Home

Voyages

Canoe Building

Wayfinding

Canoe Life

Polynesian Migrations

Fish, Birds, and Mammals of the Open Ocean


Voyagers of the Pacific encounter animal life at sea. Some of these are strictly pelagic, roaming the open ocean; some of the fish and mammals return to near shore waters to breed and nurse their youngs; some birds breed and raise their young on land, but spend most of their adult lives at sea; some birds fish at sea during the day, but return to land at night to sleep.

Pelagic: living in open seas or oceans rather than near-shore waters; from the Greek word pelagikos, "ocean."

Carwardine, Mark, et al. Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises. Nature Company and Time-Life Books 1998.

Harrison, Craig S. Seabirds of Hawaii: Natural History and Conservation. Cornell University Press 1990.

Pratt, Douglas, Phillip L. Bruner, and Delwyn G. Berret. A Field Guide to The Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific. Princeton University Press 1987.

Rizzuto, Jim. Fishing Hawaii Style, Vol. 2. Honolulu: Fishing Hawaii Style, Ltd. 1987.

Titcomb, Margaret. Native Use of Fish in Hawaii. Honolulu: UH Press, 1972.