The largest lakes on the island are Hālaliʻi Lake, Halulu Lake and Nonopapa Lake. Pritchardia aylmer-robinsonii, a palm tree named for Keith Robinson's uncle Aylmer Robinson, is an endangered species native to Niʻihau. The island is designated as a critical habitat for the ʻōlulu, an endemic and endangered species of Hawaiian lobelioid. Island co-owner Keith Robinson, a noted conservationist, preserved and documented many of Niʻihau's natural plant resources. Aubrey Robinson, grandfather of current owners Bruce Robinson and Keith Robinson, planted 10,000 trees per year during much of his ownership of the island Robinson's afforestation efforts increased rainfall in the dry climate. View of the rugged cliffs of windward Niʻihau (the northeastern shore)Īs an arid island, Niʻihau was barren of trees for centuries – Captain James Cook reported it treeless in 1778. Historical droughts on Niʻihau have been recorded several times, one in 1792 by Captain James Cook's former junior officer, George Vancouver, who had been told that the people of Niʻihau had abandoned the island because of a severe drought and had moved to Kauaʻi to escape famine. As such, the island is subject to long periods of drought. Niʻihau, therefore, depends on winter Kona storms for its rain, when more northerly weather systems intrude into the region. The island is relatively arid because it lies in the rain shadow of Kauaʻi and lacks the elevation needed to catch significant amounts of trade wind rainfall. The entire summit and other slopes collapsed into the ocean in a giant prehistoric landslide. Niʻihau is the remnant of the southwestern slope of what was once a much larger volcano. The island is about 6 million years old, making it geologically older than the 5.8-million-year-old neighboring island of Kauaʻi to the northeast. The maximum elevation (Paniau) is 1,280 feet (390 m). Niʻihau is located about 18 miles (29 km) west of Kauaʻi, and the tiny, uninhabited island of Lehua lies 0.7 miles (0.61 nmi 1.1 km) north of Niʻihau. They speak Hawaiian as a primary language. The people of Niʻihau are noted for their gemlike lei pūpū (shell lei) craftsmanship. The island is currently managed by brothers Bruce and Keith Robinson. From 1987 onward, a limited number of supervised activity tours and hunting safaris have opened to tourists. Navy personnel, government officials, and invited guests. The island, known as "the Forbidden Isle", is off-limits to all outsiders except the Robinson family and their relatives, U.S. During World War II, the island was the site of the Niʻihau incident, in which, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, a Japanese navy fighter pilot crashed on the island and received help from the island's residents of Japanese descent. The island's private ownership passed on to her descendants, the Robinsons. Įlizabeth Sinclair purchased Niʻihau in 1864 for US$10,000 (equivalent to about $190,000 in 2022) from the Kingdom of Hawaii. At the 2020 census, the population had fallen to 84. Its 2000 census population was 160, most of whom are native Hawaiians its 2010 census population was 170. The United States Census Bureau defines Niʻihau and the neighboring island and State Seabird Sanctuary of Lehua as Census Tract 410 of Kauai County, Hawaii. The island is designated as critical habitat for Brighamia insignis, an endemic and endangered species of Hawaiian lobelioid. Several intermittent playa lakes provide wetland habitats for the Hawaiian coot, the Hawaiian stilt, and the Hawaiian duck. Its area is 69.5 square miles (180 km 2). It is 17.5 miles (28.2 km) southwest of Kauaʻi across the Kaulakahi Channel. Niʻihau ( Hawaiian: ), anglicized as Niihau ( / ˈ n iː( i) h aʊ/ NEE-(ee-)how), is the westernmost main and seventh largest inhabited island in Hawaii.
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