Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument
Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, Marine national monument in Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, United States.
Papahānaumokuākea is a protected marine area in the northwestern Hawaiian waters that includes ten islands, atolls, coral reefs, and deep-sea ecosystems. The reserve covers roughly 582,000 square miles (1,5 million square kilometers) and provides habitat for marine mammals, seabirds, and reef fish.
President Theodore Roosevelt began protection efforts in 1909 by establishing the Hawaiian Islands Bird Reservation. The area gained national monument status in 2006 and received World Heritage designation shortly afterward.
The name honors Papahānaumoku and Wākea, figures from Native Hawaiian tradition who represent earth mother and sky father. For many islanders, these waters hold ancestral ties dating back to the earliest Polynesian voyagers who knew the reefs as guiding landmarks.
Access requires special permits because the area remains strictly protected and open only for scientific research and Native Hawaiian traditional practices. The Mokupāpapa Discovery Center in Hilo offers visitors exhibits and educational programs about the reserve and its inhabitants.
Scientists have documented over 7,000 species in the reserve, with about one quarter found nowhere else on Earth. The Hawaiian monk seal ranks among the rarest marine mammals and lives mainly in the protected waters and beaches of these remote islands.
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