Deep Diving Into Wildlife

Hawaii only has one endemic land mammal and that is the Hawaiian Hoary bat or ʻōpeʻapeʻa ( Aeorestes semotus ). They can be sighted on Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, the Big Island, and Maui. It's believed that these bats migrated to Hawaii from the US west coast at two separated times. But documented breeding populations are present only on Kauai and the Big island. The first migration was perhaps a thousand years ago and the second, about ten thousand years ago. Well recognized by its silver frost appearance at the ends of their brown and black fur. Their diet consist of mainly insects and they can grow to about 6 inches with a wingspan of 12 inches. The Hawaiian Hoary bat can produce various sound frequencies to detect its insect prey. Unfortunately, the Hoary bat have been on the endangered species list since 1970. Their low population is a result of deforestation and pesticide use. It's quite rare to spot a Hawaiian Hoary bat, due to the fact that they prefer solitary...

A Belgian Malinois, named Cobra has been helping detect fungal diseases causing Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death in Hilo, Hawaiʻi. Cobra has shown to be a fast learner to pick up the scent of the fungus. Kealoha Kinney, a scientist from the Institute of Pacific Island Forestry was the one responsible this creative project idea. There are two fungal diseases that have influenced the collapse of hundreds of thousands of acres of native ʻōhiʻa on the Big Island: Ceratocyst lukuokia and Ceratocystis huliohia . This project was funded by Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture and led by US Forest Service, Redland Ahead Florida-based non-profit Redland Ahead, and Florida International University. Cobra has been learning to detect the scent of the fungus in trials. As a part of the training process infected samples collected from the forest packed in sealed containers that allow the volatile organic compounds to be exposed and not the biological material to escape, so Cobra can pick up on the sce...

There are hundreds of thousands of stray cats on Big Island, Oahu, Maui and Kauai. On Oahu, colonies of feral and stray cats have been thriving at Honolulu Community College, University at Manoa, alleys, empty parking lots.  The stench of feces or caterwauling is not the main concern though. Scientists are very worried about the spread of toxoplasmosis, a parasitic disease that cats have spread around the areas from Manoa to Waianae. Toxoplasmosis has been known to kill at least eight critically endangered Hawaiian monk seals, two spinner dolphins, nene geese and native birds over the past 15 years. A Hawaiian monk seal RN36, also known as Uilani resting on the shoreline. Uilani died of toxoplasmosis in 2015. This parasite attacks the tissue and cause massive inflammatory response in the organs and the cells stop working. Toxoplasmosis can only reproduce in cat feces. Other animals are exposed to this parasite by contaminated food or water. From mauka to makai, cat f...

What is ROD? ROD abbreviates Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death. I wish they came up with a more positive affirmative title. The ancient Hawaiians believed that words have a powerful influence on ourselves and others, which is true.  What is causing ʻŌhiʻa death?    It is a disease caused by two fungal pathogens: Ceratocystis lukuohia   ( d estroyer of ʻōhiʻa ) and Ceratocystis huliohia (disruptor of ʻōhiʻa) .   Ceratocystis lukuohia   has been found to be a more aggressive fungus than  Ceratocystis huliohia. Once an individual tree has been infected, there is no current cure for it. The fungus begins its infection by entering through open wounds of the tree. These wounds may not always be visible  It is not exactly sure where these fungus originated from, but they are not native to Hawaii and were introduced. Several types of beetles play a major role in spreading the disease. The ambrosia beetles and long-horned beetles, bore into i...

Healthy vibrant coral reef on the left, and dead reef on the right. An estimate of 14,000 tons of sunscreen end up in the ocean—onto coral reefs, causing further progress of irreversible damage. Efforts in Hawaii have already taken action to support the protection of coral reefs. Hawaii is the first state to pass a bill banning the sale of sunscreen containing chemicals harmful to the reefs. These chemicals include: oxybenzone, octinoxate, and paraben. Oxybenzone lowers the temperature level at which the coral will begin to bleach. What is coral bleaching? The coral turns white when it is under stress, in consequence to a slight change in the seawater temperature. The algae (zooxanthellae) share a symbiotic relationship with the coral and under stress it will expel from the coral, turning it white (This does not mean the reef is dead). However, after this event leaves the coral reef vulnerable to infection and because the algae is gone it loses its main provider of nutri...

Alright, huddle around Hawaii folks, bundled in your a jacket and jeans. I'm going to answer your itching curiosity of why some winters feel colder than others, in Hawaii and other places around the world.  To start with, the polar vortex may be a one of the reasons. A polar vortex is a constant low pressure area with cold air, swirling counter-clockwise, located at the polar regions. The cold air from the polar vortex will expand from the North Pole to the South. At the bottom edges of the polar vortex is polar jet stream, which flows from west to east. The direction of the jet stream result to the northeastern areas being hit the hardest with such freezing temperatures. During the summer, the jet stream is strong and is able to stay closer to the Northern Hemisphere, at a higher latitude. But in winter, the vortex is weaker and without that strong low-pressure system, the jet stream becomes uneven and wavy. The warm air from the Southern Hemisphere prevent the ...