PMNM's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Newsletter

PMNM's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries presents our newsletter featuring some of the monument's many accomplishments and upcoming notable events. This newsletter reflects some of the initiatives of NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and partners. It is produced three times a year, to coincide with the the seasonal changes: the ending of Makahiki and the wet season or hoʻoilo (February), the summer solstice and dry season or kauwela (June), and the coming of the Makahiki season and the wet season or hoʻoilo (October).

For the February newsletter, Ka haʻilono means "news, bringing of news", which implies the haʻi (telling) of Lono and a passing of Lono. For the June newsletter, Kū Ka Nū Hou means "news revealed" and implies the season of kauwela (summer), when elements of Kū, the primary Hawaiian god or akua associated with this time of the year, are prominently reestablished. For the October newsletter, Kuʻi Ka Lono means "the news spread" and also acknowledges the arrival of the Makahiki season when the star cluster Makaliʻi (Pleiades) rises shortly after sunset. This occurs from October or November and continues over four lunar months through February or March. Lono is the Hawaiian god (akua) of the Makihiki season and the akua of the senses and all that occurs during this time. Large rain clouds return and the koholā or humpback whales arrive along with migrating seabirds like mōlī (Laysan albatross) and kōlea (golden plover) birds. It is a time when cleansing and new growth occurs throughout the lands and seas.