ALOHA from O'ahu
---Mokoli'i---
Photo by Kailua Al
Mokoli'i is a 12.5-acre (5.1 ha), 206-foot-tall (63 m) small volcanic islet that lies about 600 yards (.54km) offshore from Kualoa State Park on the windward side O'ahu. It was once a basalt pinnacle on a ridge connected to Kualoa Park. The ridge was subsequently worn away by marine erosion, creating the islet. Mokoli'i is surrounded by shallow reef flats and people sometimes wade across during low tide on calm days.
Mokoli'i is owned by the City and County of Honolulu and is part of Kualoa Regional Park. Park regulations apply to the islet. State and/or federal laws protect all native wildlife and plants.
In the past, small numbers of White-tailed and red-tailed tropicbirds (Phaethon lepturus and Phaethon rubricauda) nested on Mokoli'i. Today, only Wedge-tailed shearwaters are nesting. Since at least the 1940s, black rats have been present, though perhaps only periodically, and were suspected of suppressing shearwater populations by eating eggs and chicks. In 2002, the Hawai'i DOFAW and a group of community volunteers eradicated rats from the islet. Later that year, 131 chicks fledged and 203 fledged in 2003. However, fledgling success again declined despite the fact that there is no sign of rats. Alien ants attacking seabird chicks are suspected to be the cause.
Various Hawaiian legends account for Mokoli'i's origin as the remains of either a giant lizard or an evil sorcerer in the form of a rat, slain in a battle with a Hawaiian deity. Accordingly, the translation of Mokoli'i is "little lizard." There is evidence that ancient Hawaiians used the basalt pinnacle on the islet as an adze quarry. During World War II, Mokoli'i was used for military target practice. In the 1970s Mokoli'i was purchased from the Kualoa Ranch Company by the City and County of Honolulu.
The cache is NOT located on the islet,
but it is in the park which opens at 7am and closes at 8pm.
~~~For the puzzle some Island knowledge will be necessary.~~~
The Cache can be found at:
NORTH (Maui)(Hawai'i)(O'ahu)0(Ni'ihau)(Las Vegas)(Maui)
WEST (Hawai'i)(Moloka'i)(Ni'ihau)(Moloka'i)0(Maui)(O'ahu)(Moloka'i)
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
Cache with Al
ha
Congrats kalohepirate on the FTF!!!