No Kohola o Hanalei

On July 3rd 2004, a phenomenon occurred in the state of Hawaii, something that had not
happened in 150 years, happened in a rural district on the island of Kauai.
A little after 7:00 in the morning, a pod of 200 Melonhead Whales swam into the shallow
waters of Hanalei Bay. In danger of a mass stranding, the people of Hanalei gathered
along the shore, and called the local authorities.

The strange behavior of the pod had marine mammal experts so concerned over the
weekend, that they were preparing for a mass stranding of biblical proportions. They had
experts from as far away as the East Coast on standby to fly out. A team of NOAA
veterinarians, marine biologists and specialists from the Hawaiian Islands Stranding
Response Group arrived at the bay Saturday night. They said they could see no
individual whales that appeared injured, but felt that the pod as a whole was exhibiting
signs of being stressed. The scientists were in a quandary as to what to do. The people
of Hanalei camped out overnight to assure that no whales beached themselves.

The following morning, the residents, scientists, and members of the local canoe club
gathered along the shore. As the whales had not eaten, there was the feeling that some
action was needed to prevent them from a mass-stranding. The members of the Canoe
Club and the Native Hawaiians in the area decided to use a traditional method of caring
for the environment. Following Hawaiian protocol, the group was gathered together, and
prayed for assistance in their endeavors. They gathered a vine that grows along the
shore, and wove it into a “lau” - a 400 foot lei that was as thick as a rope The end of the
lau was tied to the end of an outrigger canoe, and unfurled from the back of a small
fishing boat. Stretched between the two outrigger canoes and a flotilla of Kayaks, the
floating lau gently encircled the pod of whales. After the whales approached the lau, it
seemed as if they knew what to do. The people of Hanalei guided them into deeper
waters, and they began to swim in unison. They left the bay, and left a tiny reminder of
their visit to the people of Kauai.

The entire two day event was captured on film by local filmmaker and producer, Joel Guy.
An avid surf filmmaker, Joel shot the film from the beach, from an outrigger canoe used in
the rescue, from atop a surfboard, and underwater. Narrated by Koko Kaneali’i, and told
by the members of the Hanalei Canoe Club and residents of Kauai, the film features the
stunning visions of Hanalei, and the beautiful people of Kauai who were there for this
extraordinary event.

For nearly 2 long years, both the producer and director of this film believed that the
reason for the stranding was unknown. The film was made to celebrate the communities
success in rescuing the whales, and to remind the viewers of the special Hawaiian
understanding of the environment.

Slowly, the details of the use of sonar prior to the event began to surface. While the
evidence of disturbance of the whales mounted, the protection of dolphins, porpoises,
sea turtles, seals, and whales seemed to disappear. In the spring of 2006, the Navy was
forced to estimate the amount of sonar exposures the whales and mammals would have
to endure in the 2006 sonar exercises, in a "permit to harass" the whales during the 21
day, 532 hours of sonar exercises that were scheduled to begin on June 26th - July 28th
in Hawaiian waters. They predicted sonar would harass marine mammals over 33,000
times.

Six weeks before the exercises were slated to begin, Dr. Ann West, a talk show host for
KKCR Radio in Hanalei championed a series of shows that interviewed experts in Marine
biology from organizations like the Natural Resource Defense Council, and Jean-Michele
Cousteau from Ocean Futures Society.

The battle to protect the whales and marine life is being documented by Joel, and film
maker Kim Fleming to create a new film that will hopefully be entitled "the last sonar
exercise"

This production is currently unfunded, and the producer and director are seeking
assistance to continue shooting. Through the efforts of the Sierra club and Surfrider
Foundation, the public is learning to recognize stranding behavior and to call us to
document the sonar exercises.

Your assistance is needed