What Seafood Menus Reveal About Hawaii's Changing Seas

Vacationers who took Hawaiian restaurant menus home as souvenirs recently helped piece together a 45-year gap in the state's fishing records.

The menus were used as a data source by several researchers, including Kyle Van Houtan, a researcher at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center. Van Houtan and his colleagues tracked changing fish populations near the Hawaiian islands based on which fishes appeared on menus during the early and mid-20th century.

Their research, which was recently published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, found correlations between menu items and what local fishing data do exist—which may be able to fill in gaps for the four decades that lack local commercial fishing numbers.

"The menus mimic more than just consumer preference," Van Houtan said. "They also show us what's happening in the ocean."

Van Houtan and his colleagues found that some reef fish—like groupers, mullets, and flounders—were highly prevalent before 1940 before becoming more rare after World War II. Larger, offshore fish and farm-grown fish, meanwhile, rose in popularity as local fishing catches declined and improvements were made in fishing technology.

Altogether, the researchers tracked down almost 400 menus from between 1928 and 1974 from over 150 Hawaiian restaurants.

"We collected menus from museums and Ebay and even from going to people's homes," said Van Houtan. "It's helpful to understand long-term changes when you're trying to understand population health. And we were able to use the menus to help us do that."

Menus as Clues

Menus can often be used to piece together historical moments that may not have other documentation, says Rebecca Federman, the curator of the New York Public Library's extensive menu collection.

"A lot of times—in New York City, at least—a menu is the only artifact we have after a restaurant closes," she said. "They go in and out all the time, and there's very little that remains unless one keeps the menu."

Federman oversees approximately 45,000 menus in the New York Public Library's collection, one of the largest in the world. Researchers come in to learn everything from historic food prices to the availability of certain foods in certain decades.

"We'll get a call from an author saying, 'How much did an egg salad sandwich cost in 1962?'" she said. "They'll consult a menu to get historical details correct."

Others—like Van Houtan—are trying to use the existing data to piece together a larger story. He says using menus for his project was compelling, in part because almost everyone has been to a restaurant and seen a menu.

"And everyone can understand that there used to be certain fish on menus and now there's not," he said.

Next, the researchers say they may look at menu prices, which they didn't do this time around. They've also considered using other historical artifacts—things like pictures of fish taken on docks or diary entries—in addition to menus to help piece together Hawaii's changing fish populations.

"It takes some creative thinking," said study co-author Loren McClenachan. "But it brings people [together] in a way that isn't typically the case in ecological research."


souvenir - 旅行纪念品
piece together - 把。。。拼凑起来
frontier - 边境，新领域
correlation - 相关性[U]，相互关系[C]
mimic - 模仿，拟态
preference - 偏爱
reef - 暗礁
grouper - 鲶科鱼
mullet - 胭脂鱼；鲻鱼
flounder - 比目鱼
prevalent - 流行的
offshore - 近海的
popularity - 人气
curator - （图书馆，博物馆的）馆长
artifact - 手工艺品，文化遗物
consult - 调查
dock - 栈桥

Costa Rica Closes Zoos—Where Will the Animals Go?

At the Monkey Park wildlife-rehab center near Tamarindo, Costa Rica, volunteers clean animal cages, wash dirty dishes, and even prepare the animals' meals.

"It's a labor of love," said Cinde Jeheber, a California native and frequent volunteer at the park. One of her duties might be cutting up fruit for the white-faced monkeys or slicing beef parts to feed to the resident ocelot.

"To be surrounded by all these amazing animals that might someday be released back into the wild—I wouldn't miss it for the world," she said. "Plus, I get to feed an ocelot!"

Yet Monkey Park and other such facilities are facing an unprecedented crunch as Costa Rica struggles with how to care for its captive wildlife, most of which will soon be without a home.

In July, the government announced controversial plans to close the country's two public zoos, citing concerns about animal captivity and welfare. More than 400 animals currently residing in the zoos will be transferred to private animal-rescue centers around the country, where those that are able will be rehabilitated and released back into the wild.

"We are getting rid of the cages and reinforcing the idea of interacting with biodiversity in botanical parks in a natural way," Environment Minister René Castro said at a press conference to announce the planned closures in July. 

"We don't want animals in captivity or enclosed in any way unless it is to rescue or save them."

While animal-rights groups have praised the government's decision, a new law that makes keeping wildlife as pets illegal has resulted in the inundation of many of the same animal-rescue centers that will be receiving the zoos' former residents.

Already in 2013, the rescue centers have taken in more than 2,000 new animals—that's more than they usually get in a year.

"We have received so many animals this year that we have been forced to turn away animals," said Maria Pia Martin, wildlife veterinarian at Kids Saving the Rainforest, a rescue center near Manuel Antonio National Park. 

"The idea of turning down an animal is quite difficult. But we need to prioritize who we can save in order to do the best for them."

Rescue Centers Strapped

Most of Costa Rica's animal-rescue centers are nonprofits that receive little to no government funding. Many operate with limited budgets and have a finite amount of space, making expansion difficult.

Officials from the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE), which oversees the country's zoos and rescue centers, say the planned zoo closings and the new law are further steps to ensure the long-term health of the country's incredible biodiversity—Costa Rica is home to 5 percent of all animal species on the planet. Yet, those same officials also recognize they have a serious problem on their hands.

Jose-Joaquin Calvo, wildlife manager for MINAE's National System of Conservation Areas, calls the situation an "emergency" and said his organization and others are working to house the animals.

Since the no-wildlife-as-pets law passed in December, MINAE has created a loophole that allows longtime pet owners to keep their pets, at least for now. The government is also working with wildlife experts and conservation groups, including Humane Society International, to write protocols that will help establish best practices for the facilities.

"The government has recognized the crisis and is trying to educate the public so they don't further inundate the rescue centers," said Cynthia Dent, regional director of Humane Society International, which is working through a U.S. State Department agreement to establish model rescue centers throughout Central America.

"We're also in the process of evaluating the more than 200 facilities around the country that house [wild] animals."

Making Do With Little

In the short term, however, the overcrowded rescue centers continue to struggle, coping as best they can with limited resources.

For example, many are turning to volunteers: These short-term, unpaid staffers, who can range from high school students to retirees, pay a fee in exchange for food, housing, and the opportunity to get up close and personal with some of Costa Rica's most adorable—and often endangered—species.

Other centers are making room for more critters. "Since the law took effect, we've had to build three new cages to host the new animals because we don't have a place to relocate them all," said Adriana Aguilar Borbon, marketing manager for Proyecto Asis, a facility in the Arenal region.

"We have eight acres—it's a large property, but not big enough. It's going to be even more difficult finding a place for all the animals from the zoos."

While Costa Ricans try to figure out the most effective way to move forward, everyone seems to agree that the country's wildlife is their priority. 

Said the Humane Society's Dent, "The more effective the rescue centers are at rehabilitating and releasing the animals, the better opportunity visitors will have at catching [a] glimpse of Costa Rica's wildlife in its natural environment."


Costa Rica - 哥斯达黎加
slice - 切成薄片；薄片，片断     a slice of bread
ocelot - 虎猫
facility - 设施
unprecedented - 空前的，新的
crunch - 危机；粉碎
struggle with - 与...做斗争
captive - 被监禁的；俘虏
controversial - 有争议的
cite - 引证
get rid of - 除去
reinforce - 增强，强化
inundation - 洪水，蜂拥而至    inundate - 泛滥，充斥
veterinarian - 兽医
prioritize - 优先           priority - 优先
strap - 用带捆扎，用皮带抽打，拼命工作
budget - 预算
finite - 有限的
oversee - 监督
loophole - （法律上的）漏洞，观察孔
protocol - 议定书，协定
cope - 对抗，抑制
endangered - 濒临灭绝的
critter = creature
glimpse - 一瞥

Mideast's Largest Crusader-Era Hospital Unveiled

Part of a gigantic, thousand-year-old structure that served as the largest hospital in the Middle East during the Crusader period will soon be open to the public, following a 13-year excavation, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Monday.

Located in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem and owned by the Muslim Waqf (an Islamic endowment of property held in trust for charitable or religious purposes), the 11th-century structure spans more than 150,000 square feet and is characterized by massive pillars and ribbed vaults, with ceilings as high as 20 feet.

The Grand Bazaar Company of East Jerusalem initiated the excavation and research in cooperation with the Antiquities Authority. It plans to turn the structure into a restaurant and visitor center, expected to open to the public in the next year.

On Monday, the Antiquities Authority unveiled a main hall, which is similar in appearance to the Knights' Hall in Acre, in northern Israel, and is estimated to constitute only a small part of what functioned as a massive hospital.

Renee Forestany and Amit Re'em, the excavation directors from the Israel Antiquities Authority, say that the hospital served the entire population of Jerusalem, helping as many as 2,000 patients from all religions. In addition to the medical departments, the hospital also functioned as an orphanage.

In a press release, the archaeologists said, "We've learned about the hospital from contemporary historical documents, most of which are written in Latin. These mention a sophisticated hospital that is as large and as organized as a modern hospital."

The hospital was constructed by a Christian military order known as the Knights Hospitaller to provide medical treatment for pilgrims who came to Jerusalem to die. According to the archaeologists, the Muslim Arab population was instrumental in assisting the Crusaders in establishing the hospital and teaching them medicine. Saladin, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, reportedly lived nearby and helped preserve the structure, allowing Crusader monks to stay there.

Remnants of horse and camel bones found during the excavation, as well as metal for shoeing the animals, indicate that the structure also served as a stable during the Middle Ages.

A 1457 earthquake around Jerusalem likely destroyed most of the building, which remained in ruins until the 19th century. Part of the building was opened as a market during the Ottoman Empire, and it served as a fruit and vegetable market until 2000, when excavations began.

According to Monser Shwieki, manager of the project, part of the building will be converted into a restaurant, and "its patrons will be impressed by the enchanting atmosphere of the Middle Ages that prevails there."


gigantic - 巨大的
the Crusader period - 十字军东征时期(1096-1291)
antiquity - 古代
authority - 当局，官方，权威
Christian Quarter- 耶路撒冷基督区
Waqf - 瓦克夫。伊斯兰教法用语，亦译“卧各夫”、“卧各甫”。在北非亦作“哈伯斯”(Habs)或“胡伯斯”(Hubs)，法文作“哈波斯”(Habous)，为同义词·阿拉伯语音译。原意为“限制’、“保留”、“留置”，专指保留安拉对人世间一切财富的所有权，或留置部分有用益价值的土地、产业·这种永久性冻结所有权、限定用益权(只能用于弘扬主道事业)、禁止出售、抵押、典当、继承、赠予的土地、产业，泛称为“瓦克夫”，在中国亦称为“义地’、“义产”。中世纪教法学家据圣训提出的有关规定，即瓦克夫制度。
endowment - 捐赠，基金
charitable - 慈善的，宽大的
characterize - 描述（人或物）的特性；具有……的特征，塑造人物
ribbed - 有凸起花纹的；有罗纹的；有棱纹的
vault - 拱顶，地下室，墓穴
initiate - 发起
unveil - 揭幕
Acre - 以色列西北部港市
constitute - 构成
orphanage - 孤儿院
contemporary - 当时的；同级生
sophisticated - 复杂的，精致的，富有经验的
Knights Hospitaller - 医院骑士团
instrumental - 有帮助的
Ayyubid dynasty - 阿尤布王朝。 埃及和叙利亚地区库尔德人建立的伊斯兰教王朝（1171-1250年）
remnant - 残余，遗迹
shoe - 给（动物）钉掌
stable - 马厩，牛棚，畜舍
patron - 老主顾
enchanting - 迷人的，使人喜悦的
prevail - 盛行，占优势