THE SEAWEEDS OF HAWAII 
Vaughan MacCaughey 
"The Hawaiians, like the Japanese, are fond of almost all the 
products of the sea, and, like them, prize the seaweed very highly for 
food. Ancient Hawaiians probably seldom ate a meal without some 
kind of limu or seaweed. . . — Reed. 
The Hawaiian Archipelago is about two thousand miles long, and 
Hes athwart the center of the north Pacific ocean. Vast and deep 
marine expanses isolate it from both the American and the Asiatic 
continents. The waters that wash its thousand miles of diversified 
coast line are not tropic, but moderately warm — sub-tropic. Hence 
its coral reefs are small as compared with the great reefs of the South 
Pacific. Its seaweeds do not exhibit the profusion of species nor 
the luxuriance of form and color that characterize the oceanic flora 
of strictly tropical regions. Moreover, the giant kelps and laminarias 
that dominate the long cold coasts of northwestern America are con- 
spicuously absent from Hawaiian shores and reefs. 
The Hawaiian Islands rise abruptly from abyssal depths. Many 
of the shore-Hnes are exceedingly precipitous. Certain geologists have 
compared the islands to the summits of a row of obelisks. The area 
of shallow water is much more circumscribed than is generally sup- 
posed. The tracts possessing life-conditions favorable for the develop- 
ment of marine algae are distinctly limited in area and localized in 
distribution. The lower, older islands to the northwest have the 
largest reefs and shallows. These areas become progressively smaller 
toward the high, young, volcanic islands of the southeast. The island 
of Hawaii, youngest member of the archipelago, is distinguished by an 
almost entire absence of low beachlands, reefs, lagoons, or shallows. 
These topographic conditions have profoundly influenced the algal 
and other marine life of the Hawaiian group. 
An hour's cruise in an outrigger canoe over a typical fringing reef 
is sufficient to reveal the five main zones of the algal flora. The shallow 
in-shore waters, with a bottom of coral sand or mud, sustain a number 
of the quiet water forms. Partially exposed rock masses of coral or 
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