Qualla: Ka'ula

Ka'ula: Introduction

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided, Public domain. Twenty-two miles southwest of Ni'ihau -- itself the most restricted of Hawaii's main islands -- a crescent of volcanic rock rises from the Pacific like a broken tooth. Ka'ula is barely 158 acres of tuff and basalt, and it is getting smaller. The ocean is eating it. Waves have carved sheer sea cliffs into its flanks and hollowed out Kahalauaola, the Shark Cave, on its northwest face. In Hawaiian mythology, Ka'ula is the seventh-born child of Papa and Wakea, the earth mother and sky father who created the islands. The U.S. Navy uses it for bombing practice.

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Image: Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided | Public domain

Ka'ula: A Volcanic Remnant at the Edge of the Chain

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 3.0. Ka'ula is the exposed summit of a volcanic tuff cone perched atop a much larger submerged shield volcano. At its highest point, the island reaches 548 feet above sea level -- respectable height for so small a footprint, giving the island the profile of a steep fortress when appro...

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Image: Frank Schulenburg | CC BY-SA 3.0

Ka'ula: Light, Then Darkness

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit N3kt0n, CC BY-SA 3.0. For fifteen years, Ka'ula had a lighthouse. The United States Lighthouse Service completed the structure in 1932, perching a beacon on this remote speck of land to guide ships through the western Hawaiian waters. When the Lighthouse Service was absorbed into the Coast Guard in 19...

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Image: N3kt0n | CC BY-SA 3.0

Ka'ula: Sanctuary and Target Range

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Brocken Inaglory, CC BY-SA 3.0. Ka'ula's dual identity is almost absurd. In 1978, over the objections of the U.S. Navy, the state of Hawaii claimed ownership of the island and designated it a State Seabird Sanctuary. The island hosts significant nesting colonies, and its isolation makes it ideal habitat. The Na...

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Image: Brocken Inaglory | CC BY-SA 3.0

Ka'ula: Beneath the Surface

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Xpda, CC BY-SA 3.0. While no one lives on Ka'ula, people visit the waters around it regularly. Fishermen work the surrounding reefs, and scuba divers are drawn to the island's dramatic underwater terrain. Three miles west-northwest of Ka'ula lies Five Fathom Pinnacle, a submerged seamount that rises...

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Image: Xpda | CC BY-SA 3.0