"Inside of our ipu gift is a piece of cordage braided from the olonā, known as the strongest natural fiber in the world. It is part of the very specific and special list of plants that are used to create rope and line for voyaging."
As Hōkūleʻa and her crew sailed through the waters off Massachusetts on their way up and down the New England coastline, they touched waters home to New England’s only National Marine Sanctuary and famed home of the North Atlantic Humpback Whale, Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.