Decaying whale parts at Honolulu Landing

[TomK]

Well...thank goodness I am none of those things so I'm not confused with being a duck or a silly goose (or a nincompoop). 

Do you weigh the same as a duck?

[leilanidude]

Honolulu Landing is situated between Nanawale Forest Reserve and Waiakahiula, comprised of 4,000 feet of rocky, undeveloped shoreline and a broad swath of deep jungle, making up a traditional Hawaiian land division known as an ahupua‘a. It is scattered with village complexes, burial sites, temples known as heiau, house platforms and traditional farming terraces
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and that preservation is for nothing when the next lava flow might completely cover it all up.

[punikahakaiferret]

Except that area hasn't had a lava flow for many, many many hundreds of years (600?), as I understand it, that's why all those antiquities are still in place there.

It is not in the rift zone for lava, looking at the maps. It is located just south of Hawaiian Beaches/Shores, and does not extend past Wa'a Wa'a, so nowhere near where Fissure 8 occurred toward 4 Corners or any of the earlier events like Kalapana and such.

I still think the acquisition was a good idea, to prevent development of another speculative housing development with no proper infrastructure available.

Just my $.02

[ironyak]

leilanidude - and that preservation is for nothing when the next lava flow might completely cover it all up.

Which is true for all Puna development, especially that in Lava Zones 1 and 2 (which is everything from Pahoa & Beaches makai to Kapoho and Kalapana).

I guess pack it up y'all - leilanidude says lower Puna (not to mention Hilo, South Point, Kona, etc.) are all for nothing given the inevitability of lava (on a long enough timeline, always bet on lava).

Maybe they can park a naval sub off Honolulu Landing and we all can make a swim for it, like the cattle of yore, to our new nuclear-powered seasteading raft-based lifestyles. Don't have to worry about lava or earthquakes, maybe even barely note the rise and fall of any passing tsunami, and could spot some living whales from out there.

[leilanidude]

It is not in the rift zone for lava, looking at the maps.
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Maps are a couple decades old, at best.

[MyManao]

It is not in the rift zone for lava, looking at the maps.
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Maps are a couple decades old, at best.

The age of the maps make no difference. Lava zone 3, which most of Puna is in, is as subject to inundation as is 1 and 2, just in a larger time frame. Every single piece of Puna will be under a new layer of rock within 1,000 years. Just as every piece now has been emplaced within the last 1,000 years.

[leilanidude]

The maps, being old, don't take into account the 40-100+ feet of elevation change the good old Fissure 8 threw out.

[punikahakaiferret]

Not about decaying whale parts, but maybe the increased traffic volume (and chance of being spotted/caught) will help curb the dumping of decaying pig carcasses, burned/junked cars, appliances, mattresses, garbage, etc., along the roadway?

Increased traffic volume could also help prevent it continuing to be a "Thieves Highway" getaway route between Hawaiian Beaches and HPP as well.

https://bigislandnow.com/2026/05/20/priv...d-in-puna/

I am all for this!

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

 "Thieves Highway" getaway route 

In the early 2000’s the stretch of Beach Road from Maku’u Drive for about a mile or two towards Hawaiian Beaches was a forested, tree lined, branch covered road forming a shady green tunnel.  It was a quiet, cool bike ride for many years, with little traffic, often days with no cars.  Occasionally a 4 wheel drive Subaru or small pickup would appear from Hawaiian Beaches direction, with a suspension busting, rock thumping chassis pounding, body sides screeching fingernails-on-chalkboard sound from branches reaching inward on both sides of the narrowest part of the road.  It was always a shock when they appeared out of nowhere and always seemed to drive twice as fast as conditions would allow if a normal person were driving.

Then the 2014 (or was it 2018?) lava flow opened the road all the way from Maku’u to Beaches as an escape route, and easement for newly installed electric lines from Puna Geothermal.  People drove too fast, the dust so thick during dry spells I gave up the bike rides in that direction.  Now it’s slowly reverting to washboard and potholes and a dumping ground of garbage, discarded construction materials, and abandoned cars one day then torched the next.

Before the widening the Beaches section had 1/4 mile of mattresses, refrigerators, tv sets and everything else stacked 6-8 feet high, the road so narrow from garbage it was barely passable.  It had a distinct (or should I say dis-stink) smell of wet moldy entropy.  Apparently it was just too far for residents of Beaches to drive the few miles to Pahoa Transfer Station. As soon as the county bulldozed and hauled away the trash in 2014 (or 2018?) the value of the lots along that stretch doubled in value.

It could be a beautiful roadway if maintained and dare I say patrolled by police, but for now don’t get a flat tire if you drive it.

[kalianna]

While I recognize the need for an escape route, Iʻm concerned that more road improvements will steer folks from Beaches onto Makuu to avoid the roundabout backups on 130. Traffic on Makuu, which is already pretty beat up, is heavy and using it as a daily Beaches bypass would just make it worse.