…To be blunt, there are big gaping holes in their business model as far as their agricultural/harvesting expertise. They really don’t know what they are doing, especially in respect to the actual physical costs of growing and re-growing biomass. It’s not something I hold against them very much. Ignorance of biological reality is rampant. On the other hand, ignorance does not inspire confidence. Is it okay for them to blunder into our neighborhood armed with a HECO contract, federal funding, and an amorphous plan? I really don’t know.…. Read the rest
On the mainland, biofuel guys are paying $100 per ton for feedstock (which includes $45/ton of subsidies). But farmers in Hawai‘i are making $75 for a bale of hay now, each of which weighs 500 lbs. So right now, farmers are making $300/ton. The biofuel guys want to pay $100/ton.
Farmers would rather make $300/ton than $100/ton. Duh! Somebody will have to pay the farmers more.
On the other hand, geothermal is very straightforward. It is inexpensive, 7 to 10 cents per kWh, and it is steady. It does not emit greenhouse gases, it is proven technology and requires no subsidies.
We hope that for electricity generation, biofuels do not crowd out geothermal.
For each unit of energy in, biofuels yield 1.2 or less units of net energy out. This puts us in mind of Easter Island.
In comparison, for each unit of energy in, geothermal yields 10 units of energy out, and that will continue for as long as one can imagine.
With that sort of cheap, stable electricity, capital would rush here from all over the world. And everyone would have jobs!
It is estimated that the Big Island will be over the “hot spot” that gives us our geothermal for 500,000 to 1 million years.
The University of Hawai‘i’s Hawai‘i Natural Energy Institute (HNEI) is working on a very interesting project. They are going to use geothermal electricity to generate hydrogen to power two County of Hawai‘i buses.
Because the hydrogen will be stored in cylinders, the process can be turned off and on as necessary to help the electric utility stabilize the grid.
The biggest obstacle to using hydrogen as a transportation fuel is cost. Most of the time, hydrogen is extracted from fossil fuels, whose price will keep on rising. But hydrogen can also be obtained by electrolysis – running an electric current through water – at the geothermal plant, where costs are low and stable.
The beginnings of this project date back several years to when we did the E Malama ‘Aina sustainability festival. That’s when and where I met Guy Toyama, who had a demonstration hydrolysis project that used electricity generated from a stream in Hakalau.
Guy has a company that does hydrogen projects. He speaks Japanese and he goes all over the world looking for processes that will make Hawai‘i attractive as a place to do hydrogen demonstration projects. He wants to attract major car companies to do their field testing on the Big Island. If you start seeing hydrogen fueling stations pop up on the Big Island, it will likely be because of him.
At the sustainability festival, Kimo Pa, our Hamakua Springs farm manager, and I saw the hydrogen bubbling up from water that had electricity passing through it. I introduced Guy to the folks in Iowa who were exploring making NH3 (ammonia) for fertilizer and for transportation.
That evolved into asking Rick Rocheleau, head of the HNEI, how we could make hydrogen or NH3 from geothermal energy to use for transportation and fertilizer. Rick got interested and allowed this direction to develop. Mitch Ewan, who is in charge of hydrogen projects at HNEI, is the one who conceived this current project.
The following press release announces that HNEI will soon issue a request for proposals to do this project. None of this would have been possible had it not been for the active support of the folks at Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV), Mike Kaleikini, PGV’s plant manager in particular.
Here is the press release:
Honolulu, HI – The Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii (“RCUH”), on behalf of the University of Hawaii’s Hawaii Natural Energy Institute (UH-HNEI) plans to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) the week of January 4th 2011 for the supply of a “Turn-Key” hydrogen production and fueling system as a component of a Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and US DOE project to demonstrate hydrogen energy systems as a potential grid management tool. The objective of this project is to evaluate the feasibility of utilizing a hydrogen production and storage system to mitigate the impacts of renewable energy generation intermittency on the Big Island electrical grid. A unique element of the overall program is the demonstration of an electrolyzer as a controllable variable load that can provide grid services such as:
· Up regulation;
· Down regulation; and
· Off-peak load (relieving curtailment of as-available renewable energy).
As background, regulation is responsible for maintaining the frequency of the grid at 60 Hz. This is accomplished by using a real-time communication signal directly controlled by the grid operator. The regulation control signal can call for either a positive “Up regulation” or negative “Down regulation” correction. If load exceeds generation, frequency and voltage drop, and the grid operator relays a signal to generators requesting “Up regulation.” When generation exceeds load and frequency increases, the grid operator requests “Down Regulation” and asks generators to reduce generation.
In this mode, the electrolyzer would be operated at a production rate that would be determined by the demand for a combination of transportation fuels, auxiliary power, and chemical feedstock production. The electrolyzer would have the ability to reduce its load (i.e. ramp down) in response to a loss of renewable generation on the system. This capability to quickly drop load is equivalent to “up-regulation” carried by generating units on the system. The hydrogen energy system could also provide a quick transient increase in load (i.e. ramp up) that would be useful in loss-of-load events, such as a loss of transmission lines. For this service, the difference between the maximum capacity of the electrolyzer and the steady state defines the ability of the electrolyzer to provide down regulation. Hydrogen produced from the system could be used for a variety of value-added products, including use as a transportation fuel for two Ford E-450 shuttle buses operated by the County of Hawaii Mass Transportation Agency. Optimized use of the electrolyzer and high value products are intended to increase the use of renewable energy resources, and reduce barriers to the introduction of further hydrogen infrastructure in Hawaii.
The RFP is intended to promote open and transparent competition among parties able to design, fabricate, and install the system at a geothermal plant on the Big Island of Hawaii. A key design driver is the ability for remote monitoring and control of the system over the Internet. This RFP will be technology neutral and any type of electrolyzer i.e Alkaline or Solid Polymer Electrolyte may be proposed. Proposers may include teams comprised of systems integrators and electrolyzer manufacturers. A primary focus of this program is rapid delivery and installation of equipment with a target operational readiness date of August 30th, 2011. When released, the RFP and accompanying information will be published at http://www.hnei.hawaii.edu. Any prospective offeror desiring an explanation or interpretation of the RFP must request it in writing (emailed to: Mitch Ewan at ewan@hawaii.edu) no later than January 31st, 2011 with the subject line “RFP for Turn-Key Hydrogen System.” It is planned to conduct a bidders meeting and / or webinar in Washington DC on January 18th, 2011. Proposals must be received by RCUH no later than 4:00 PM HST, February 15th, 2011.
I stayed at the Ala Moana Hotel last week while attending the Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit, which had 1400 participants and was huge and exciting.
One evening, as I sat on the lanai of my hotel room looking toward Waikiki and all the lit-up hotel rooms and bright lights and the headlights and tail lights of cars, it came to me: Everything visible was dependent on oil.
The only thing I could see that was good was that the Macy’s sign is cheaper to power than the Liberty House sign it replaced. Shorter sign.
Sitting out there on the lanai, it became clear to me that if we follow HECO’s plan for using biofuels to generate electricity for the Big Island, we will soon have limited food resources and will be making plans to send people out to discover new lands.
Back in 2007, I spoke at the Hawaii Island Food Summit:
I told them I had a nightmare that there would be a big meeting down by the pier one day, where they announce that food supplies were short because the oil supply was short and so we
would have to send thousands of people out to discover new land.
I was afraid that they would send all the people with white hair out on the boats to find new land—all the Grandmas and Grandpas and me, though maybe not June.
Grandmas and Grandpas hobbled onto the boats with their canes and their wheelchairs, clutching all their medicines, and everybody gave all of us flower leis, and everyone was saying,
“Aloha, Aloha, call us when you find land! Aloha!”
If, instead, we on the Big Island follow our own plan of maximizing
our geothermal resource, and start to add others such as wind, solar and ocean resources as they scale up; and if we emphasize lots of small- to medium-sized diversified farms, we will not need to send out the canoes to look for new land.
The Big Island could help solve O‘ahu’s food and fuel issues, too, so it wouldn’t be necessary for them to send their white-haired folks off, either.
The Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit was exciting and I’ve spent all week trying to put all the goings-on into perspective. O‘ahu has a real serious electricity problem. It has no proven-technology base power alternative to fossil fuels. And it has limited opportunity to integrate solar and wind.
I can absolutely see why HECO was anxious to institute Smart Grid. It was an attempt to wring every bit of efficiency out of intermittent sources of power.
I can also see why HECO made the decision that biofuels would have to be a solution for O‘ahu. The biorefinery is located on O‘ahu. I can even understand why they changed their minds and decided to bring on more PV solar. THEY do need everything!
What I just cannot understand is why HECO tried to force the Big Island to go that route.
We on the Big Island need a different strategy – one that focuses on the Big Island’s resources and environment.
Richard told me he is very impressed with what Michelle Galimba and her family are doing in Ka‘u, and so I thought I’d give her a call and learn a little more.
Michelle (left) and her family
I learned that Michelle grew up on dairy farms in Ka‘u and then lived in Haleiwa on O‘ahu, where her dad worked for Meadow Gold Dairies. These days, she and her family own and run a cattle ranch in Na‘alehu.“There’s a little bit of irony in the name,” she told me about their Kuahiwi Ranch. “Kuahiwi means ‘mountain,’ but the other meaning is ‘back country,’ like ‘the sticks.’”
To some people, Ka‘u has that sort of back country reputation. Michelle says she thinks people in Ka‘u are starting to rethink values, though, such as of its traditional culture, and that the lifestyle of Ka‘u is becoming more and more relevant.
“If we can find success stories for people in Ka‘u,” she says, “I think that goes a long way in changing other people’s perceptions and also our own, for ourselves.”
She mentions the coffee industry that’s recently sprung up in Ka‘u. “My friend Chris [Manfredi] started talking with the coffee farmers and thought their coffee was really good. He entered it into this international competition and it did really, really well. People were just so thrilled.”
She is one of the organizers of this year’s Ka‘u Coffee Festival, which will be May 1st and 2nd.
“There’s starting to be a stable of agriculture products in Ka‘u that are premium and interesting and something people can be proud of,” she says. “It’s what I’m hoping for with our beef. That we can get other ranchers involved with it and build up this market for it.”
Kuahiwi Ranch started in 1993, about the time the sugar plantations were going out and sugar cane lands were becoming available. It’s operated by Michelle’s parents, her youngest brother and herself, with age-appropriate help from her daughter and her brother’s three children (who range in age from 8 to 13).
They raise cattle for beef on 10,000 acres between Wood Valley and Waiohinu. Their cattle are free range and grass fed, and the cattles’ diet is also supplemented with grain.
“It’s a little different from grass-fed beef,” she explains. “If you just feed the cattle grass, the tenderness varies. Our beef is a little bit more expensive, but it’s more consistently tender.”
With the growing public interest in eating local and sustainable food systems, Kuahiwi Ranch decided to offer the public the best beef we know how to produce — beef that is tender, mild-flavored, and of consistent quality, but also raised naturally and humanely.
Our cattle always have plenty of room to roam and green grass to eat, but they are also given access to a grain ration for approximately 90 days. This grain ration consists of three natural ingredients — corn, barley, molasses, that’s it. It’s kind of like granola.
Since the late ‘70s, most Hawai‘i ranchers ship their cattle to mainland feed lots, which has been the most economically efficient model. In the last three or four years, says Michelle, as corn and transportation prices have risen, things have changed and it’s become more viable to keep cattle here.
There is little infrastructure here, though, to process the beef, and until recently there wasn’t a market locally for grass-fed beef.
She says you cannot get local beef at any supermarket on O‘ahu, and that this is a focus for Kuahiwi Ranch right now. “But everything is set up to come over in a container from the mainland,” she says. “It’s what everybody’s used to working with.”
“It’s an ongoing struggle on all kinds of fronts, and in the industry as a whole, to get it to work,” she says. “On the other hand, there’s a lot of enthusiasm – from chefs and people at the farmers’ markets. That’s kind of what keeps us going.”
Here on the Big Island you can buy their beef at KTA, where it’s sold under the “Kulana Natural” and “Mountain Apple” labels. She also sells their product, under the Kuahiwi Ranch name, at the Na‘alehu Farmers’ Market on Wednesdays and at the Volcano Farmers Market on Sundays.
Somewhere in the midst of all that dairy farm living and cattle raising, Michelle went to UC Berkeley and got a PhD in comparative literature. It’s a little jarring in its dissonance from what she does now – the ranch’s marketing as well as its accounting, though she says her favorite thing is to get on her horse and drive the cattle – until she is asked about her thesis, which was about an 11th century Chinese poet named Su Shi.
“He was this academic superstar,” she says, “and in China if you were really good in literature you rose through politics really quickly. He became the premier, running the whole country, but then he was exiled to, like, Ka‘u.” She laughs.
“He wrote a lot of poems about having to grow his own food and how rewarding that was,” she says.
I get the impression that Michele and Su Shi would have gotten along.
In June of last year, Gail Tverberg wrote this post at The Oil Drum Blog, and just a few days ago she reposted it:
Hawaii seems to come up often in the thinking of people aware of peak oil. On one hand, it seems like an ideal place to relocate after peak oil – no need to worry about heating a house; clothing is mostly for protection from the sun; and crops can be grown year around. On the other hand, it produces no fossil fuel itself, and it is at the end of the supply line for both food and fuel. Hawaii’s biggest industry, tourism, is already declining, and with rising fuel costs, can only decline further.
When the Kohala Center started planning its energy conference a while back, I recommended they invite Gail to be the featured speaker. I had met her at the Peak Oil conference in Houston and was very familiar with her writing on The Oil Drum. As an insurance actuary, she assesses risk for the insurance industry. I like what she writes because it is clear and easy to understand.
She gave two talks in Hilo. The first was at the energy conference itself and the second, a free presentation to the Kanaka Council that I arranged.
I took her sightseeing around the Big Island over that weekend, so I got to chat with her quite a bit about oil supply matters.
Here is a very interesting post she did at the Energy Bulletin in March 2009. She wrote:
Nearly all of the economic analyses we see today have as their basic premise a view that the current financial crisis is a temporary aberration. We will have a V or U shaped recovery, especially if enough stimulus is applied, and the economy will soon be back to Business as Usual.
I believe this assumption is basically incorrect. The current financial crisis is a direct result of peak oil. There may be oscillations in the economic situation, but generally, we can’t expect things to get much better. In fact, there is a very distinct possibility that things may get very much worse in the next few years.
Whether or not one believes Gail is right — that the current financial crisis is caused by Peak Oil — it is prudent that we plan for the worse and hope for the best. I think our most reasonable path is to actively pursue geothermal energy. We must help HELCO figure out how to decommission their oil-fired plants — put them in moth balls, in standby mode, and replace them with geothermal plants, preferably ones that are geographically diversified. At the same time, we need to figure out how to leave their stockholders whole. We can do this.
The reason we need geothermal is that geothermal energy costs are stable. With geothermal, our electricity and water bills would not go up as oil prices rise. And our transportation costs could stabilize, as well. We could have a successful economy here in Hawai‘i in spite of rising oil prices.
If we don’t go geothermal, rising foreign oil costs could bankrupt us. Our society could come apart.
Switching to geothermal is not an option; it is a necessity. We all know this.
Yesterday’s Honolulu Advertiser headline story tells how O‘ahu’s planned elevated rail system will cost each resident of O‘ahu $4,000. Wow, and they’ll still have to pay every time they ride the rail!
In contrast, the Thirty Meter Telescope will benefit each person on the Big Island. After the TMT receives its permit, it will give $1 million a year for our community to administer for the education of our keiki. That’s a total of $58 million—and all that money stays here on the Big Island. The quality of this offering greatly overshadows Target and Safeway’s $77 million—where local businesses will suffer and profits will leave the Big Island.
In addition to giving $1 million a year, after “first light” the TMT will also give a combination of viewing time and cash.
This is how President David McClain described the commitment:
After discussions with academic and community leaders on the Big Island, and review with the Board of Regents, I can say that should TMT come to Mauna Kea, the Hawaiian community and community-at-large will benefit through an annual $1 million community benefit package, which will provide funding for locally chosen and managed educational programs on Hawai‘i Island. This will begin once all permits for the project have been received. The compensation to the University of Hawai‘i, which is expected to begin at “first light,” will be split equitably between a higher education package to be used for selected initiatives of the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo and Hawai‘i Community College on Hawai‘i Island, and observing time for University of Hawai‘i scientists. — David McClain , President, University of Hawai‘i
This is the first time that the Big Island, through the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo and Hawai‘i Community College, will share in the benefits of a Mauna Kea-based telescope. It’s a very far cry from the $1 yearly leases telescopes have paid to date, which people have been so frustrated about.
I read President McClain’s statement to say that of the total TMT package, half will come to the Big Island. This is huge and could be another $5 million of value each year coming to the Big Island through UHH and HCC.
So just to compare — the TMT could be bringing $6 million of value annually to the Big Island, while O‘ahu’s new rail system will cost each resident $4,000, and they will still have to pay each time they ride it.
This accounting of the TMT’s benefits doesn’t even include how many local people will be employed in running the telescope, nor the business that will benefit from the TMT being here. Nor does it take into account the secondary benefit of strengthening our higher-level education systems.
Not to mention the psychological benefit to our people, as they take pride in hosting the biggest and best telescope in the world, one which reinforces the fact that Hawaiians were once the best navigators in the world. Our keiki and future generations will be looking up to the heavens and not down in the mud.
Everyone wants to do good for Mauna Kea; this is a given. There are lots and lots of volunteers. No one is advocating taking any short cuts. I would not support it if this were the case.
Finally, this is not about you and me — it’s about the keiki and future generations. I don’t know of any other instance where an entity is offering a community this much value for its children and future generations. Right now, we see the opposite: jobs being cut, businesses closing up shop and the most defenseless among us being left to fend for themselves.
So try, try explain again how this will be bad for our keiki and future generations?
Better Place is working to build an electric car network, using technology available today. Our goals? Sustainable transportation, global energy independence and freedom from oil.
Shai Agassi is founder and CEO of Better Place, and in the following video he talks about his mission. His company has a plan to take entire countries oil-free by 2020.
From ted.com: Agassi stunned the software industry in 2007 by resigning from SAP to focus on his vision for breaking the world’s fossil-fuel habit, a cause he had championed since his fuse was lit at a Young Global Leaders conference in 2005. Through his enthusiastic persistence, Agassi’s startup Better Place has signed up some impressive partners — including Nissan-Renault and the countries
of Israel and Denmark.
Electric vehicles for our transportation needs are starting to come into focus. Better Place has announced that it is partnering with Hawai‘i to make mass adoption of electric vehicles powered by renewable energy a reality in the state by 2012.
The state’s partnership with Better Place will play a significant role in the economic growth of Hawaii and will serve as a model for the rest of the U.S. for how green technology infrastructure can fuel job creation. The implementation of electric infrastructure will reignite the Hawaii economy with local jobs, while creating a model for renewable energy growth. It will also expose the millions of annual visitors to Hawaii to the real possibilities of life with clean energy and renewable fuel.
A bill currently going through the Hawai‘i State Legislature will require that large parking facilities have charging stations for electric vehicles.
Why is Hamakua Springs Country Farms interested in electric cars?
It’s because we are building a hydroelectric plant, where we will generate electricity from water that runs through a flume on our property. We will sell the excess electricity back to the public utility.
We wonder how farmers everywhere in Hawai‘i can participate in renewable energy production.
Oil is a finite resource and world population is increasing at the rate of 70 million annually. We all know that oil prices will rise to unbearable heights in the future.
We also know that our food security depends on Hawai‘i’s farmers farming, and making enough money that they stay in farming. How can we position our farmers so they make money on renewable energy they generate on their farm, in addition to the money they make farming? Because we know that if the farmers make money, the farmers will farm.
Renewable energy production is capital-intensive, not labor-intensive. There is no weeding, spraying, plowing or harvesting. Once a renewable energy project is installed, the farmer can go back to farming.
In conjunction with this need for food security, I suggested to the Farm Bureau that we initiate a bill that would authorize preferential rates of return for bonafide farmers who produce renewable energy. HB 591 HD1 SD2 is likely to be passed by the Legislature this session.
If the farmers make money, the farmers will farm. And then we will have food security.
It’s not often you run across someone who is, as Richard describes Brudda Skibs, “completely selfless.”
Richard told me that when they conceived of the idea of the E Malama ‘Aina sustainability festival, Brudda Skibs was the first person he thought of. He’s glad Skibs was a part of the festival.
Richard described Brudda Skibs to me by saying he is known for organizing people in the community – mostly young people – to malama the ‘aina. To take care of the land.
“His reputation is spreading,” Richard said, “and other islands are trying to copy his template.”
That’s Skibs kneeling in the center, wearing the black long-sleeved t-shirt.
It’s hard for some people to wrap their heads around what Skibs (real name: Keith Nehls) does. Every Monday he and his volunteer crew clean up the park at Hakalau. Every Wednesday, they work at Honoli‘i Park. Every Friday, they’re at Honomu.
“We do it free,” he says. “With our heart.”
Watch this video, and you’ll understand about his heart. It’s an important speech and I wish every kid in Hawai‘i would watch it.
And read this article about their reclamation of Honoli‘i Park. Here’s an excerpt:
Honoli’i is one of the best surf spots on the Hilo side, hands down, and for years the surrounding park area was overgrown, full of rubbish, and unattended.
No More.
In November 2003 Keith “Skibs” Nehls and 150 other people started a movement that dwindled down to maybe 5 people within five months. His undying spirit carried him through.
Never Give Up echoed in his ears, words that his Grandfather taught him.
Uncle Skibs gives plenty credit to the teachings of his Grandfather, which instilled in him a strong faith in Akua(God) and a dedication to taking care of the aina(land)….
Dramatic Changes have taken place at Honoli’i, the aina glows from the loving touch of its caretakers.
In the beginning, everybody thought that the land was county land, and no one asked; they just started cleaning it.
Turns out it was Kamehameha School lands, and they were thinking of selling it because they saw no way they were going to be able to take care of it.
When they saw what was going on, they approached Uncle Skibs and offered him a lease on the land, 1 acre, for a dollar a year!
See what a little faith does!
Just look at what they’ve accomplished at Honoli‘i. This video shows the same areas in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, and my jaw fell open to see the land go from abandoned to absolutely beautiful. I had to replay it a couple times to see it again.
At Honomu, they are working on cleaning up the old sugar mill. “It’s privately owned by a doctor,” says Skibs. “He got in touch with us and said he was looking for someone to come take care of this place. He said he wants to give back. He wants to hand it over to an entity” where part of the building can be a community center and part of the land down near the ocean can be a park. They’re clearing the top part of the property right now. “We’re showing him we’re real,” he says.
They’re real. Skibs and his crew have been doing this for five years now, and he’s formed a non-profit organization, Basic Image, which last year brought in $46,000 in cash – $40,000 of that from the Hawaii Tourism Authority – and almost $300,000 in in-kind donations.
Kids come help on the weekends, he says, from Hilo High, Kamehameha Schools, Ha‘aheo School, Punana Leo and others. “We give them a tour, talk to them,” he says. “We tell them we built this park and put on events, and you gotta bring your parents, teach others, because when we die, you’ve gotta take over. This is for everybody. It’s not yours. You’re not going to get one special park; you’re doing it to teach our culture. You’re giving back.”
Every year he puts on surf contests at Honoli‘i and Pohoiki. “It’s for the kids, but parents or guardians have to be there,” he says. “Schools help us. They tell the kids: If you come and help us, we’ll put on this free contest because you’ve giving back. The parents come so they know what’s going on.”
Want to help? He says he’s always there around 9 or 9:30 in the morning. Or email him at skibs7@mac.com.
“Everyone has one talent that’s their gift,” he says. “You don’t have to come down to clean up. You give whatever. What you like do? What are you good at? I like you come and do what you like do.”
“We’re all here to do one job. We’re not looking at money or fame; we’re looking at changing this place to the way it used to be.”
Richard says that what Brudda Skibs is doing is “a manifestation of ‘aloha spirit.'”
“This is what is going to keep us together as a society when push comes to shove,” he says. “We need to feel a part of our community, make more friends and stay close to our family.”
“What we’re doing is real,” says Skibs. “We could change this island. We’re doing it already. That’s our job right now – the future of our children.”
Richard was down at Reed’s Bay recently and saw this Hawaiian monk seal sunning on a rock. See it there, toward the top/middle of the shot?
Some rangers from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, present to make sure the seal wasn’t disturbed, said this particular seal has been hanging around for the past month or so between Richardson’s Beach and Maui’s canoe, which is up the Wailuku River. They think she’s about to give birth.
Richard said there were about 10 people looking at the seal, including Mayor-Elect Billy Kenoi, his wife Takako and their three young children. They had been picnicking across the bay when someone pointed out the seal to them, so they came over to get a better look.
Wikipedia says, of the highly endangered Hawaiian monk seal:
To raise awareness for the species’ plight, the Hawaiian monk seal was declared Hawaii’s official State Mammal on June 11, 2008 by Lieutenant Governor James Aiona.
It’s estimated that there are only about 1200 Hawaiian monkseals left, and it’s to spot one sunning on a Big Island beach, which happens from time to time. When it happens, the area is roped off so the seal is left alone. The rest of us just move down the beach a bit until they go.
Here’s another one (or the same one?). I saw this seal at Richardson’s Beach this past March.
On Sunday, my family (my mom Tracy, dad Kimo, and sister Kimberly and I) went up to Mauna Kea to play in the snow.
photo by Kapono Pa
Kimo, Kimberly, Tracy (photo by Kapono Pa)
It was a nice and warm 34 degrees at the summit, with a wind chill of a face-stinging 10-15 degrees, with some winds blowing at 30 mph or more. The snow was set on thick—in some spots there was two to three feet of snow, most of which was almost ice because it has been up on the mountain for a couple weeks now. There was snow down to about 11,000 feet.
photo by Kapono Pa
There were tons of people snowboarding and skiing. Each group of people took turns picking each other up at the bottom of the hill and driving them up to the top to drop them off and start all over again. My dad (Kimo) had fun running down the small hills on his boogie-board that he just bought from Wal-Mart that morning. He wiped-out big time and ate some massive snow (but I think we shall keep that picture to ourselves).
Kimo (photo by Kapono Pa)
Sunglasses were a must because it was bright and sunny and the snow was pure white. We came back with some sunburn even though we only spent about two hours up on the mountain (I guess time seems to move slower in thin air). I personally had tons of fun, and I think we all did seeing as we all “boarded” on the snow for the first time ever.
Kapono
At the end, we spent about 15 minutes shoveling snow into the back of Dad’s truck to bring back and show everyone.
Kapono, Kimberly, Tracy and Kimo Pa (Snowman photos by Richard Ha)
The pictures of us making snow “things” were taken in the driveway of my great-grandparents (Joseph and Florinda Perreira—June’s parents).
Kimberly and June made a snowman, for which Florinda provided the hat, and I made a bear and a fish. We all used rocks for eyes.
(Editor’s note: The following email exchange took place:
Leslie to Richard: “Richard. Are you shirtless in that picture with the snowmen?”
Richard to Leslie: “Yes. This is Hawai’i.”)
All the leftover snow in Dad’s truck melted overnight and was gone by the next morning. It was a great experience and I got the awesome pictures that I wanted. Had a blast.
