The attractive and pristine Hule’ia National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1973 to guard threatened and endangered birds. Inside this peaceable space, alongside the Hule’ia Stream is an historic engineering feat — a fishpond. Historic Hawaiians designed a genius methodology of capturing and elevating fish in fishponds. These ponds had been constructed within the ocean or close to inlet streams. Their constructions permits small fish to get inside, however then the fish keep within the pond and develop till they’re too massive to exit and finally are caught for dinner.
This fishpond is understood by a number of names, however the one we see mostly is the Menehune Pond because of the legend of the way it was constructed. Per GoHawaii,
“The legend that surrounds the fishpond relies on the legendary Menehune, Hawaiʻi’s mischievous little individuals who carried out legendary engineering feats. The Menehune lived within the forest and hid from people. In line with Hawaiian legends, the Menehune constructed this whole fishpond in a single night time. They managed this wonderful process by lining up from the village of Makaweli for 25 miles, passing stones hand-to-hand to construct the pond. Although Menehune legends abound, some say the phrase might have derived from the Tahitian phrase manahune that means commoner, or small in social standing, not in bodily dimension.”
Menehune Pond is sort of a thousand years outdated and is listed on the Nationwide Register of Historic Locations.
To get a terrific view of Menehune Pond and the Hule’ia Nationwide Wildlife Protect, discover the small pull out and overlook off of Hulemalu Street. See this link to Google Maps to get instructions.
We’ve got kayaked beside the Menehune Fishpond on the Hule’ia Stream. It’s a very peaceable and exquisite space.
For extra details about Hule’ia Nationwide Wildlife Reserve and caring for it, see Malama Hule’ia.
Have you ever seen the Menehune Fishpond throughout your travels to Kauai?
