WEBVTT

00:00:10.135 --> 00:00:12.971
I find it very important to

00:00:12.971 --> 00:00:16.141
protect and keep our natural environment,

00:00:16.141 --> 00:00:19.894
as well as all the species
that exist and coexist with us.

00:00:20.603 --> 00:00:23.314
in the best shape as possible.

00:00:23.314 --> 00:00:26.860
I learned a lot on the marine science
aspect in college.

00:00:27.444 --> 00:00:29.779
And of course, after college
with internships

00:00:29.779 --> 00:00:34.617
and my current profession, but with hula,
it more grounds me with the mauka aspect.

00:00:34.659 --> 00:00:38.538
When we learn about Laka, the goddess
of hula, and all the different,

00:00:38.663 --> 00:00:42.250
kino lau or body forms
that comes with hula,

00:00:42.667 --> 00:00:47.255
and it's just that nice connection
connecting mauka to makai,

00:00:47.589 --> 00:00:51.676
More often than none
that we kind of ensure that connection is,

00:00:52.635 --> 00:00:57.057
very prevalent when it comes to our work,
because whenever happens in our mauka or

00:00:57.057 --> 00:01:00.060
uplands, affects our coastal,

00:01:00.894 --> 00:01:03.354
environments, especially our oceans.

00:01:03.354 --> 00:01:08.485
Since Hawaiʻi is such an important
breeding, mating and calving ground

00:01:08.485 --> 00:01:14.616
for kohalā or humpback whales in Hawaiʻi,
it's a very important habitat.

00:01:15.742 --> 00:01:17.535
The Hawaiian Islands Humpback whale National

00:01:17.535 --> 00:01:20.121
Marine Sanctuary was designated to ensure

00:01:20.121 --> 00:01:23.917
that we keep those habitats
and protect these whales

00:01:23.917 --> 00:01:27.921
that are coming to our islands
every winter, every year.

00:01:28.171 --> 00:01:30.215
Because we want them
to come back to Hawaiʻi.

00:01:30.215 --> 00:01:30.965
They’re our

00:01:30.965 --> 00:01:34.219
kamaʻāina, whales,
resident whales that come annually.

00:01:34.302 --> 00:01:37.305
and we always enjoy
when they do come and visit.

00:01:41.893 --> 00:01:43.520
Different paths that end up in these

00:01:43.520 --> 00:01:47.357
same areas or spaces at different times
of our lives and journeys.

00:01:47.357 --> 00:01:47.649
Right?

00:01:47.649 --> 00:01:52.070
And knowing that not everybody is going to
have that passion and love for Papahānaumokuākea

00:01:52.612 --> 00:01:57.158
that I have, but in hopes that I hope
that my time at the moment that I get

00:01:57.158 --> 00:02:01.329
to share with them, I just plant
a little bit of love for Papahānaumokuākea

00:02:01.329 --> 00:02:02.413
for that space.

00:02:02.413 --> 00:02:06.584
Because the reality is when people come
in, especially folks not from Hawaiʻi,

00:02:07.043 --> 00:02:11.381
they know Hawaiʻi as spanning
from Hawaiʻi Island to Kauaʻi,

00:02:11.798 --> 00:02:15.844
and they don't realize
that there's more, islands past Kauaʻi.

00:02:15.844 --> 00:02:18.096
And and so really giving them that,

00:02:19.514 --> 00:02:19.973
that moʻolelo

00:02:19.973 --> 00:02:23.768
the sharing of just the name,
whatever I can in that time

00:02:23.768 --> 00:02:26.813
that we're exchanging
together is meaningful and,

00:02:27.981 --> 00:02:30.859
I feel is,

00:02:30.859 --> 00:02:32.402
in a way, a reason why they came,

00:02:32.402 --> 00:02:35.405
whether or not they knew why
they were walking into the building.

00:02:35.405 --> 00:02:37.365
Yeah. So,

00:02:37.365 --> 00:02:39.951
and it gives opportunity for people
to share their stories

00:02:39.951 --> 00:02:44.372
and ask their questions
and really kind of know more about us

00:02:44.414 --> 00:02:48.042
and really thinking
about the importance of Hawaiʻi nei

00:02:48.293 --> 00:02:51.880
beyond our main Hawaiian islands,
but the whole entire archipelago

00:02:52.338 --> 00:02:56.718
and the relevance and significance
culturally, ancestrally, environmentally,

00:02:57.218 --> 00:03:00.221
and even our maritime heritage.

00:03:00.889 --> 00:03:04.809
When I think about voyaging
and being students of the ocean

00:03:04.809 --> 00:03:09.272
and kind of the way that that ties
into stewardship and care of the ocean,

00:03:09.606 --> 00:03:13.443
what's really kind of nagging at me
to talk about is,

00:03:13.902 --> 00:03:17.155
that Hōkūleʻa has been voyaging
for almost 50 years.

00:03:17.405 --> 00:03:19.115
And that in all those years, you know,

00:03:19.115 --> 00:03:22.118
so much has been learned
and there's still so much to learn.

00:03:22.452 --> 00:03:25.455
But the ocean is continuing to change.

00:03:25.705 --> 00:03:28.124
You know, we just returned from

00:03:28.124 --> 00:03:32.128
about a week of deep sea training,
and a lot of that was,

00:03:32.629 --> 00:03:34.339
I don't know
if hindered is the right word,

00:03:34.339 --> 00:03:38.301
but there was a lot of changing
of the sail plan because of

00:03:39.385 --> 00:03:40.303
weather.

00:03:40.303 --> 00:03:45.141
And so just recognizing and being humble
and attentive to nature

00:03:45.141 --> 00:03:49.729
in the way that it's continuing to change
and oceans are warming and,

00:03:49.938 --> 00:03:54.192
you know, trade wind patterns
that have been consistent,

00:03:55.276 --> 00:03:59.239
for decades,
if not longer, aren't the same anymore.

00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:00.782
and I think that's part of our kuleana (responsibility)

00:04:00.782 --> 00:04:04.118
now as students of the ocean
is to be attentive to those changes.

00:04:04.619 --> 00:04:08.957
But I think that I also presents us
with the challenge of not being able

00:04:08.957 --> 00:04:12.335
to completely rely on the way
that things have always been done.

00:04:12.335 --> 00:04:17.298
There's this constant necessity
to raise the bar and to know the weather

00:04:17.632 --> 00:04:22.303
even better, and to know the vessels
even better, and how we can adjust them

00:04:22.679 --> 00:04:27.225
in order to be safe, you know,
safety is always our number one priority.

00:04:27.225 --> 00:04:31.020
And so I think there's
a lot of changing elements, you know,

00:04:31.020 --> 00:04:31.938
and Nainoa always talks

00:04:31.938 --> 00:04:35.066
about how quickly the world is changing,
and it's changing so quickly

00:04:35.066 --> 00:04:38.403
that we find ourselves wrapped up
and we don't know what to do.

00:04:38.403 --> 00:04:43.658
And so I think that with voyaging, you
know, the ocean really is our classroom.

00:04:43.658 --> 00:04:48.037
And so if our classroom is changing
and we don't know how to operate

00:04:48.037 --> 00:04:52.250
or how to learn within our classroom
anymore, I think that then just creates

00:04:52.250 --> 00:04:57.130
this whole cascade of delays and,
you know, effects.

00:04:57.130 --> 00:05:00.466
And we have to be prepared
to handle those as they come.

00:05:00.633 --> 00:05:03.553
When I think of stewardship, it's
not one organization

00:05:03.553 --> 00:05:07.307
or one hui (group) of people
that are doing all of the work.

00:05:07.307 --> 00:05:08.016
It's all of us

00:05:09.017 --> 00:05:11.561
bringing our different ʻike (knowledge) to the table
and sitting

00:05:11.561 --> 00:05:13.021
and explaining with each other.

00:05:13.021 --> 00:05:15.565
This is how my piece fits into the puzzle.

00:05:15.565 --> 00:05:18.109
This is what value I see
in what you know.

00:05:18.109 --> 00:05:23.489
And so I think that stewardship really
calls us to move towards action together.