Coconut Island, or Moku o Loʻe, is a 28-acre (113,000 m²) island in Kāne'ohe Bay off the island of O'ahu in the state of Hawai'i, USA. It is a marine research facility of the Hawai`i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) of the University of Hawai`i.
In 1934–1936, Christian Holmes II, an heir to the Fleischmann yeast fortune, doubled the original 12-acre (49,000 m2) island with coral rubble, sand, and earthen landfill. He established a residence with aquaria, kennels, and aviaries for his many pets. The island was converted to a rest and relaxation station for United States Navy flyers during World War II. A group of five Los Angeles businessmen, including Edwin W. Pauley, bought the island in 1947 to convert to an exclusive resort club and hotel. From the 1950s to the 1980s, the Pauley family used the island for summer get-aways. From the mid-80s to mid-90s Japanese real estate investor Katsuhiro Kawaguchi owned half the island, while the University owned the other half. In 1995, the Edwin Pauley Foundation granted a gift of $9.6 million to the University of Hawaii Foundation to purchase the private half of the island and build new laboratories on it.
The island is now completely owned by the state and is the facility for the Hawai`i Institute of Marine Biology, part of the University of Hawai`i. It is the only laboratory built on a coral reef, except for Heron Island, Lizard Island and a number of labs in the South Pacific, outside of America.
Coconut Island was used for the opening sequence of the television program Gilligan's Island.
Famous quotes containing the word island:
“I candidly confess that I have ever looked on Cuba as the most interesting addition which could ever be made to our system of States. The control which, with Florida, this island would give us over the Gulf of Mexico, and the countries and isthmus bordering on it, as well as all those whose waters flow into it, would fill up the measure of our political well-being.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)