Submitted by Blair Files on the 2017 winter session program in Hawaii sponsored by the Department of Biological Sciences…
One of my favorite experiences on the Big Island of Hawaii was going on a boat trip to Kealakekua Bay to snorkel and see the Captain Cook Monument. We set out at noon, a double -decker pontoon boat decked out with a full kitchen awaited us in a calm, electric blue harbor. The thirty minute trip to the bay was spent hanging over the upper deck rails, staring into the distant water between us and the mat-black cliffs of the shore line to catch a glimpse of the two humpback whales our captain alerted us to. We watched them breach and spout in the impossibly deep blue indigo ocean. As we rounded the coast into a secluded cove, a small white monument stood steadfastly on a weathered stone dock tucked into the the trees over hanging the shallow reef. Our captain told the story of the man to whom this pillar is dedicated. Captain Cook, credited for discovering most of the Pacific, first came to the Hawaiian Islands in the 1700’s during “Makahiki”, the native tribe’s time of peace. Thought to be a god, he and his men were received gloriously. However, when he returned on his second voyage, one of his men died during their stay. Their status as gods crumbled and Captain Cook was stoned to death by the native people. As we were snorkeling in one of the best protected reefs in the world, I was reminded of the price others have had to pay to give us such access. I floated above a marine world, a city of coral alleys and valleys, all of which I am allowed to view and enjoy as long as I respect the land that offers it. Respect is a small price to pay when others have died to secure relations with this place. The Hawaiians have a saying here that I hope to apply to my attitude towards any environment I am in, “Malama ke Kuleana o me kai”, meaning to take care of the responsibility of the ocean.