Maunaloa Heads to Mo`omomi

Students recount field trip

Community Contributed

‘It Was Classic’
By Maria Angst
In the morning, we drove in cars to Mo`omomi and it was bumpy.  We were going up, down, and side to side. It was classic!
As we walked on the footpath, we saw a white native plant.  It is soft and fluffy.  It only grows at Mo`omomi.  It is called `ena `ena.
At Mo`omomi beach we saw flags that marked where the shear water bird nests were. We saw a baby sheer water bird. The bird looked like a grayish cotton ball. The shear water bird also has a short wedge tail. It rested peacefully under a flat rock.
Next, we ate lunch in a cave that looked like an upside down sand dune. It looked spectacular! Uncle Ed gave us juice to drink because we listened and paid attention. On our hike, we also saw tree snail fossils. We learned that the ancient Hawaiian people ate turtle, and that there are deer at Mo`omomi.
Last, we picked rubbish from the beach.  There were bottles, cans, floaters, toothbrushes, and lots of plastic.  Birds think the rubbish is food and eat them and they die. 

Lesson Learned
By Vaai Seumalo
When we went to Mo`omomi beach, we learned that Uncle Ed and his crew cut down the kiawe trees to help the native plants. 
We looked at the native wedge-tail shear water birds.  We learned that sometimes monk seals come to the beach.  A long time ago, there were many green turtles that would also come to Mo`omomi beach.  Hawaiian used to eat the turtle that they caught.  They also ate crabs and fish.
At Mo`omomi, there are different kinds of rocks.  There are sandstones, imu stones, and stones used for tools.
We picked up some rubbish.  Uncle Ed said that some boaters dump their rubbish in the sea and it ends up on our beach.
I enjoyed my Mo`omomi Beach fieldtrip!