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64-547: Outside the triangle, there are traces of Polynesian settlement as far north as Necker Island ( Mokumanamana ) , as far east as Salas y Gómez Island ( Motu Motiro Hiva ) , and as far south as Enderby Island ( Motu Maha ) . Also, there have once been Polynesian settlements on Norfolk Island and the Kermadec Islands ( Rangitahua ) . By the time the Europeans first arrived, these islands were all uninhabited. Today,

128-605: A ceremonial and religious site in Ancient Hawaii , the United States government added the island to its National Register of Historic Places in 1988. In 1997, members of the Native Hawaiian organization Hui Mälama I Nä Kupuna O Hawaiʻi Nei ("Hawaiʻi Ancestral Care Association") visited the island to rebury human bones found there which had been transported to Honolulu and kept at Bishop Museum . In

192-461: A decision today to, actually, take a bold step and create something which is going to be immediate, that the law applies immediately to this place now. The NWHI once accounted for approximately half of the locally landed bottomfish in Hawaii. The NWHI bottomfish fishery was a limited entry fishery, with eight vessels, which were restricted to 60 feet (18 m) in length. Frank McCoy, then chair of

256-528: A process to designate the waters of the NWHI as a National Marine Sanctuary . A public comment period began in 2002. In 2005, Governor of Hawaii Linda Lingle declared parts of the monument a state marine refuge. In April 2006, President George W. Bush and his wife viewed a screening of the documentary film Voyage to Kure at the White House along with its director, Jean-Michel Cousteau . Compelled by

320-437: A unique perspective on cultural norms prior to the abandonment of Necker. Thanks to this difference in form, scholars often use the term ' marae ' as opposed to 'heiau' in reference to these structures and some scholars argue that the shift in form represents a shift in ritual practice in Hawaii. Artifacts excavated on Necker Island show a remarkable number of items that would normally be made out of wood rendered in stone. This

384-614: Is a World Heritage listed U.S. National Monument encompassing 583,000 square miles (1,510,000 km ) of ocean waters, including ten islands and atolls of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands . It was created in June 2006 with 140,000 square miles (360,000 km ) and expanded in August 2016 by moving its border to the limit of the exclusive economic zone , making it one of the world's largest protected areas . It

448-656: Is a hook-shaped rocky ridge about 1.3 kilometers (0.8 mi) long and between 60 and 200 meters (197 and 656 ft) wide. Composed of basalt , the island is steep-sided and barren, with very little soil, and its rocks are heavily scoured and eroded . It is the second-smallest of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, with a total area of 45.193 acres (18.289 ha) according to the United States Census Bureau or 41 acres (17 ha) or 39.5 acres (16 ha) according to

512-537: Is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) were first protected on February 3, 1909, when U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt created the Hawaiian Islands Bird Reservation through Executive Order 1019 , as a response to the over-harvesting of seabirds, and in recognition of the importance of the NWHI as seabird nesting sites. President Franklin D. Roosevelt converted it into

576-548: Is especially true of the presence of a series of remarkable carved stone bowls and a bird snare that would have required far more time and effort to create from stone. Additionally, a series of human figures carved from local stone have been recovered from Necker. These statues are up to 1.5 feet (0.5 m) in length and differ in style and medium to similar sculptures (usually rendered in wood) recovered elsewhere in Hawaii. Other artifacts include adzes , fish and squid lures, hammer stones, awls, and other stone tools commonly found across

640-462: Is internationally known for its cultural and natural values as follows: The area has deep cosmological and traditional significance for living Native Hawaiian culture, as an ancestral environment, as an embodiment of the Hawaiian concept of kinship between people and the natural world, and as the place where it is believed that life originates and to where the spirits return after death. On two of

704-557: Is located on the northern slope of Bowl Hill. It is an important archaeological site . Necker Island has an average annual rainfall of just under 25 inches (635 mm). [REDACTED] Vegetation on Necker Island is limited to low shrubs and grasses, none more than 2 feet (0.6 m) tall. Five species of plants are known to occur: The forester of the Territory of Hawaii attempted to introduce six other species of plants to Necker Island in June 1923, but all had died out by

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768-443: Is noted for exploring the island's biology and archaeology ; during its first visit, from June 12 to 29, 1923, it mapped the island and studied its flora and fauna in detail, and on its return visit from July 14 to July 17, 1924, it conducted a thorough archaeological survey . On August 21, 1959, the state of Hawaii was created, and Necker was included in the new state . Because of Necker Island's usage by Native Hawaiians as

832-804: Is now banned; the remaining fisheries are overfished, although commercial fishing is banned. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) reported in 2008 that many species’ populations have not fully recovered from a large-scale shift in the oceanic ecosystem that affected the North Pacific during the late 1980s and early 1990s. This shift reduced populations of important species, such as spiny lobster , seabirds and Hawaiian monk seals. The monument receives strict conservation protection, with exceptions for traditional Native Hawaiian uses and limited tourism. The monument covers roughly 583,000 square miles (1,510,000 km ) of reefs, atolls and shallow and deep sea (out to 200 miles (320 km) offshore) in

896-570: Is the northernmost point of the island. The main ridge of the island and Northwest Cape combine to partially enclose Shark Bay along the northern shore of the island; the bay opens to the northeast and usually is subject to rough seas. Along the island's western shore, West Cove lies between Mo'o Point and the southern end of Northwest Cape. A small islet , 300 feet (91 m) long and rising 10 feet (3 m) above sea level, lies just off Necker Island's eastern tip. The main ridge of Necker Island has five peaks. East to west, they are: Bowl Cave

960-473: Is the second-smallest of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Necker Island has the second-largest surrounding marine habitat among the islands, totaling 385,000 acres (156,000 ha), with Shark Bay, West Cove, Northwest Cape, and miles of shallow reef to the southeast of the island providing large offshore habitats. Runoff from the heavily eroded rock surfaces of the island and the constant wave action that scours its underwater basalt structure interfere with

1024-713: The Bishop Museum , William Tufts Brigham , and Professor William DeWitt Alexander — to Necker to survey and map the island and conduct archaeological research. On August 12, 1898, the United States annexed the Hawaiian Islands, including Necker Island, and Necker was included in the Territory of Hawaii upon its creation on April 30, 1900. In 1902, the United States Fish Commission research ship USFC Albatross visited Necker Island, and her personnel thought they discovered

1088-759: The British Empire telegraph network known informally as the All Red Line . The Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown in 1893 and replaced by the Provisional Government of Hawaii , and when the British corvette HMS  Champion arrived at Honolulu in 1894, the provisional government's president, Sanford B. Dole , became concerned that the United Kingdom was about to establish a claim to Necker Island. Wishing to curry favor with

1152-582: The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) assessed its cultural aspects. The monument's ocean area is administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It contains U.S. and Hawaiian designated refuges , sanctuaries, reserves and memorials with separate administration. The Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge, with an area of 254,418.1 acres (397.53 sq mi; 1,029.6 km )

1216-765: The Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge (590,991.50 acres (2,391.7 km )) and Battle of Midway National Memorial, the Hawaii State Seabird Sanctuary at Kure Atoll , and the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands State Marine Refuge. As a mixed site with natural and cultural resources, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) commented on the natural features of the monument, and

1280-557: The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument . The United States Census Bureau reports Necker Island's land area as 45.193 acres (18.289 ha). The island is rocky with steep sides and has very little soil. Its highest elevation is 277 feet (84 m). The island is named after Jacques Necker , a finance minister of Louis XVI . Politically, Necker Island is part of the City and County of Honolulu in

1344-463: The United States rather than the United Kingdom, Dole immediately dispatched an expedition under Captain James A. King to Necker to annex the island. On May 27, 1894, a landing party of 12 men led by King went ashore on Necker for four hours, raised the flag of Hawaii on what became known as Annexation Hill, and read an annexation proclamation. The move brought international disputes over claims to

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1408-838: The United States Department of Agriculture and the Territory of Hawaii. George N. Wilcox visited Necker Island twice on unrecorded dates, and the United States Revenue Cutter Service revenue cutter USRC Thetis visited the island in 1910 and 1913, as did an expedition led by H. L. Tucker in 1917. The warden of the Hawaiian Islands Bird Reservation landed on the island on October 6, 1919, and found stone artifacts during his visit. The Tanager Expedition visited Necker Island in 1923 and 1924, and

1472-508: The United States Fish and Wildlife Service . The westernmost point on Necker Island is Mo'o Point (or Mo'o Head). The island's "hook" is Northwest Cape, a narrow spur that reaches a maximum height of 48 meters (156 ft) and juts northeastward from the west end of the island for 183 meters (600 ft). Northwest Cape is connected to the rest of the island by a narrow gap that is barely above sea level . Northwest Cape's tip

1536-581: The state of Hawaii . However, as part of the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge , it is administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service . It has no resident human population. The remnant of a volcanic cone , Necker Island is located about 120 kilometers (65 nmi; 75 mi) southeast of the French Frigate Shoals on the northwestern end of a large, shallow ocean bank . It

1600-555: The "Necker Island tern" there, as well as on Nihoa and at the French Frigate Shoals, during their visit, although the bird later was determined to be a subspecies of the blue-grey noddy, already known from farther south in the Pacific. The island was leased for commercial fishing purposes for 21 years on June 2, 1904, and on February 3, 1909, it became part of the Hawaiian Islands Bird Reservation , managed jointly by

1664-773: The 34th Session of the World Heritage Committee in Brasília . A 2010 expedition to the Kure atoll sent divers to a depth of 250 feet (76 m), revealing new species of coral and other animals. Waikiki Aquarium cultured the new coral species. On August 3, 2015, divers found the wreck of the USNS Mission San Miguel (T-AO-129) within the monument. She had sunk there on October 8, 1957, when she ran aground on Maro Reef while running at full speed and in ballast. Researchers will map and study

1728-788: The Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge in 1940. A series of incremental protection expansions followed, leading to the establishment of Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in 1988, Kure Atoll State Wildlife Sanctuary in 1993, and the NWHI Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve in 2000. President Bill Clinton established the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve on December 4, 2000, with Executive Order 13178 . Clinton's executive order initiated

1792-503: The Hawaiian Islands. The heiau on Necker Island and Nihoa are unique in the Hawaiian chain representing a raised pavement of basalt stones with upright stones placed across this pavement often near the edges as opposed to the form common to other islands in the chain represented by a high stacked stone wall enclosing a central space. This difference in form represents an earlier iteration of Hawaiian monumental architecture that offers

1856-537: The Hawaiian Islands. According to the oral traditions of the people of Kauai , which lies to the southeast, Necker Island was the last known refuge for a race of mythical "little people" called the Menehune . According to the legend, the Menehune settled on Necker Island after being chased off Kauai by the stronger Polynesians and subsequently built the various stone structures there. Geological research in

1920-769: The Marine Environmental Protection Committee of the International Maritime Organization designated the monument as a PSSA. Commercial fishing ended in 2010. The Federal Interagency Panel for World Heritage officially designated the monument as a World Heritage site in November 2008. The national monument was inscribed on the World Heritage List in July 2010 as "Papahānaumokuākea". at

1984-499: The Pacific Ocean ;– larger than all of America's national parks combined. It contains approximately 10 percent of the tropical shallow water coral reef habitat (i.e., down to 100 fathoms (180 m)) in U.S. territory. It is slightly larger than Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park , approximately the size of the country of Germany, and just slightly smaller than Alaska . The islands included in

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2048-546: The Pacific Ocean, 430 miles (370 nmi; 690 km) northwest of Honolulu , Hawaii , 155 miles (135 nmi; 249 km) northwest of Nihoa , and 8 miles (7 nmi; 13 km) north of the Tropic of Cancer . It is part of the state of Hawaii in the United States . It contains important prehistoric archaeological sites of the Hawaiian culture and is part of the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge within

2112-641: The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, claimed: We are pleased the President recognizes the near pristine condition of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands waters. We believe the abundance and biodiversity of the area attests to the successful management of the NWHI fisheries by the Council the past 30 years and indicates that properly regulated fisheries can operate in the NWHI without impacting

2176-569: The abrupt establishment of the NWHI as a National Monument, rather than a Sanctuary, provided immediate and more resilient protection. The protection is revocable only by legislation. Joshua Reichert proclaimed the importance of the timely designation, saying: Monument status is quicker; it's more comprehensive; and it's more permanent. Only an act of Congress can undo a monument designation. The sanctuary process, it takes longer; it involves more congressional input, more public debate, more hearings and meetings. And he [George W. Bush] obviously made

2240-736: The coast in Shark Bay, but a small lee exists west of Northwest Cape, and landing on rocky shelves there is possible in moderately calm weather but can be dangerous in high surf. Visits to Necker Island are permitted only for scientific, educational, and cultural purposes and require the approval of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, which gives preference to scientific and cultural visits. Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument ( PMNM ) (roughly / p ɑː p ɑː ˈ h ɑː n aʊ m oʊ k u ˌ ɑː k eɪ . ə / )

2304-442: The early 21st century indicates that Necker Island is about 10 million years old. While it rises only about 84 meters (277 ft) above sea level now, it reached 1,000 meters (3,281 ft) in height earlier in its history and at one time was comparable in size to modern Oahu . Hawaiians appear to have started visiting Necker Island a few hundred years after they settled the main Hawaiian Islands. Archaeologists believe that

2368-474: The early 21st century, Necker Island was a place of study for benthic invertebrates and algal assemblages. On June 15, 2006, the United States established the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument , with Necker Island within its boundaries. Access to Necker Island is by boat, and is quite difficult because of the island's nearly vertical coastline. Heavy surf usually precludes landings along

2432-497: The ecosystem. The small NWHI bottomfish fishery has not and would not jeopardize the protection of the NWHI that President Bush is pursuing by designating the area a national monument. The National Marine Fisheries Service published reports attesting to the health of bottomfish stocks. Commercial and recreational bottomfish and pelagic fishing were recommended to be continued under a 2004 NOAA draft of protections. On February 27, 2007, President Bush amended Proclamation 8031, naming

2496-494: The film's portrayal of the flora and fauna, Bush moved quickly to expand protections. On June 15, 2006, Bush signed Proclamation 8031 , designating the waters of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands a national monument under the 1906 Antiquities Act . Using the Antiquities Act bypassed the normal year of consultations and halted the public input process and came just before the draft environmental impact statement for

2560-402: The first European to visit Necker Island. La Pérouse did not attempt to land on the island due to its nearly vertical sides and the violent seas breaking on its shore, but he sailed within a third of a league of it and named it after Jacques Necker , a Genevan banker and statesman who served as finance minister for Louis XVI of France . Although the expedition was lost at sea in 1788, it

2624-480: The growth of corals ; little coral life exists in the shallow areas surrounding the island, and it lacks a fringing reef . However, 16 species of stony coral live in the area, and Necker is the easternmost island in the Hawaiian archipelago where table corals of the genus Acropora are found. Gray reef sharks and manta rays are common off the island, and Hawaiian monk seals populate its shores, some giving birth to pups there. Green sea turtles bask on

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2688-611: The island during an expedition to find pearls on a reef in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Captain John or William Paty (sources disagree on Paty's first name) claimed Necker Island for the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1857, although he did not land on the island. The claim was disputed over the following decades. In January 1859, United States Navy Lieutenant J. M. Brook aboard the survey schooner USS  Fenimore Cooper visited Necker Island and determined its position. During

2752-519: The island to an end and the island was included in the Republic of Hawaii when it was founded on July 4, 1894, although the British government continued to attempt to negotiate with the Hawaiian government over use of Necker Island and on September 24, 1894, Champion landed a party on the island. On July 12, 1895, King led a Hawaiian government expedition — which also included the first director of

2816-449: The island was a ceremonial and religious site. Necker has 55 currently known sites including 33 ritual sites called heiau , while the remaining sites represent agricultural terraces, miscellaneous platforms, and shelter caves — of which Bowl Cave is the largest. Cultural sites on Necker Island are contemporaneous with those on Nihoa and appear to have been abandoned at roughly the same time several centuries prior to European contact with

2880-494: The island's poor soil for farming and its small size and relative lack of rainfall made it uninhabitable, and that the Hawaiians visited from Nihoa and other nearby islands to worship at religious sites without establishing any permanent settlements. Their visits appear to have ended a few hundred years before European contact, and by the time Europeans first visited Hawaii in the late eighteenth century, Necker Island apparently

2944-428: The islands, Nihoa and Mokumanamana , there are archaeological remains relating to pre-European settlement and use. Much of the monument is made up of pelagic and deepwater habitats, with notable features such as seamounts and submerged banks, extensive coral reefs and lagoons. The monument supports 7,000 species, one quarter of which are endemic . Prominent species include the endangered hawksbill sea turtle ,

3008-430: The latter half of the 1930s, if not earlier. The island is also noted for large numbers of birds. About 16 species of seabird nest on Necker Island; during nesting season, an estimated 60,000 birds nest on the island, and their eggs cover virtually every piece of level ground. A seabird first observed at Necker Island and at the French Frigate Shoals and Nihoa in 1902 originally was thought to be new to science and

3072-411: The monument "Papahānaumokuākea", inspired by the names of the Hawaiian creator goddess Papahānaumoku and her husband Wākea . On May 15, 2007, President Bush announced his intention to submit the monument for Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) status, which would "alert mariners to exercise caution in the ecologically important, sensitive, and hazardous area they are entering." In October 2007,

3136-501: The monument are all part of the state of Hawaii , except Midway Atoll, which is part of the United States Minor Outlying Islands insular area. Henderson Field , on Midway Atoll, provides aerial access to the monument. About 132,000 square miles (340,000 km ) of the monument are part of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve, designated in 2000. The monument also includes

3200-448: The monument by the research vessel Petrel . In 2020 a species of seaweed was discovered that has been killing large patches of coral. In 2022, a study reported that the MPA acted as a tuna nursery. Near the reserve the yellowfin tuna ( Thunnus albacares ) catch increased by 54% between 2016 and 2019 and the bigeye tuna ( Thunnus obesus ) take increased by 12%. The catch increased

3264-627: The most numerous Polynesian peoples are the Māori , Hawaiians (Kanaka Maoli) , Tongans , Samoans , Niueans and Tahitians . The native languages of this vast triangle are Polynesian languages , which are classified by linguists as part of the Oceanic subgroup of Malayo-Polynesian . They ultimately derive from the proto-Austronesian language spoken in Southeast Asia 5,000 years ago. There are also numerous Polynesian outlier islands outside

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3328-510: The octopus is known by various names such as Taumata-Fe'e-Fa'atupu-Hau (Grand Octopus of Prosperity), Tumu-Ra'i-Fenua (Beginning-of-Heaven-and-Earth) and Te Wheke-a-Muturangi (The Octopus of Muturangi ). Necker Island (Hawaii) Necker Island ( Hawaiian : Mokumanamana "branched island") is a small island in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands . It is located at 23°34′30″N 164°42′01″W  /  23.57500°N 164.70028°W  / 23.57500; -164.70028 in

3392-413: The original description of the find did not say anything about its being Polynesian in origin. In contrast to the shape of a triangle, another theory states that the geography of Polynesian society and navigation pathways more accurately resemble the geometric qualities of an octopus with head centred on Ra'iātea (French Polynesia) and tentacles spread out across the Pacific. In Polynesian oral tradition

3456-567: The proposed Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Marine Sanctuary was to be published. This was the second use by Bush of the Antiquities Act, following the declaration of the African Burial Ground National Monument on Manhattan in February 2006. The legislated process for stakeholder involvement in the planning and management of a marine protected area (MPA) had already taken five years of effort, but

3520-615: The shore in the narrow gap between the main island and Northwest Cape, but they do not breed on Necker Island because the island lacks sandy beaches in which they could lay their eggs. A great abundance and diversity of sea cucumbers , sea urchins , and lobsters live in Shark Bay. Extensive deeper "shelves" extend many miles from the island's shallow reef, especially to the southeast, and commercial fishing takes place over these shelves, which produce much of Hawaii's catch of green jobfish , known locally as gray snapper or uku . Deep sea fish types that live hundreds of meters (yards) below

3584-689: The south of New Zealand . However, none of these islands are considered part of Polynesia proper, as no viable settlements have survived. There are remains of a Polynesian settlement dating back to the 13th century on Enderby Island in the Auckland Islands . A shard of pottery was also recorded to have been found in the Antipodes Islands , but the Te Papa museum in Wellington has stated that they do not possess this shard and that

3648-554: The summer of 1859, Captain N. C. Brook of the Hawaiian barque Gambia passed the island during a sealing and exploration voyage, but did not report landing on it. As late as the early 1890s, the Kingdom of Hawaii's claim to Necker Island remained in dispute, and the United Kingdom was considering the island as a potential waypoint location for a submarine communications cable between Canada and Australia as part of

3712-455: The surface along the underwater slopes of Necker Island include fishes of the orders Stomiiformes , Gadiformes , Myctophiformes , and Aulopiformes . Necker Island is known for its numerous religious sites and cultural objects. There are few, if any, signs of long-term habitation, giving rise to the theory that people visited the island for short periods from other islands instead of settling permanently. Many anthropologists believe that

3776-600: The threatened green sea turtle and the endangered Hawaiian monk seal , the Laysan and Nihoa finches , the Nihoa millerbird , Laysan duck , seabirds such as the Laysan albatross , numerous species of plants including Pritchardia palms , and many species of arthropods . According to the Pew Charitable Trusts , populations of lobster have not recovered from extensive harvesting in the 1980s and 1990s, which

3840-466: The triangle in neighboring Melanesia and Micronesia . Anthropologists believe that all modern Polynesian cultures descend from a single protoculture established in the South Pacific by migrant Malayo-Polynesian people ( see also Lapita culture ). There is also some evidence that Polynesians ventured as far east as Salas and Gómez Island and as far south as the sub-Antarctic islands to

3904-525: The wreck in situ . In August 2016, President Barack Obama expanded the monument's area by roughly four times, to the limits of the exclusive economic zone . It was at that time the world's largest MPA. On October 21, 2019, the wreck of the Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Akagi , which sank during World War II in the Battle of Midway on June 4, 1942, was found within

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3968-405: Was able to send its logs home before its loss, bringing the island's existence to the attention of Europeans. The first people to set foot on Necker Island in modern times appear to have been the British seaman John Turnbull of the ship Margaret , who visited the Hawaiian Islands between December 17, 1802, and January 21, 1803, and two Hawaiian pearl divers in his employ; the three men landed on

4032-418: Was given the scientific name Procelsterna saxatalis and the popular name "Necker Island tern," but it later was identified as a subspecies of the blue-grey noddy , already known from farther south in the Pacific. No land birds live on the island. Land animals found on the island include land snails and 15 species of insect found nowhere else, as well as wolf spiders and bird ticks . Although it

4096-476: Was unknown to the Hawaiians. The French explorer Jean-François de La Pérouse was on a mission of exploration for the French Academy of Sciences aboard the ships L'Astrolabe (under command of Fleuriot de Langle ) and La Boussole and had just discovered the French Frigate Shoals ( Basse des Frégates Françaises ) and his namesake rock La Perouse Pinnacle when on November 4, 1786, he became

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