Voyage to Papahanaumokuakea an eye-opener

Pacific Island educators absorbing new insights into ocean environment Ten educators from Hawai'i and Pacific Island nations landed Tuesday on Nihoa Island as part of a special voyage in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. They come from Maui, Kaua'i, Moloka'i, Kiribati, Cook Islands, Australia, Palau, Marshall Islands, Fiji and American Samoa and are specialists in cultural practices, fisheries, conservation, math, science and coral reef ecology, said Andy Collins, education and technology coordinator for the monument. Bringing them together in the world's largest marine protected area during the International Year of the Reef allows them to "step away from their day-to-day things and how they work in their own local communities," Collins said by satellite phone yesterday. Together on the NOAA ship Hi'ialakai for... [read full story]