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Hawaii Facts

The Islands of Hawaii were one of the last places on Earth discovered and occupied by humans. There is little or no evidence of human contact of any kind before about 100 AD. The first significant colonies, made by ocean voyaging Polynesians, were not established until around 400-600 AD. Modern contact was not made until only 220 years ago when Captain James Cook first encountered Kauai on January 19, 1778.

Hawaii includes some of the Earth's largest mountains, rising from oceanic depths of greater than 18,000 feet to a height above sea level of nearly 14,000 feet. Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island are volcanic mountains with a total relief of nearly 32,000 feet.

The entire Island of Hawaii, with its five large volcanoes of Kohala, Mauna Kea, Hualalai, Mauna Loa and Kilauea, and the new submerged volcano of Loihi, are less than 450,000 years old. On the other hand, Kauai and Niihau, at 5 million years, are the oldest of the main high islands.

The Hawaiian Islands (located in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean) are the Earth's most isolated land mass some 2400 miles from both the nearest continent, North America; and the islands of Polynesia in the South Pacific Ocean.

The Hawaiian Islands are biologically unique. Hawaii has no native land reptiles or amphibians and only two native mammals, the horay bat and monk seal. Even in the surrounding ocean the number of coral species are limited. Nearly 25% of inshore fishes are found only in Hawaiian waters. Over 4300 species of plants and animals exist only in the eight high islands. The 1,000 native plants evolved from as few as 280 original plant colonists and 100 bird species developed from as few as 15 original species.

Kauai is geologically the most mature of the main Hawaiian Islands with extensive development of broad, lush erosional valleys and coastal features such as fringing coral/algal reefs and sandy beaches. Spectacular Waimea Canyon, at over 2500 feet deep, is Hawaii's largest erosional valley. Nearly 50% of Kauai's 111 miles of coastline are lined with beautiful beaches, derived mainly from wave erosion of reef producing coral and algae. In contrast, only about one-third of Oahu's coastline consists of beaches.

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