NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Polynesian navigation
From: John Huth
Date: 2009 Jun 6, 17:29 -0400
I actually spent some time barking up the bioluminescence tree. What I found most interesting in Lewis' description (actually from his interviews) was this phenomenon of "underwater lightning", which, according to Lewis interviews seemed to be a kind of flashes that happened in deep water. I talked to people who I think had perhaps some expertise in this kind of thing, and they hadn't heard or it, or were aware of it.
In terms of the Polynesians, the best documented navigational lore seemed to be in relation to swells and the so-called etak system of tracking their position and using the rising/setting azimuths of stars as a kind of natural compass. There is also lore of using prevailing winds as a secondary sorce of azimuthal information and non-pelagic birds when close to islands.
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
Navigation List archive: www.fer3.com/arc
To post, email NavList@fer3.com
To , email NavList-@fer3.com
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
From: John Huth
Date: 2009 Jun 6, 17:29 -0400
I actually spent some time barking up the bioluminescence tree. What I found most interesting in Lewis' description (actually from his interviews) was this phenomenon of "underwater lightning", which, according to Lewis interviews seemed to be a kind of flashes that happened in deep water. I talked to people who I think had perhaps some expertise in this kind of thing, and they hadn't heard or it, or were aware of it.
In terms of the Polynesians, the best documented navigational lore seemed to be in relation to swells and the so-called etak system of tracking their position and using the rising/setting azimuths of stars as a kind of natural compass. There is also lore of using prevailing winds as a secondary sorce of azimuthal information and non-pelagic birds when close to islands.
On Sat, Jun 6, 2009 at 3:18 PM, George Huxtable <george@hux.me.uk> wrote:
The subject of "luminescence" has cropped up recently in connection with
Pacific navigation.
However, nobody has done anything to explain what it did, how it worked, or
what navigational clues it provided, if any.
David Lewis has a few pages about it in "We, the Navigators", which I
attach, for the information of anyone interested. I don't know if any more
detailed information has been made available since his book, of 1972. If so,
perhaps someone on this list will tell us.
On the face of it, it appears most unlikely that any useful navigational
information could be provided by such a phenomenon. Of course, if it could
be shown that real navigation could be done on such a basis, then we would
have to take it seriously, whether we understood its basis or not. Lewis has
provided no such evidence in this extract. Until some such evidence appears,
it seems wisest to file the navigational use of luminescence away under the
category of "myth", and forget it.
George.
contact George Huxtable, at george@hux.me.uk
or at +44 1865 820222 (from UK, 01865 820222)
or at 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK.
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
Navigation List archive: www.fer3.com/arc
To post, email NavList@fer3.com
To , email NavList-@fer3.com
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
