By any measure of time or distance, these exiled emperors have made a remarkable journey. Each in its turn ruled the Pacific as giant undersea volcanoes. When their tops breached the ocean surface to challenge the sky, they were the world's tallest mountains. Much like their descendants, the familiar Hawaiian islands of today, and in exactly the same location. Like the statue of Ozymandias, little remains of these once mighty emperors except their feet.
All landscapes change over time, but in Hawaii, the traditional timescales are compressed.
Geologic, biologic and human history overlap so much that they continue to interact with each other. Hawaii s continuing evolution offers glimpses of the natural forces which have shaped our planet. Each island in the Hawaiian chain as it exists today illustrates one stage in the cycle, and allows for an ecological and biological diversity found nowhere else on the planet. The impermanence of these islands, even on a time scale beyond our human comprehension, gives added weight to their beauty. Each mountain and valley, each beach and coral reef, are here for only the blink of an eye in the life of the planet.