Manana

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mānana Island (technically an islet) is located three-quarters of a mile (1.2 km) off Kaupō Beach, near Makapu‘u at the eastern end of the Island of O‘ahu in the Hawaiian Islands. In the Hawaiian language, mānana means "buoyant" The islet is commonly referred to as Rabbit Island, because its shape as seen from the nearby O‘ahu shore looks something like a rabbit's head and because it was once inhabited by introduced rabbits. These were eradicated because they were destroying the native ecosystem, an important seabird breeding area.

Mānana is a tuff cone with two vents or craters. The highest point on the islet rises to 361 feet (110 m). The island is 2,319 feet (707 m) long and 2,147 feet (654 m) wide and has an area of about 63 acres (25 ha). Mānana’s only sand beach is a small storm beach on the west to south-west (leeward) side of the islet. This sand deposit, located above the reach of the normal waves, is about thirty feet (9 m) wide and curves around to the western side of the island.

Mānana is a State Seabird Sanctuary—home to over 10,000 Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, 80,000 Sooty Terns, 20,000 Brown Noddys, 5-10 Bulwer's Petrels, and 10-15 Red-tailed Tropicbirds, and numerous Hawaiian Monk Seals. It is illegal to land on the islet without permission from the State of Hawai‘i, Department of Land Natural Resources.