Nothing really to blog about...

I haven't been up to much lately (no crafting and no fun!) so I don't have much to share with you guys today... it's also the reason I've been so quiet on my blog! Instead, my sister said I could share this with you. She recently got a new job as a lab assistant at the University (she's very science-y) and she is going on all of these fantastic hikes on our island to look at/ collect snails that are native to Hawai`i (she'll be going in a helicopter for a project soon!)

Endangered O`ahu Tree Snail: Achatinella/pūp

While she was on a hike recently, she spotted this little guy... a native happy face spider! (Don't look if you're afraid of spiders... although these little guys are nice!) They're a little rare/ endangered, and the only place they are found in the entire world is in Hawai`i (and then only on four of our eight main islands: O`ahu, Moloka`i, Hawai`i Island, and Maui). So its nice that this one had eggs! You can read more about happy face spiders here. In case you didn't know, Hawai`i is one of the most biodiverse places on earth, thanks to millions of years of geographic isolation. Hawai`i is also known as the "endangered species capital of the world," which means that there are more endangered species per square mile in our Islands than in any other place on the planet; unfortunately, we are also the extinction capital of the world :(

Endangered Happy Face Spider: Theridion Grallator/ nanana makaki`i

Conservation efforts have helped to stop some of the most dramatic losses of biodiversity, but there is still more to be done. In fact, the need to protect our plant and animal life is the reason that people visiting Hawai`i (whether they are tourists or residents) are required to fill out a forms declaring if they are carrying any fruits, vegetables or animals. We even have dogs at the airport that are specially trained to smell and find exotic plants and animals. These precautions extend past the airport too... our pet stores don't sell ferrets or hamsters (!) and Hawai`i has some of the strictest quarantine laws for pets. Although these measures are very strict, these efforts are helping to the protect unique biodiversity of our Islands.