Aerial.America.S01E02.Hawaii
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00:00No other land is more primal, more astonishing in its rainbow of life, more compelling with
00:19its seductive stories of history, myth, and human drama.
00:26Hawaii, an emerald string of eight major islands near the equator in the vast Pacific Ocean.
00:38To see it by air is a stunning journey.
00:45We'll travel across the main Hawaiian islands,
00:49from Kilauea, a smoldering giant of a volcano,
00:54the most active on the planet,
00:57out past the shores of one of the most notorious leper colonies,
01:02where a brave priest waged a solitary war against the plague of death.
01:10On to Pearl Harbor, where waves of Japanese bombers turned a peaceful morning sky
01:16into an inferno that changed the world.
01:19And to Waikiki and beyond, where a legendary Olympic athlete introduced the world to the sport of surfing.
01:32Aerial Hawaii is a journey unlike any other on the face of the Earth.
01:49Our journey of the Hawaiian islands starts on the Big Island of Hawaii.
02:15So big, it's more than double the size of all the other Hawaiian islands combined.
02:23It's believed that the first humans may have set foot here around 500 A.D.
02:30They likely were from the Marquesas Islands, 2,500 miles to the south.
02:35Why these Polynesian sailors set out for the unknown is a mystery.
02:44They sailed the open sea until finally, the horizon yielded a glorious gift.
02:52The warm, welcoming sand of Hawaii.
02:56On the western shore of the island, the remains of a great stone wall stand as a monument to Hawaii's ancient culture.
03:07This is the site of the first human settlement on the island,
03:12and the site of the first human settlement on the island.
03:16The remains of a great stone wall stand as a monument to Hawaii's ancient culture.
03:21This is Pahuniwa'ahona now, a sacred place that ancient Hawaiians believed held special powers.
03:32Built in the 1500s, its wall stands 1,000 feet long, 10 feet high, 17 feet thick.
03:40Not to repel enemies, but to provide sanctuary.
03:44If a law was broken, the penalty was often death.
03:50For severe crimes, the entire family of the accused was executed.
03:58Lawbreakers were given one shot at a reprieve.
04:02If they could escape and reach Pahuniwa'ahona before being captured, they were safe.
04:06Here, priests offered refuge and forgiveness.
04:15Whatever the crime, the fugitive was then allowed to return home, without fear of retribution.
04:25In the early 1800s, the Pahuniwa'ahona was known as a sacred place.
04:30For centuries, Hawaiians were unknown to the rest of the world.
04:34But in 1778, Captain James Cook, on expedition with two ships of the British admiralty,
04:40became the first European to set foot here.
04:44He was the first person to set foot on the island of Pahuniwa'ahona.
04:49He was the first person to set foot on the island of Pahuniwa'ahona.
04:53On expedition with two ships of the British admiralty, became the first European to set foot here.
05:02The islanders received Cook and his men warmly.
05:08The consequences were fatal.
05:12Within a hundred years of Cook's arrival, an estimated 90% of the indigenous population was wiped out.
05:18Dead from measles and other European diseases.
05:28But for Cook, death came much more swiftly.
05:32A year after his arrival, he anchored here.
05:40Some natives stole one of Cook's boats.
05:43The captain and a small landing party came ashore to retrieve it.
05:47More than 200 warriors attacked.
05:51Cook was struck in the head and killed.
05:54A white obelisk marks the spot where he fell.
06:01According to crew members, some friendly Hawaiians later returned Cook's body.
06:06Or what remained of it.
06:08Hands, scalp, a few bones, and the skull, without its lower jaw.
06:12All of it, burned.
06:24Traveling north along the coast, modern Hawaii beckons.
06:30At first glance, the big island appears to turn a cold shoulder to beach lovers.
06:36Hawaii has fewer sand beaches per mile than other islands in the Pacific.
06:41But the beaches it does have are among the best in the entire state.
06:50Some of the island's most opulent resorts hug its western shoreline.
06:55Like this one, the Mauna Kea Hotel.
07:00Built in 1965, situated between two ancient lava flows,
07:04Mauna Kea was the first resort here.
07:11The owner was Lawrence Rockefeller, of the Rockefeller dynasty.
07:16As a venture capitalist, he was famous for providing early startup capital
07:21to two little companies named Intel and Apple.
07:27But he was also a pioneering conservationist.
07:30Committed to building eco-friendly hotels that gave people a respectful access to nature.
07:42In Hawaii, the Mauna Kea Hotel is his legacy.
07:47Some rooms and suites here cost a thousand dollars a night.
07:51At the north end of the island, beauty gives way to mystery.
07:57What appears as little more than a rough pile of stones
08:01is actually what remains of the ancient temple of Mahokini Heiau.
08:09The Mauna Kea Hotel is one of Hawaii's most popular resorts.
08:12What appears as little more than a rough pile of stones
08:15is actually what remains of the ancient temple of Mahokini Heiau.
08:24It's believed the site was used for human sacrifice to the Hawaiian war god, Ku.
08:34Tens of thousands were sacrificed here.
08:38Though little blood was actually spilled.
08:41Because a bloodied corpse did not look good on the stone altar,
08:45most victims were either drowned, strangled or poisoned.
08:53Visitors to the site often claim that there is an eerie quiet,
08:57a strange chill in the air, as if the countless dead still linger.
09:03But the most tangible trace of what happened here are the stones of the temple itself.
09:10According to legend, the stones were moved to this site from a valley some 14 miles away.
09:19From hand to hand, the rocks were passed along a chain of 18,000 people
09:24and stacked at the temple all in just one night.
09:27An epic feat, considering that the stone walls were nearly 30 feet thick.
09:46Heading south along Hawaii's east coast, a lush wonderland awaits.
09:51The Waipio Valley.
09:58Once thousands of people lived here, cultivating bananas, coconuts
10:03and a spinach-tasting plant called taro.
10:09But in 1946, a tsunami devastated the valley.
10:13Most of the survivors left, and the wild took over.
10:21Then, in 1961, President John F. Kennedy started the Peace Corps.
10:27And the Waipio Valley was chosen as the site of one of its first training camps.
10:31A living classroom, where volunteers prepared for the rigors of life in underdeveloped countries.
10:39Today, the camp is long gone.
10:42Only about 50 people live in the entire valley.
10:45Farmers, mostly.
10:51The Waipio Valley is the site of one of the first training camps.
10:55A living classroom, where volunteers prepared for the rigors of life in underdeveloped countries.
11:01This part of Hawaii has slipped back in time,
11:04becoming nearly as remote and untamed as when it was first carved in the earth.
11:12Its sand beach is black, from where ancient volcanic lava flowed to the ocean,
11:17and was crushed by the surf.
11:21And deep inside the valley, its cliffs tower some 2,000 feet high.
11:26One of the highest free-falling waterfalls in the world is here,
11:30a spectacular 1,300-foot drop.
11:47Inland from the valley is the sprawling Parker Ranch,
11:51the site of a remarkable American success story.
11:53The rags-to-riches tale of a vagabond sailor who turned his skill with a gun into a dynasty.
12:05At the turn of the 19th century, herds of long-horned cattle roamed this part of the island.
12:10They were wild, dangerous, far from the domesticated breed of today.
12:15Within a decade, there were so many that locals felt threatened.
12:23To control the population, a local chief hired a man named John Parker to hunt some of the cattle.
12:31Parker was a New England sailor who had jumped ship on the island,
12:35and was known as a good shot with a musket.
12:37Because the cattle lived in canyons, the best way to hunt them was on horseback.
12:43Parker favored horses with a keen sense of smell.
12:47The sooner a horse could perk its ears and alert him that his prey was nearby,
12:52the sooner he could get off a good shot.
12:54Before long, Parker was salting the beef from his kills and selling it to the whaling vessels that came to port.
13:01In no time, salt beef was a bestseller, becoming the island's chief export.
13:08When Parker married the chief's great-granddaughter,
13:11she became the chief's first wife.
13:14She was the first woman in the world to marry a man who was a good shot with a musket.
13:18Becoming the island's chief export.
13:22When Parker married the chief's great-granddaughter, a dynasty was born.
13:28He domesticated his own herd of cattle and acquired this land you see.
13:36Eventually, the Parker Ranch grew to over 150,000 acres,
13:41becoming one of the largest cattle ranches in the nation.
13:49Parker Ranch
13:57South from the main part of the Parker Ranch looms the mammoth Mauna Kea volcano.
14:05From base to summit, it towers more than five and one-half miles,
14:09higher than even Mount Everest.
14:14The last time Mauna Kea erupted was some 3,500 years ago.
14:19Mauna Kea
14:25Mauna Kea means white mountain, for the snow that covers its peak.
14:32In the 1960s, NASA sent its Apollo astronauts to train on Mauna Kea.
14:40It seems that the terrain here is similar to that on the moon.
14:44Today, scientists still flock here,
14:48this time armed with the most powerful telescopes in the world.
14:54The thin, clear air makes it an ideal place to study the heavens.
15:00In recent years, astronomers using these and other telescopes atop Mauna Kea
15:05have made key discoveries about the formation of stars,
15:08the origin of black holes,
15:10and the web of dark matter that stretches across the cosmos.
15:23Meanwhile, a mere 50 miles away is Mauna Loa, a giant of a volcano.
15:29Since 1832, Mauna Loa has erupted 33 times.
15:34The last eruption was in 1984.
15:42The mostly unpolluted air atop Mauna Loa is nirvana for scientists.
15:47In this case, the subject is a black hole.
15:51The black hole is the largest black hole in the world.
15:54The black hole is nirvana for scientists.
15:57In this case, the subject is climate research.
16:05It started in 1958 when American geochemist David Keeling set up his instruments here.
16:11He wanted to find out if industrial carbon dioxide was heating the surface temperature of the Earth.
16:18Keeling found that CO2 levels in the Earth's atmosphere were increasing at a rate of 3.3 billion tons a year.
16:31It was a milestone discovery,
16:34the first measurable data to establish a connection between global warming and rising CO2 levels.
16:48Kilauea
16:58By far the most active volcano on the island, in the whole world in fact, is Kilauea.
17:08The volcano has spewed lava continuously since 1983,
17:12unleashing molten rock at temperatures up to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
17:23As the lava flows down the hill and meets the sea, it produces a cloud of steam like this one.
17:30But don't get too close. Inhaling the steam can sear your lungs and kill you in minutes.
17:36Once it cools in the ocean, the lava hardens and forms a crust that expands the surface of Hawaii's coastline.
17:45Since the 1980s, lava has expanded the island by more than 500 acres.
17:51Called lava extensions, these tracts of new land belong to the state of Hawaii.
17:57The ruling was handed down by the state's Supreme Court,
18:00after several landowners claimed the new shoreline properties as their own.
18:10But as the volcano creates, it also destroys.
18:14The smoking lava wipes out highways,
18:20devastates wildlife,
18:24and turns entire neighborhoods into smoldering dead ends.
18:29Still, life endures.
18:31Even as the volcano continues to erupt, new homes are under construction,
18:36right on top of the old city of Kilauea.
18:40The city of Kilauea was once the capital of Hawaii,
18:43but now it is home to the city of Kilauea.
18:47The city of Kilauea was once the capital of Hawaii,
18:50but now it is home to the city of Kilauea.
18:53As the volcano continues to erupt, new homes are under construction,
18:57right on top of the old lava flows.
19:13Heading west from Hawaii, the next island in the chain,
19:18Maui.
19:24The aviation hero Charles Lindbergh said of Maui,
19:28if there is a heaven on earth, it's here.
19:43Today, the port city of Lahaina, on Maui's west coast,
19:47bustles with a fleet of pleasure boats.
19:50But in the 1800s, this was the center of the Pacific whaling industry.
20:01Hundreds of whaling vessels filled the harbor.
20:07And thousands of sailors prowled the streets.
20:10Among them was a young man named Herman Melville,
20:13whose experiences at sea later inspired him to write the novel Moby Dick.
20:21Now the whales here have nothing to fear but tourists with cameras.
20:29Maui is the whale-watching capital in this part of the Pacific.
20:36Each year, more than a thousand humpback whales,
20:39like this mother and her calf, migrate here from their Arctic feeding grounds.
20:45The mother whale keeps her baby close.
20:48They'll swim together like this for the first year of the calf's life,
20:51the mother teaching valuable skills that will help her baby thrive and grow.
20:58What may look like play to us can be the mother showing her calf
21:02how to maneuver when attacked by a predatory shark.
21:06Maui
21:15Another reason so many people flock to Maui is the shoreline.
21:22There are more than 80 beaches.
21:24While most look like this one, others have sand of bold, unexpected colors.
21:29Black, green, red, all from ancient lava flows.
21:36At every turn, Maui is a romantic paradise,
21:42considered the number one destination for weddings in the world.
21:55Traveling on West Maui, the mountains and rugged coastline are a magnificent wilderness,
22:00so wild that parts of it have yet to be fully explored.
22:06Much of this part of the island is a rich nature preserve, the largest in the state.
22:14Rare vegetation grows at a rate of only about one foot every 10,000 years.
22:19No wonder public access is limited.
22:24One footprint in the soil causes damage that can take thousands of years for nature to repair.
22:31Puakakui
22:33The highest peak in the mountain is Puakakui, meaning hill of light.
22:38Ancient Hawaiians believed this rainforest was the meeting place between heaven and earth.
22:48If this was the realm of the gods, then it was good enough for kings as well.
22:54According to legend, an 18th century Maui king sometimes lived near the mountain,
22:59atop his own god-like realm, a spectacular rock formation called the Kuhakuloa Head.
23:08Each morning, the king would dive from here and plunge hundreds of feet into the ocean.
23:15Kuhakuloa Head
23:28You enter a world unto itself, the road to the city of Hana.
23:37A slithering 53-mile drive through what has been called a highway to heaven.
23:45Maui
23:49800 years ago, the people of Maui made this area a home for their gods.
23:56This massive temple, Piilanihali Heiau, is built of lava rock spread over nearly three acres.
24:08But perhaps the most famous home on Maui, for mortals at least, is here.
24:14A church on the south side of the island where the greatest aviator in the history of the world is buried.
24:20Charles Lindbergh
24:27The man famous for his 1927 non-stop solo flight from New York to Paris lived in Maui during the last years of his life.
24:37In 1974, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and informed that he had perhaps a week to live.
24:45New York
24:48Rather than receive treatment stateside that might prolong his life, Lindbergh told his doctor that he wished to die at home.
24:57I would rather spend two days on Maui, he said, than spend two months alive in New York.
25:05Haleakala
25:13Inland from Lindbergh's grave is Haleakala, the world's largest dormant volcano.
25:20Its name means house of the sun, because at dawn, it's as if the sun rises from the crater itself.
25:35The crater is 21 miles in circumference and 3,000 feet deep.
25:45The feeling of solitude at the summit is immense.
25:49After his visit here, Mark Twain wrote,
25:52I felt like the last man on earth, neglected of the judgment and left pinnacled in midheaven, a forgotten relic of a vanished world.
26:11Traveling west from Maui, the island of Lanai is the next stop.
26:23Lanai is a private island with two exclusive resorts.
26:29So exclusive that in 1994 it was chosen as the site of one of the most extravagantly private weddings ever.
26:41Every hotel room on the island was rented and kept empty.
26:48Helicopters on nearby islands were paid not to fly.
26:53Security was so tight that the only people allowed on the island were the 100 or so wedding guests.
27:00The cost? It didn't matter. The groom was the richest man in the world, Bill Gates.
27:13Just a few miles north of Lanai is Molokai, a small island of stunning beauty.
27:23The sea cliffs on its north shore are the highest in the world, rising 2,000 to 3,000 feet above the waves.
27:46But behind the beauty, a far different story.
27:50Gravestones crowd the shoreline of what was once a notorious leper colony.
28:00Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease that disfigures the skin.
28:09In the 1800s, people with the disease were exiled here by the government.
28:19The living conditions were savage.
28:23As one observer put it, prepare for Molokai as for the grave.
28:31But one man set out to change that.
28:34For 16 years, a Belgian missionary named Father Damien cared for the sick here.
28:40He cleaned their wounds, built decent housing, and buried thousands as they succumbed to their disease.
28:48Father Damien eventually contracted leprosy himself.
28:52He died in the colony in 1889 and is buried on the grounds of this church.
28:57A century later, the Catholic Church beatified him, one step from sainthood.
29:07The graves on Molokai bear witness to his extraordinary life.
29:12Pushing west, the island of Oahu.
29:27At the end of the day, it's not the same.
29:32It's not the same life.
29:36It's not the same life.
29:38Pushing west, the island of Oahu.
29:44It materializes out of the Pacific, a lush green vision.
29:50Just 44 miles long and 30 miles wide.
29:57But then, a startling contrast.
30:03Honolulu.
30:05The state capital and largest city in Hawaii.
30:10Downtown Honolulu is considered one of America's prettiest and most compact cities.
30:20Most of its financial, business district and residential high-rises are elegantly situated within just 12 square blocks.
30:29Because it's so isolated, Hawaii is a slave to its energy needs.
30:35It gets about 90% of its energy from imported oil.
30:42But change is in the wind.
30:45The state has committed to going green, producing 70% of the energy it needs by the year 2030.
30:51This windmill farm, for instance, is turning wind gusts into electricity.
30:56A single wind turbine can generate enough power to provide electricity for hundreds of homes.
31:06On Oahu, research is underway to make renewable energy using Hawaii's own natural resources.
31:13Such as pumping cool ocean water to supply the air conditioning for downtown Honolulu.
31:22And converting algae into biodiesel fuel for cars and trucks.
31:30Hawaii has become a living laboratory for sustainable energy.
31:44While tourism may be Oahu's number one cash crop, these sprawling plantations make a case for pineapple as a close second.
31:59Around 1900, a man named James Dole came to Hawaii determined to start a new business.
32:06Intrigued by the local popularity of pineapples, Dole purchased 60 acres here on Oahu and began growing the fruit.
32:19In no time, this crop yield multiplied, demand grew, and an empire was born.
32:29At its height, the Dole Empire produced about 250 million pineapples a year.
32:36The Dole Empire was the largest producer of pineapples in the world.
32:44When it comes to Oahu, no destination attracts quite like a giant wall of water.
32:59Two of the best surfing spots on the planet are here.
33:03Waikiki, and the North Shore, home of the famous Bonsai Pipeline.
33:20The Hawaiian sport of surfing is at least a thousand years old.
33:26And Oahu is at its heart and soul.
33:33When Captain Cook's expedition first reached Hawaii in 1778, an officer described the amazing sight of men on surfboards.
33:47The boldness with which we saw them perform these difficult and dangerous maneuvers was altogether astonishing and is scarce to be believed.
34:03Some early surfers used the thick palm-like leaves of a banana plant to ride the waves.
34:11The story of modern surfing begins with a man named The Duke, Duke Kahanamoku.
34:18He was a gold medal swimmer at the 1912 Summer Olympics.
34:26But perhaps his greatest love was surfing, and his skill with his board caught on.
34:33One of his most famous exploits is the day he rode a 30-foot monster wave off the coast of Honolulu, for almost two miles.
34:48It's said that in Oahu, every surfer on every wave rides with the spirit of the Duke.
35:03Diamond Head
35:09High above the waves on Oahu's southern shore looms the extinct ancient volcano, Diamond Head.
35:21British sailors gave the crater its name when they mistook the crystals twinkling in its lava rock for diamonds.
35:28But there's no mistaking the glorious view from its 760-foot summit.
35:35Waikiki and the entire southern side of the island are at your feet.
35:48Because of this commanding view of the Pacific, the U.S. military bought Diamond Head in 1904.
35:55Not long after, Hawaii was annexed.
36:03The once deadly volcano became a home to a military observation tower and a four-level underground command post inside the mouth of the crater.
36:24December 7, 1941
36:44December 7, 1941
36:48Several miles up the coast from Waikiki, Japanese aircraft swooped in for the kill.
36:55Torpedo bombers hit first, targeting the battleships anchored in the harbor.
37:08A second wave of dive bombers attacked U.S. air bases across Oahu.
37:15Hundreds of American aircraft were destroyed or damaged before pilots could even get them off the ground.
37:25Incredibly, the damage to America's Pacific fleet could have been far worse.
37:33A third wave of Japanese air attacks had been planned. The target? The fleet's enormous fuel storage.
37:41Fortunately, the Japanese believed enough damage had been done, and the attack was called off.
37:48Because the fuel was saved, the U.S. fleet was eventually able to mobilize and take the war to the Japanese.
37:58During the two-hour attack on Pearl Harbor, 21 vessels were destroyed. Worst hit was the USS Arizona.
38:09Today, this memorial perches above the ship's watery grave.
38:15Nearly 1,200 young men died aboard the Arizona when a bomb made a direct hit, igniting the ship's forward magazine.
38:24The ship sank in nine minutes.
38:30Today, the USS Arizona Memorial is the number one destination for tourists visiting Oahu.
38:45Kauai
38:52The last of the eight major Hawaiian islands is also the oldest, Kauai.
39:02The island was born of a volcano that ruptured from the ocean floor, only to burn out and become extinct about five million years ago.
39:15Kauai
39:32The same eruption that raised Kauai from the icy depths of the Pacific also carved this into its heart.
39:40Waimea Canyon is called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.
39:50In Polynesian mythology, the canyon and other wonders on the island owe their creation to the Hawaiian fire goddess, Pele.
40:00Pele
40:06According to legend, Pele traveled to Kauai and dug into the earth, searching for a fire pit in which to live.
40:16It's said that Pele tore open the earth at Waimea Canyon, but found only water.
40:23Eventually, she fled Kauai and continued her search for a home on the other islands in the chain.
40:33But perhaps there's more to the myth than meets the eye.
40:38Researchers have noted that the supposed movement of the fire goddess from island to island just so happens to coincide with the geological record of volcanic activity in Hawaii.
40:53Mount Waia'ele'ele
41:02Last stop on Kauai is one of the wettest environments in the world, Mount Waia'ele'ele.
41:15Average rainfall here, 440 inches a year.
41:21So much water flows through the mountain that waterfalls abound.
41:27Jurassic Park
41:46This 280-foot falls was famously used in the film Jurassic Park.
41:52It appears when a helicopter carrying scientists first lands on the island.
41:59Locals now just simply call it Jurassic Falls.
42:04It was during the making of that film that a fierce hurricane slammed into the island.
42:11Production halted as the storm unleashed its fury.
42:16The cast and crew huddled in safety.
42:20But according to one report, director Steven Spielberg couldn't resist the opportunity to capture some of the real storm for the one portrayed in the film.
42:33It's said that Spielberg took a camera operator with him up on a roof where they filmed the wind-driven waves crashing over a breakwater.
42:42That footage appears in the movie.
42:51Kauai
43:04Hawaii by air.
43:08A stunning journey, unlike any on the face of the earth.
43:13A dazzling trip through time, imagination, and a rainbow of life.
43:43Hawaii by air.
43:47A stunning journey, unlike any on the face of the earth.
43:53A dazzling trip through time, imagination, and a rainbow of life.
43:59A stunning journey, unlike any on the face of the earth.
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