Mōkōlea Rock is an

islet An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanen ...

in Kailua Bay along the windward coast of

Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

and located east of

Marine Corps Base Hawaii Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH), formerly Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay and originally Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay, is a U.S. Marine Corps facility and air station located on the Mokapu Peninsula of windward O'ahu in the City & Count ...

(MCBH). Like most of the small islets off the coastline of a major island in the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost ...

, Mōkōlea is a State Bird Sanctuary containing many types of birds. Access to the islet requires a permit, and is only allowed to people involved in protecting the islet's fauna. The islet is more commonly known to local residents as "Birdshit Island", "Birdshit", or simply "Bird" because its black lava rock surface is heavily coated with bird droppings. There is no vegetation on the islet, which is actually three connected outcroppings, the highest of which is no more than above

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value ( magnitude and sign) of a given data set. For a data set, the '' ...

. All three consist of barren, jagged

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or ...

. Mokolea is part of the windward rim of the Kawainui volcanic caldera. About from this outcropping on the side facing Kailua Beach a shelf juts up from deep water to a depth of . The shelf is a moderately interesting spot for

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for " Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chr ...

, although much of the time the area is rough, and

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek � ...

ing a boat is difficult. Mokolea has been described as a shore dive by some, but it should not be attempted from the shore due to strong currents and the distance between the dive spot and Kailua Beach.

References

* * Islands of Hawaii Geography of Honolulu County, Hawaii {{Hawaii-geo-stub

See also

References