Malama

It’s Time to Protect the Oceans and to Expand Our Marine Protected Areas by 30%

UN CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE, MOROCCO COP 22

Malama is a lighthouse warning from the depths of the ocean, laced with an Alice-In-Wonderland mystique and Island lore. It’s the story about Hine (22 years), a recent graduate of the Oceanography Institute and the School of Fine Arts in Hawaii, who has just started her internship as the Creative Designer for the Center for Coral Reef Protection. As part of her initiation, the others invite her on a snorkeling adventure and challenge her to tag a sea turtle in their favorite coral dive spot. Drawn to the magic and color of the underwater world, Hine immerses herself into the reef ecosystem, loses a sense of time/space, and becomes separated from the group.

A sea turtle appears. She swims after him, traversing the coral reef. As the waters become murky dark, a haunting desperate female voice emits from an encrusted stone bust of the most beautiful mermaid. It beacons Hine to help, “Hine Kokua, Hine Kokua, Hine Kokua”. Suddenly, a boat screams overhead, causing a wave that knocks Hine into the reef. She goes unconscious. Flashes of an ailing ocean ecosystem pass cross her mind- plastic ocean gyre, trolling, whales crying, inundated shoreline farms, destroyed mangroves. The Center’s Chief rescues her, brings her home, and encourages her to rest, while the others head to a special Potlatch-themed party that night. Drumming from the party keeps Hine awake and seems to evoke again the eerie call from the ocean, “Hine Kokua.”, which gets louder and louder. Only when Hine begins sketching does the voice soften… and as Hine begins to tune into the call of the ocean and her inner naturally intelligent voice, do ideas flow until she finds herself in a creative dance with the coral reef. The story that follows secures Malama into Hawaii’s legend and culture.