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KA PILI KAI

Hawai‘i Sea Grant’s free biannual magazine celebrates the people and places across the Pacific region and our deep connection to all things related to the sea through vivid photographs and inspiring stories.

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RECENT KA PILI KAI ISSUES

Cover of Ka Pili Kai magazine with artistic rendering of plastic pollution in the sea.

Ka Pili Kai Ho‘oilo 2023

Click on the cover image to view the full issue. On the Cover The numbers are hard to envision— 8 million metric tons of plastics entering the ocean each year—but the result is something we’ve all experienced: plastics on the ...
cover of Ka Pili Kai Kau 2023 issue

Ka Pili Kai Kau 2023

Click on the cover image to view the full issue. On the Cover Welcome to our latest issue, dedicated to the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Through this initiative, the world's attention is focused on the ...
cover of Ka Pili Kai Kau 2023 issue
cover of Ka Pili Kai Hooilo 2022 that includes a poop emoji and the title of the magazine
Ka Pili Kai Kau 2022 Cover image
Ka Pili Kai Hooilo 2021 Cover
Ka Pili Kai Kau 2021 cover page
Ka Pili Kai Hooilo 2020 Cover Page image
ka pili kai kau 2020 cover page
Ka Pili Kai Hooilo 2019 cover image
Ka Pili Kai Kau 2019 cover page
Ka Pili Kai Hooilo 2018 cover page

ALL KA PILI KAI ARTICLES AND ISSUES

Magazine spread featuring a large sail boat out on the water, and marine debris littering a beach

Sea Education Association: Studying Microplastics Aboard a Tall Ship

by Mallory HoffbeckUndergraduate student Noah van Aardenne stands lookout on the bow of the tall ship SSV Robert C. Seamans, holding on to the forestay as the ship tosses. He watches the horizon for rain clouds, marine animals, or rare ...
Magazine spread featuring protestors holding signs on a lawn

Act Local, Act Global

by Lurline Wailana McGregorWhen the last of its four counties implemented laws to ban plastic bags from store checkouts in 2021, Hawaiʻi became the first in the nation with a full statewide ban. Since then, the City and County of ...
Magazine spread about the possible afterlife of marine debris, contains image of old fishing net, new yarn it has been spun into, and sneakers made from the recycled net

Supply, Demand, and our Sea of Debris

by MARIA FROSTICWith the ocean on track to teem with more plastic than fish by the year 2050, marine debris is making waves in local and global economies. Damage from marine litter on the global marine economy was estimated at ...
Magazine spread featuring old fishing nets and a group of volunteers

Paving the Road, from Cleanup to Repurposing

by Mark MarchandThere’s an “all hands on deck” effort underway to understand and counter the growing issue of derelict fishing nets and other plastic debris washing up on Hawaiʻi’s shores and reefs, and in its harbors. Organizations and individuals—environmentally conscious ...
Magazine spread featuring two headshot images of the interviewees, and some marine debris

Getting to the Bottom of U.S. Ocean Plastic Pollution: a Conversation with Leading Experts

by Tess JoosseThe United States uses and discards the most plastic in the world, churning out a whopping 42 million metric tons each year. Despite this distinction, as recently as 2020 the full scale of the U.S.’s contribution to ocean ...
Magazine spread featuring the crystal blue coastline, fish, birds and a seal of Papahanaumokuakea

Preserving a Precious Place

by Libby LeonardThe Kumulipo, the Hawaiian creation chant, describes the area of Papahānaumokuākea as the realm of Pō, where life springs from a single coral polyp, and where spirits return upon death. Papahānaumokuākea got its name in 2007 from two ...
Cover of Ka Pili Kai magazine with artistic rendering of plastic pollution in the sea.

Ka Pili Kai Ho‘oilo 2023

Click on the cover image to view the full issue. On the Cover The numbers are hard to envision— 8 million metric tons of plastics entering the ocean each year—but the result is something we’ve all experienced: plastics on the ...
cover of Ka Pili Kai Kau 2023 issue

Ka Pili Kai Kau 2023

Click on the cover image to view the full issue. On the Cover Welcome to our latest issue, dedicated to the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Through this initiative, the world's attention is focused on the ...
Adding Value to Island Waste

Adding Value to Island Waste

by Stacy KishDespite the best efforts to contain it, untreated waste from the 88,000 cesspools in Hawai‘i escapes the confines of the system, polluting coastlines and endangering marine life and coral ecosystems. When treated properly, much of the wastewater is ...
Restoring Water Quality and Bringing Back Coral Reef Ecosystems: Lessons from Kāneʻohe Bay

Restoring Water Quality and Bringing Back Coral Reef Ecosystems: Lessons from Kāneʻohe Bay

by Abbey SeitzOver the past century, wastewater, stormwater, and other pollutants from land and development have damaged our islands’ coastal ecosystems and nearshore waters. This degradation is due in part to the islands’ increasing urbanization coinciding with global warming. Given ...
Sewage in the seas

Sewage in the seas

by Natasha VizcarraIt’s easy to get lost in the weeds finding out how to empty that portable 5-gallon toilet at the back of the boat. A simple Google search turns up a messy list of how-to videos, along with state ...
How Clean is Clean?

How Clean is Clean?

by Lurline Wailana McGregorBefore the Clean Water Act of 1972 became law, most of the agricultural wastewater and sewage from the Kaʻanapali coast on Maui, Hawai‘i was treated to remove only solids before being piped out into the ocean. After ...
Transforming the Ala Wai

Transforming the Ala Wai

by Josh McDanielFew of the millions of tourists who flock to the sparkling beaches of Waikīkī are aware that the area was once a vast estuary fed by three streams, Makiki, Mānoa, and Pālolo, which plunged from the steep slopes ...
Making #2 a #1 Priority

Making #2 a #1 Priority

by Kate FurbyStuart Coleman loves potty humor. But unlike the rest of us, he has a work excuse. And while not all of his puns are suitable for print journalism, suffice it to say that he approaches his work on ...
Tackling Cesspool Conversion from Long Island to the Hawaiian Islands

Tackling Cesspool Conversion from Long Island to the Hawaiian Islands

by Shannon KelleherAs Hawai‘i prepares to carry out a massive overhaul of its numerous cesspools by 2050, the state finds itself in a quandary — waste treatment is expensive, and homeowners’ pockets only run so deep. “This is one of ...
lead spread for article that includes a hand drwn illustration of a residental nearshore cesspool process

Wanted: Wastewater Wins

by Robin Donovan“It’s not a million-dollar question; it’s a billion-dollar question,” says Sina Pruder of Hawaiʻi’s cesspool conversion challenge. As an engineering program manager for the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Health’s (DOH) wastewater branch, Pruder has faced a daunting ...
cover of Ka Pili Kai Hooilo 2022 that includes a poop emoji and the title of the magazine

Ka Pili Kai Ho‘oilo 2022

Click on the cover image to view the full issue. On the Cover Magazine covers are meant to inspire the reader to pause and reflect on the transformative potential of an issue’s contents. Through what they bring into focus, they offer a scaffold ...
Home Aquaponics – Your Next Passion?

Home Aquaponics – Your Next Passion?

by Liz ColeyIn 2011, author, educator, entrepreneur Sylvia Bernstein wrote AQUAPONIC GARDENING: A Step by Step Guide to Raising Vegetables and Fish Together to share her passion with the uninitiated. The book offers an engaging and practical deep dive into ...
Article 'Farming on a Loop' by Jake Buehler

Farming on a Loop

by Jake BuehlerIn Hawaiʻi and the Pacific, physical space for agriculture is substantially more limited than on continental landmasses. This has made farming practices that combine efficiency with a low impact on land and water use especially useful for producing ...
Article titled 'Reviving Cultural Practices and Restoring Self: Rosalyn Concepcion' by Stacy Kish

Reviving Cultural Practices and Restoring Self: Rosalyn Concepcion

by Stacy KishThe 400-year old stone walls of Waikalua Loko Iʻa, a Hawaiian fishpond in Kāneʻohe, Oʻahu, retain a history that has almost been lost to disrepair during the past century. Rosalyn (Roz) Concepcion has been working to restore the ...
Graphic for article 'Farming the Open Ocean - is offshore Aquaculture in Hawaii the Future of Seafood?' by Josh McDaniel

Farming the Open Ocean—Is Offshore Aquaculture in Hawaiʻi the Future of Seafood?

by Josh McDanielOn the island of Hawai‘i, about a half mile off Keāhole Point near Kona, nine large net pens teem with hundreds of thousands of kanpachi (Seriola rivoliana, or longfin amberjack). Blue Ocean Mariculture’s kanpachi fish farm is the ...
Propagating resilience

Propagating resilience

by Natasha VizcarraIt was a warm, cloudy Saturday at Maunalua Bay Beach Park. Under a blue tent, masked volunteers at the Mālama Maunalua Hana Pūko‘a​ event bent over water saws to gingerly cut coral into large thumb-sized pieces. Under a ...
Sharing the Catch article by Robin Donovan. Features images of fish caught in a basket, along with a fisherman throwing a net

Sharing the Catch

by Robin DonovanIf you read the news, it’s everywhere: rising sea levels, warming oceans, degraded coastlines, and dying coral reefs. The consequences of climate change are apparent around the globe, but for fish-loving island communities like those in American Samoa, ...
Graphic depicting Hawaiian Fishponds for article 'Can Hawaiian Fishpond Technology Increase Food Security?' by Lurline Wailana McGregor

Can Hawaiian Fishpond Technology Increase Food Security?

by Lurline Wailana McGregor“Wehe i ka mākāhā i komo ka iʻa,” open the fish gate that the fish may enter, is an ʻōlelo noʻeau (Hawaiian proverb) referencing a strategy used to trap fish in the loko iʻa, as well as ...
Article 'Raising the next generation of aquatic farmers' by Shannon Wianecki

Raising the Next Generation of Aquatic Farmers

by Shannon WianeckiThe term “aquaculture” encompasses everything from restoring traditional fishponds to rearing seahorses for aquariums and reducing greenhouse gases with red algae. It’s a diverse field, and it’s booming: it’s the fastest growing sector of the agricultural industry worldwide, ...
Cover of Ka Pili Kai magazie with close up image of yellow torch coral growing in a lab environment.

Ka Pili Kai Kau 2022

Click on the cover image to view the full issue. Cultivating sustainability through aquaculture ʻO nā loko iʻa, ʻo ia nō kekahi mau mea hiluhilu o ka Pae ʻĀina ʻo Hawaiʻi, a ua hana maoli ʻia e ka poʻe kahiko ...
Cover of Ka Pili Kai Hooilo 2021, blue photo taken underwater of rain falling on ocean's surface.

Ka Pili Kai Ho‘oilo 2021

Click on the cover image to view the full issue. Science is Art Art is Science Mai ka moana ākea, nā ʻāina ā puni, ka lewa lani ā ka lewa lipo, ua mālamalama ke ao kānaka i ka wili pū ...
Article 'From loss to recovery to resilience' by Lurline McGregor. Includes images on turtles resting on a beach and a map of the North West Hawaiian Islands

From Loss to Recovery to Resilience

by Lurline Wailana McGregorIn 2018, Hurricane Walaka circumvented the Hawaiian Islands before circling back to pass directly over Kānemilohaʻi, also known as the French Frigate Shoals, an atoll 550 miles northwest of Honolulu. It washed away East Island, an 11-acre ...
Article 'turning up the heat: the evolving threat of wildfire' by Keri Kodama. Includes images of fire damage on West Oahu

Turning up the Heat: the evolving threat of wildfire

by Keri KodamaIn July 2019, an 8000-acre brush fire, fueled by an abundance of dry vegetation and an oppressive heat wave, consumed Central Maui. The blaze began as a roadside fire and spread rapidly with help from the wind. Within ...
Article 'Climigration: A look to the future for environmental migrants' by Amanda Millin. Includes an image of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

Climigration: A look to the future for environmental migrants

by Amanda MillinNearly three decades ago, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicated that “the gravest effects of climate change may be those on human migration.” Estimates differ widely, but most experts agree that upwards of 25 million people ...
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