Lono.

Spinner dolphins are the smallest of Hawaii’s dolphins.  They are generally between five and six feet in length and weigh 130 to 200 pounds.  As mammals, dolphins bear live young and the mothers nurse them on milk and provide care.

Pasted from <http://hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov/explore/spinner_dolphins.html>

Dolphins are protected under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act.  It is against the law to harass, hunt, capture, or kill, or attempt to harass, hunt, capture or kill a dolphin. NOAA.  For the dolphins' sake, and for your safety, visitors and residents are asked to please not feed, swim with, or harass wild dolphins. People are encouraged to observe them from a distance of at least 50 yards.

Five Volcanoes !

All Hawaiians know the Big Island was created by the commingling lava flows from five immense volcanoes, but most visitors know only two – i.e., Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.  And, somewhat uniquely, the volcanoes of Hawaii are not where plates meet, but actually thousands of miles from the nearest plate boundary in what is known as a “hot-spot” in the Pacific Plate.  Also, Hawaii’s volcanoes are not the type like Mt. St. Helens or Mt. Etna that can have explosive eruptions; they simply release flows of relatively fluid lava.

http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/

Currently there are two volcanoes on the Big Island classified as active:

1.   Kilauea, actively erupting for almost the past 30 years is the world’s most active volcano.  It has been spewing lava continuously since January 1983.   Kilauea nestles into the side of Mauna Loa and was once considered a part of Mauna Loa, but subsequent research showed that it has its own “magma-plumbing system.”  http://hawaii.aloha-hawaii.com/hawaii/big+island+volcanoes/

Located in Volcanoes National Park near the caldera of Kilauea is the “fire pit,” which is known as Halemaumau (“House of Everlasting Fire”).  Halemaumau at times has a contained lake of boiling lava. The pit is enlarged periodically by steam blasts and collapsing walls. Typical eruptions consist of lava flows forming lava lakes in Halemaumau or elsewhere on the caldera through fissures and rift zones.  Volcanoes National Park is actually Hawaii’s most visited tourist attraction, with nearly 9,000 daily visitors coming to the park. http://www.hawaiilogue.com/active-volcanoes-in-hawaii.html

Pele, the Hawaiian Volcano Goddess, is said to live within the Halemaumau firepit.

2.   Mauna Loa (“Long Mountain”), which last erupted in 1984 is the world’s largest volcano. It is also considered one of the most active volcanoes, having erupted 33 times since 1843.

Both of these active Hawaiian volcanoes share the Hawaiian hot spot, but retain unique volcanic histories and compositions.

And three volcanoes on Hawaii are generally classified as dormant:

1.   Kohala, the oldest, which is believed to have emerged from the sea more than 500,000 years ago.

2.   Hualalai, with six different vents that spewed lava, two of which produced lava flows that reached the ocean. The Kona International Airport is build atop the larger of the two flows. It last erupted in 1801, but some still consider it still “active,” which would be a major problem for the population center around Kona-Kohala.

3.   Mauna Kea (“White Mountain”), reaching 13,796 feet above sea level is the world’s tallest mountain (measured from the floor of the ocean to its summit) which last erupted about 4,000 years ago.  It is often snow covered in winter.  It is also the site of 13 astronomical observatories and is expected to be home to what will be the world’s largest telescope, the Thirty Meter Telescope.

       http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/GG/HCV/haw_formation.html  //hawaii.aloha-hawaii.com/hawaii/big+island+volcanoes/

Since the vast majority of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur near plate boundaries, how did the Hawaiian Islands which are entirely of volcanic origin, form in the middle of the Pacific Ocean almost 2,000 miles from the nearest plate boundary?

“J. Tuzo Wilson came up with the Hotspot Theory in 1963. According to his theory, the Hawaiian Island chain resulted from the Pacific Plate moving over a deep, stationary hotspot in the mantle, located beneath the present-day position of the Island of Hawaii. Heat from this hotspot produced a persistent source of magma by partly melting the overriding Pacific Plate. The magma then rises through the mantle and crust to erupt onto the seafloor, forming an active seamount.

Over time, countless eruptions cause the seamount to grow until it finally emerges above sea level to form an island volcano. As the plate movement carries the island beyond the hotspot, the magma source is cutoff, and volcanism ceases. As one island becomes extinct another develops over the hotspot.”  http://www.pdc.org/iweb/volcano_history.jsp

In fact right now a young submarine volcano called Loihi (“Long”) is growing about 20 miles south of the Big Island.  Its ascending summit is currently 3,000 feet below the ocean surface.  http://www.bestplaceshawaii.com/island_insights/bigisland/volcanoes.html

When most people envision a volcano, they think of a tall and cone shaped volcano (think Mount Hood outside of Portland, Oregon). These strato volcanoes tend to have dramatic and explosive eruptions (think Mount Saint Helens).

The five volcanoes of the Big Island are shield volcanoes, which are long and broad and have gently sloping hills.  Shield volcanoes’ lava has a lower viscosity, meaning that the lava is thinner and more fluid.  Because of the fluidity of the lava, major explosive eruptions generally do not occur.  This is why the almost constant flowing lava of Kilauea can be approached and seen by visitors to Volcanoes National park. http://www.hawaiilogue.com/active-volcanoes-in-hawaii.html

All the photos in this post are by Bryan Lowry, are © protected and usage requires his permission.  Please visit Bryan‘s website to see the vast collection of images by this award winning photographer whose photos have also appeared in National Geographic (http://lavapix.com). Significantly, 20% of Bryan’s website sales profits go to Easter Seals Hawaii on the Big Island.