WEBVTT

00:01.736 --> 00:04.486
(birds chirping)

00:14.879 --> 00:18.212
(quiet, peaceful music)

00:31.740 --> 00:33.620
- Well, if I was going
to try to describe Kauai,

00:33.620 --> 00:36.410
as a biologist, I'd say
it's interesting that

00:36.410 --> 00:38.360
you have kind of like both extremes.

00:38.360 --> 00:40.800
Up in the mountains, you
have wilderness areas

00:40.800 --> 00:44.890
that still have lots of
native Hawaiian forest

00:44.890 --> 00:47.010
that's remaining up there,
and lots of interesting

00:47.010 --> 00:50.540
native Hawaiian animal and plant species.

00:50.540 --> 00:51.860
And on the other side, you have the ocean.

00:51.860 --> 00:55.590
Along the coasts you have, of
course, the undeveloped ocean.

00:55.590 --> 00:58.157
And so we're kind of
between two, you know,

00:58.157 --> 01:01.490
really beautiful extremes here in Kauai.

01:02.389 --> 01:04.251
One of the things that people
really love about Kauai

01:04.251 --> 01:07.313
is the fact that it's a
little bit more laid back.

01:07.313 --> 01:09.570
There's less people, a little more rural,

01:09.570 --> 01:12.830
and more ability to get
out into the wilderness,

01:12.830 --> 01:14.337
and that kind of thing.

01:14.337 --> 01:16.489
But Kauai is changing over time.

01:16.489 --> 01:19.440
There's more people and there's
more development over time.

01:19.440 --> 01:22.630
And along with that, it's
caused some challenges

01:22.630 --> 01:24.500
for doing conservation work,

01:24.500 --> 01:26.370
you know, with some of the wildlife.

01:26.370 --> 01:28.860
With every introduction of
a new plant or a new animal

01:28.860 --> 01:30.350
or something like that,
these things all have

01:30.350 --> 01:34.540
effects on the native
population of the forest

01:34.540 --> 01:38.630
up in the mountains, and
also along the coastline.

01:38.630 --> 01:41.591
So there's, as there's more
and more human development,

01:41.591 --> 01:43.510
there's more and more challenges

01:43.510 --> 01:45.773
for trying to protect
the native community.

01:46.640 --> 01:50.330
Here in Hawaii, there's some
specialized shearwaters.

01:50.330 --> 01:53.420
They're ocean birds,
they're completely pelagic,

01:53.420 --> 01:56.210
which means they spend
their entire lives at sea.

01:56.210 --> 01:58.840
They don't come to land for
anything, except for nesting.

01:58.840 --> 02:01.230
They have to have a solid
place to lay an egg.

02:01.230 --> 02:03.090
And when they reach full size

02:03.090 --> 02:05.220
and they're gonna fly
for their first time,

02:05.220 --> 02:07.760
which happens during the fall of the year,

02:07.760 --> 02:10.690
they take flight for the
first time and fly out to sea.

02:10.690 --> 02:12.000
It's their first flight ever,

02:12.000 --> 02:14.360
they don't have any experience
with the outside world,

02:14.360 --> 02:18.230
they only have their natural,
inborn navigation skills.

02:18.230 --> 02:21.280
They understand and they're
able to actually read the stars

02:21.280 --> 02:23.400
and look at the stars on
the horizon, the moon,

02:23.400 --> 02:25.310
and that's what they
use to find the ocean.

02:25.310 --> 02:28.910
So in recent years, as human
development has increased,

02:28.910 --> 02:32.110
and there's more and more
artificial lighting on the island,

02:32.110 --> 02:34.060
these birds are running into trouble

02:34.060 --> 02:36.420
because as they come flying
out of the mountains,

02:36.420 --> 02:37.840
come out of that high mountain valley,

02:37.840 --> 02:39.670
and come over the coastline on Kauai,

02:39.670 --> 02:41.100
and see all these artificial lights,

02:41.100 --> 02:44.680
that screws up their ability to

02:44.680 --> 02:46.270
find their right way to the ocean.

02:46.270 --> 02:48.520
They might end up in
trouble because of that.

02:49.910 --> 02:54.600
- So, to minimize the
impacts to shearwaters,

02:54.600 --> 02:57.170
migratory sea birds flying over

02:57.170 --> 03:00.380
or nearby Pacific Missile Range Facility,

03:00.380 --> 03:02.810
our primary conservation measure

03:02.810 --> 03:07.230
that we've implemented this
year is a dark skies program,

03:07.230 --> 03:11.450
where we're reducing the
amount of unnecessary lighting

03:11.450 --> 03:14.780
and/or shielding necessary lights

03:14.780 --> 03:17.663
to reduce the attractiveness
to shearwaters.

03:18.800 --> 03:20.840
So in addition to the implementation of

03:20.840 --> 03:23.310
our dark skies program this year,

03:23.310 --> 03:25.830
we also have a very interesting study

03:25.830 --> 03:29.570
where we're using radar to
track Newell Shearwaters

03:29.570 --> 03:33.320
that might be flying overhead at night.

03:33.320 --> 03:35.460
It's very hard to pick up these birds

03:35.460 --> 03:38.739
with the naked eye at night,
but by using these radars,

03:38.739 --> 03:41.720
we've developed a much
better understanding

03:41.720 --> 03:43.920
of not only how many
birds are flying overhead,

03:43.920 --> 03:45.750
but how they're flying as well.

03:45.750 --> 03:47.500
So this is really interesting data.

03:49.110 --> 03:52.240
We hope that these conservation measures,

03:52.240 --> 03:55.040
collectively, that we've put into place,

03:55.040 --> 03:57.970
into action here at Pacific
Missile Range Facility,

03:57.970 --> 04:01.790
will serve as an example
for other installations,

04:01.790 --> 04:05.050
as well as our partners here on Kauai

04:05.050 --> 04:07.870
to be able to minimize their impacts

04:07.870 --> 04:09.593
to Newell's Shearwaters as well.

04:11.091 --> 04:12.703
- You know, when I think about

04:12.703 --> 04:15.100
what I like about the island of Kauai,

04:15.100 --> 04:16.070
two things come to mind.

04:16.070 --> 04:18.710
And it's obvious: the people,

04:18.710 --> 04:21.040
and the natural beauty of Kauai.

04:21.040 --> 04:21.873
Those two things.

04:21.873 --> 04:23.870
Now, those end up being
in conflict, almost,

04:23.870 --> 04:25.270
for a conservationist sometimes,

04:25.270 --> 04:26.350
because the more people you have,

04:26.350 --> 04:28.970
the harder it is to
preserve the natural beauty.

04:28.970 --> 04:31.320
But everybody here, I think,

04:31.320 --> 04:33.090
appreciates the natural beauty of Kauai.

04:33.090 --> 04:35.730
Everybody appreciates
the beauty of the ocean,

04:35.730 --> 04:36.900
the beauty of the mountains.

04:36.900 --> 04:38.050
You go up into the mountains,

04:38.050 --> 04:40.780
and there's just something
there that's invaluable.

04:40.780 --> 04:43.320
And I think that that's the reason why

04:43.320 --> 04:46.763
we are working to preserve,
as much as possible,

04:47.690 --> 04:50.523
Kauai's native and natural resources.

04:51.637 --> 04:54.970
(peaceful, quiet music)