Channels of the Hawaiian Islands Maui. Although the channel is only about at its shortest point, it is one of the windiest and roughest in the Hawaiian Islands. The Kalohi Channel is the stretch of water separating Lānaʻi and Molokaʻi. Depth of water in this channel is about and width is . This is one of the less treacherous channels between islands in the archipelago, although strong winds and choppy sea conditions are frequent. Kalolohia beach on the Lānaʻi coast is also known as "Shipwreck Beach" because of a wreck on the reef there. Kalohi means "the slowness." The Kaiwi Channel (also known as the
Endemism in the Hawaiian Islands island some 28 million years ago. Kure Atoll, a little further to the northwest, is near the Darwin point—defined as waters of a temperature that allows coral reef development to "just" keep up with isostatic sinking. And extending back in time before Kure, an even older chain of islands spreads northward nearly to the Aleutian Islands; these former islands, all north of the Darwin point, are now completely submerged as the Emperor Seamounts. The islands are well known for the environmental diversity that occurs on high mountains within a trade winds field. On a single island, the climate can differ