Life – Fish
This episode of Life
You will witness the brightly colored weedy sea dragon’s unusual mating and parenting methods. Clownfish, whose life cycle is filmed in intimate detail using macro cameras, being protected by the fronds of an anemone. The sarcastic fringehead fiercely defending its territory from octopi and rival fringefish. Wrasses performing the cleaning duties on coral reefs. And Japanese mudskippers spending many of their waking hours out of water feeding, leaping, and fighting for the attentions of the opposite sex.
Tiny gobies are filmed climbing powerful Hawaiian waterfalls to colonise the placid pools upstream. They accomplish their waterfall-climbing feat by attaching their tiny chest suckers to the rock at the base of the falls and inching upward in fits and starts until they reach an upper pool. At the top of a waterfall a near perfect fish habitat can be found to feed and breed in safety. Once mating is over, the new generation will be washed out into the ocean and the whole cycle will begin again.
The video shown here is the opening sequence of the previously recorded version narrated by David Attenborough.
Kauai Solar Energy
It takes about four hundred million years to produce fossil fuels, but it only takes eight minutes for sunlight to reach Kauai from the sun.
Solar hot water heating is the most cost effective means of tapping into the sun. This is the first solar technology that homeowners should employ, since it can cut your electricity bill by up to 40%. Solar water heating systems consist of a solar collector, a circulation system (pump), and an insulated water tank. The water is simply circulated through the collector where it is heated up by the sun, then stored for use. The solar water heater system uses 90% less electricity than a conventional electrical water heater. On average, an electrical water heater uses 240 kWh per month while the solar water heater uses only 24 kWh. The cost of an average system is around $6500. But, after the Hawai‘i Energy rebate of $1000, a State Tax Credit (35%) of $1925, and a Federal Tax Credit (25%) of $1650 your solar water heater system will cost around $2000, with a payback period of 2 – 4 years.
The number of Hawai‘i residents with photovoltaic (PV) on their rooftops is growing rapidly. PV converts the sun’s energy into useable electricity through panels using silicon wafers as the semiconducting material, which produce direct current that is fed into an inverter that converts the energy into household AC electricity. Most systems in Hawai‘i are grid-tied PV systems which do not have any storage capacity, instead using the electricity grid as “storage” through net energy metering. Some systems do have backup or storage capacity that provide a few days of juice if there is a blackout or the sun isn’t shining. Systems range from smaller 1 kW systems to large 6 kW systems – enough to cover an entire home’s energy needs. Depending on the system size, PV systems can cost between $5000 and $40,000 after tax credits and rebates, with a payback period of 5 – 15 years.
Life – Mammals
This episode of Life
Raising young is another important factor in mammals’ success. Coatis and meerkats form social groups to share the burden of childcare. A first-time African elephant mother needs the experience of the herd’s matriarch to get her young calf out of trouble. In an astonishing sequence, an elephant grandmother shoves her inexperienced daughter aside to pull her newborn granddaughter out of the mud and save her life.
Mammals have evolved different ways of travelling long distances. Reindeer move through the Arctic tundra, making the longest overland migration of any animal. A massive colony (only recently been discovered) of ten million fruit bats congregate at Zambia’s Kasanka swamps to gorge on fruiting trees.
The largest animals in the ocean are also migratory mammals. Humpback whales in different parts of the world all migrate from cooler feeding grounds to warmer oceans for mating and raising calves. Hawaii is one of the premier places on Earth to see these magnificent creatures. Life takes you on a heat run where a female leads her potential suitors on a chase with the males battling for dominance behind her.
The video shown here is the opening sequence of the previously recorded version narrated by David Attenborough.
Kauai Orchid and Art Festival 2010
The Kauai Orchid and Art Festival will be held on March 26 and 27. The orchid show is a showcase for amazing arrangements, and beautiful displays of exotic, tropical orchids. There will also be live concerts featuring contemporary Hawaiian musicians Paul Togioka at 2:30 pm and Kenny Ray Rapozo at 4:30 pm. Saturday performers are Cindy Combs at 1:30 and Kelii Kanealii at 3:30 pm. View Kauai’s top artists in this year’s juried art exhibit at Amy Lauren Gallery. Plein air painters are invited to paint in various locations around historic Hanapepe during the festival.
There will also be a Vanilla Cuisine Workshop conducted by pastry chef, Helen Lacono, owner of the Hanapepe Cafe and Bakery. The vanilla orchid produces the only edible fruit of the orchid family, and in this two hour cooking class you will Master the art of making Crème brulèe, Vanilla Ice Cream, homemade vanilla extract, vanilla sugar, and syrup. Call Kimberly Busch-French (808) 332-5739 to reserve your spot.
Storybook Theatre will present an original play, “Princess Kaiulani: Na Koa Kalani” on Friday at 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm. And Purple Striped Honu Theatre group will present a children’s play “Where’s Mom” at Storybook Theatre in Hanapepe Park on Friday at 3:30 pm and on Saturday at 1:00 pm. Enjoy a dance performance by Aloha Dance Studio, live music, craft fair, silent auction, children’s art activities, and great food from local vendors. Show times are 1:00 to 7:00 pm on Friday and 9:00 am to 4:00 pm on Saturday.
Kauai History and Kapa Designs
Kapa was made throughout ancient Polynesia, but the highest quality kapa was produced in the Hawaiian Islands. When it came to dying kapa, the people of Hawaii loved to use color and intricate patterns. Dyes were made from different plants and their many parts including leaves, flowers, sap, roots, and bark. These dyes could be painted on or the kapa immersed in the waiho’olulu (dark water). The waiho`olu`u was fixed to the cloth with mordants of salt (pa`akai), mud (lepo), and coral (ko`a). Patterns were stamped onto the finished kapa cloth with blocks of wood carved with designs. Geometric designs with inherent symbolism, such as lines, triangles, circles, and chevrons were carved in `ohe (bamboo) and called `ohe kapala. The process of decorating the kapa involved dipping the carved wood block or bamboo stamps into a shallow stone bowl containing colored dyes, and then pressing the design onto the kapa. Each impression was aligned with the edge of the previous impression forming a pattern. This intricate bamboo stamp printing method utilized by Hawaiians was found nowhere else in Polynesia.
Colored dyes for ancient Hawaiian kapa came from varied natural sources:
Green/Gray – ‘Ala‘ala Wai Nui (Leaves, Stems), Ma‘o (Leaves), Pōpolo (Leaves)
Yellow – Hōlei (Stem, Bark, Roots), Kūkaenēnē (Inner Bark of Stem), Nānū (Fruit)
Orange – ‘Alaea (Red Dirt), Noni (Roots), ‘Ōlena (Underground Stem), ‘Ulu (Male Flower)
Pink/Red – ‘Akala (Fruit), Hau Hele ‘Ula (Flower Petals)
Red – ‘Ama‘u (Young Fronds), Kalo (Corm), Koa (Bark), Koki‘o ‘Ula‘ula (Flower), Kōlea Lau Nui (Sap)
Red/Brown – Kukui (Inner Bark of Trunk), Kukui (Inner Bark of Root), Pala‘ā (Older Leaves)
Brown – Kou (Leaves), Kamani (Husk of Fruit), ‘Ōhi‘a ‘Ai (Inner Bark of Trunk)
Purple – Hame (Fruit), ‘Ūlei (Fruit)
Dark Purple – Kūkaenēnē (Fruit), Naupaka Kuahiwi (Fruit), Pōpolo (Fruit), Pōpolo Kū Mai (Fruit)
Blue – Kauila (Leaves and Bark), ‘Uki‘uki (Fruit), Wana (Sea urchin), ‘Ulu, ‘Ōlapa (Fruit, Leaves, Bark, Roots)
Black – Alahe‘e (Leaves), Huahekili Uka (Fruit), Kō (Charcoal from Leaves and Stems), Kōlea Lau Nui (Charcoal from Stem), Kukui (Soot from Burning), Mai‘a (Skin of Trunk), Pā‘ihi (Stem Bark)
Hawaiian Shells and Tools
From prehistoric times, man has used shells for tools and utensils. Household dishes, cooking pots, cutlery, scoops, spatulas were often made from bivalves and larger gastropods. Food pounders were made from the giant clam in the South Pacific. Storage containers for such things as perfumes, ointments and medicines were made from some of the larger bivalves and univalves such as the nautilus. Oil lamps made from shells are a frequent find throughout the Middle East. Fishing lures, octopus lures, hooks and sinkers were made from abalone, pearl shell and cowries. Tweezers, tongs and claspers were made from bivalves. Building tools designed to split and smooth many building and thatching materials such as palm fronds and bamboo canes. Farming tools, shovels, plow blades, hoes for tilling the soil, adze, knife, and axe blades were made from shells with sharpened edges. Blades and scrapers for cutting and skinning hides were made from shells such as the ark shell. Drills, chisels, scrapers, sanders were made from various shells such as the Red Helmet shell. Bailing buckets made from ‘bailer’ shells are still in use by native fisherman in the South Pacific and Australia today to bail out their boats.
In the 16th Century, natives of Central America dumped Purpura Patula snails into cauldrons and crushed them. The mashed snails oozed purple dye that could color cloth. By 1648, the natives had started producing this dye for export to Spain. Because of the high demand for the dye, they were forced to find ways to maintain their supply while not endangering the population of snails. By imposing conservation measures, they learned to pluck a snail off the rocks, gently blow into its shell and collect the dye that trickled out. The snail was then returned to the rocks unharmed. Central America wasn’t the only part of the world where clothes were dyed with mollusk juice. Mollusks in the Mediterranean were also used in this way. Antony and Cleopatra had sails that were colored ‘tyrian purple’. Rome’s emperor Nero was the only person in the empire allowed to wear cloth of this color.
