Newswatch
The creature, protected from harm or harassment under the federal Endangered Species Act, might have been hit by a ship or died of natural causes, investigators said.
John Naughton of the National Marine Fisheries Service said the whale had recently migrated to Hawaiian waters from the Pacific Northwest.
"It still had big Arctic barnacles on it," he said.
The carcass had been partially eaten by sharks when the Coast Guard found it in the harbor Sunday night.
Naughton said there had been reports of a dead whale seen off the airport's reef runway.
Tournament sponsor MasterCard has teamed up with Mauna Loa to show how its new "smart card" technology can be used to purchase macadamia nuts and other local goodies over the Internet.
"It's a rather ingenious use of the technology," said Peter Cerra, senior director of Master Card's Chip Card division.
The cards - made "smart" by a microprocessor embedded in the plastic - made their national debut at the 1995 Grand Slam.
This year, company officials are taking the technology one step further to show how it can be used for electronic commerce.
The demonstrations are being offered all this week to some 250 MasterCard board members who are attending annual meetings and Grand Slam events at the Hyatt Regency Kauai.
Besides ordering Mauna Loa products that are shipped directly to their homes, they can use their "smart cards" for purchases in the hotel shops. The cards most often are used for "stored value" applications, where they are loaded with funds from a checking account or credit line at automated teller machines.
They are then used like cash to make small purchases that are automatically recorded and deducted, while the card keeps a running account of the balance. The "smart card" technology also can be used with credit and debit cards, and to keep track of frequent-shopper loyalty points, to access bank, travel and telephone accounts, Cerra said.
With 21 percent of the student body absent on any given day, Waianae High School has the highest absentee rate in the state, said Leatrice Haas, an educational specialist with the UH College of Education and coordinator of the two-year project.
The rate is about 11 percent at Waianae Intermediate and 5 percent at the five elementary schools in the Waianae complex.
Funding for the project came from more than $9 million in U.S. Department of Education grants for drug and violence prevention programs at schools and communities around the nation. Hawaii's portion was awarded Nov. 1.
"Of course, drugs and prevention is one aspect of it. It's not the only thing, but it's one," said Lawrence Zane, UH education professor emeritus.
The money will be used to get schools, businesses, parents, police, the courts and private organizations involved in finding solutions to the truancy problem, Zane said.
"We don't want to try to get into their hair. We just want to help," he said. "We're trying to listen to the people to see what is going on first."
If the project is successful, it will be used as a model for other schools around the state.
A small part of the solution simply involves updating the technology used to track truants, Haas said.
Because as many as 400 students are absent each day, it can take two days or more for the school to call the student's home to verify that the absence is excused, she said.
But Waianae High Principal Hazel Sumile said there are no easy solutions to the problem, and that a "multipronged" approach is necessary.
"I think the socioeconomic status (of students) does have a big role in the kinds of issues that we have to work on in Waianae," she said. "It's not going to be simple. I know that coming to school has to be something that's important. It has to be a priority not only for the school. It has to be priority in the community and in the home."
The diver's partner flagged down a fishing vessel from their 14-foot dinghy after he lost contact with his partner and couldn't reach anyone on their radio, Coast Guard spokesman Scott Epperson said.
The diver was last seen about 350 yards off the southwest end of Sand Island.
The Coast Guard's 24-foot rescue boat and the cutter Washington searched the area overnight. A Coast Guard helicopter was scheduled to resume its search at dawn today.
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