Tuesday, March 2, 2010

This Week in Nature - The 1st Week of March - Nana

What's Happening in Hawaii
During the First Week of March (Nana):
The beginning of the hot season is still two months off, but the weather has started to shift. Winter storms and surf are subsiding, and as the Hawaiian writer Kepelino observed, in Nana the leaves on the trees are no longer bruised by hard, driving rains.

A Hawaiian proverb also marks Nana as a month when pāpa'i (crabs) are fat. The nature of this "fatness" is not indicated, but the proverb probably refers to the presence of eggs on the underside of female pāpa'i. This phenomenon, known as berrying, reaches its heaight about this time, prior to heavy spawning that occurs in spring and summer.
Images and text from "Hawaii: A Calendar of Natural Events"
published by Bishop Museum and Kamehameha Schools in 1989.

No comments:

Post a Comment