From precious to pest

Hawaii’s state bird, the nene goose: Can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em.

That’s the quandary facing officials on Kauai who now lament that the population of the once-endangered goose has grown so much at Kauai Lagoons that the birds now are considered a safety hazard to commercial aircraft using the airport next door.

Indeed, the state has spent more this fiscal year to scare the birds away from the Kauai airport runways than it has to scare birds away in general at more heavily used Honolulu Airport on Oahu.

The state also is spending money to catch and relocate some of the birds to other islands, where their numbers are fewer because of predators such as the mongoose, which was never introduced to Kauai. Statewide, the nene numbered only 30 in 1952; now they are up to about 2,000, with about 400 at Kauai Lagoons.

Maybe it’s time to introduce the mongoose to Kauai? Well, maybe not.

Be a Hawaiiloa friend

Having completed journeys across the Pacific, the 57-foot Hawaiiloa canoe is being restored to be taken around the world. The restoration is hoped to be completed within the next two years.

The Friends of Hokule‘a and Hawaiiloa have begun a campaign to raise $325,000 to restore and relaunch the canoe built between 1991 and 1993 so it can achieve the world-traversing goal of Nainoa Thompson, executive director of the Polynesian Voyaging Society. The Hawaiiloa is the only double-hulled canoe built entirely of native materials using traditional Hawaiian tools.