Today was our second day in Hawaii, and it was great! We began our day by going to NELHA, a non-profit organization founded by Dr. Craven in 1974. NELHA helps with business research support, growth, and economic development. They have created a renewable energy plant called OTEC (ocean thermal energy conservation), which helps produce a lot of energy they need without using fossil fuels. Hawaii has promised to be 100% dependent on renewable energy by 2045, since to get fossil fuels they have to get them shipped from another place. Because of Hawaii’s inconvenient location, it takes up a lot of fuel for the fossil fuels to get there, meaning their wasting even more than what they already consume. Hawaii is also big on aquaculture, which they are trying to improve so they can continue feeding their growing population. A very cool fact about the NELHA building is that it is cooled by the ocean, meaning that their rooms feel as if they had air conditioning, but in reality they set up a system were sea water flows below the building which then cools it down.
After that we went to KE KAI OLA, where we saw through a monitoring camera a monk seal, which was in rehabilitation. They explained us all about their program with monk seals restoration, since they are the most endangered species in the US.
After that we went on to the best part, going up to the observatories. We went on an hour drive to the top of Mauna Kea, the world’s largest mountain on earth from base to top. We had a lot of fun there and we even got to see a start show, were we saw several stars and different plants on a telescope, drank hot chocolate, and ate brownies. Here’s a fool picture at the top with of Mauna Kea. 
