Free ocean learning kits are available Saturday to students on Big Island

One thousand free Grab & Go Ocean Learning kits will be distributed to students on the Big Island, Maui and Kaua’i on Oct. 1 at sites sponsored by the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.

The kits focus on Mālama o ke Kai (Take Care of the Ocean). Topics include: 

• kilo (traditional Hawaiian observation systems) 
• pono (sustainable) fishing practices
• taking care of limu (seaweed)
• understanding and behaving properly in the presence of honu (green sea turtles) and honu ʻea (hawksbill turtle)

The learning kits are being given out at the start of the Hawaiʻi Department of Education’s fall break for public schools. They are a collaboration between the state Division of Aquatic Resources, Hawaiʻi State Public Library System, National Marine Fisheries Service and the sanctuary.

The kits can be picked up at these locations on Maui, Kauaʻi and the Big Island:

• On Hawaiʻi Island: Mokupāpapa Discovery Center, 76 Kamehameha Ave., Hilo (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.); and state public libraries in Hilo, Kailua-Kona and Kamuela.

• On Maui: Kīhei Humpback Whale Sanctuary, 726 S Kihei Rd., Kīhei (9 a.m. to 2 p.m.); and state public libraries in Kīhei, Lahaina and Makawao.

• On Kauaʻi: Kauaʻi Ocean Discovery, 3-2600 Kaumualii Hwy #1618, Līhuʻe (11 a.m. to 2 p.m.); and state public libraries in Hanapēpē and Princeville.

All state public library distribution locations will start at 9 a.m. and continue while supplies last.

The sanctuary is administered by a partnership of NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and the state Division of Aquatic Resources. The sanctuary protects humpback whales through research, education, conservation and stewardship; and it operates ocean learning centers in Kīhei and Līhuʻe.