Hawaiki via Spirits Bay, Cape Reinga and the Three Kings Islands at the extreme north of the North Island of New Zealand — giving a possible pointer as to the direction in which Hawaiki may lie. Until , many anthropologists had doubts that the canoe-legends described a deliberate migration, tending to believe that the migration occurred accidentally when seafarers became lost and drifted to uninhabited shores. In 1947 Thor Heyerdahl sailed the "Kon-Tiki", a balsa-wood raft, from South America into the Pacific in an attempt to show that humans could have settled Polynesia from the eastern shores of the Pacific Ocean,
Heyerdahl Award academia, science, government, NGO’s and the maritime industry. It is possible to submit nominations online at www.heyerdahlaward.com. The Thor Heyerdahl Environmental Award is additionally supported by Guard, Skuld, Det Norske Veritas and Trade Winds. Heyerdahl Award The Thor Heyerdahl International Maritime Environmental Award was established in 1999 by the explorer and scientist Thor Heyerdahl (1914–2002) and the Norwegian Shipowners' Association. The prize recognizes candidates from the shipping industry that have made an outstanding contribution to the environment. To qualify for the award, candidates must have demonstrated exceptional technical innovation and environmental work in correspondence with Thor Heyerdahl’s spirit for the