OPIHI (Our Project in Hawaii’s Intertidal) is a school-based monitoring program for Hawaii’s rocky intertidal.  OPIHI was developed by University of Hawaii faculty and graduate students to help Hawaii's intermediate and high school students improve their scientific skills while providing assistance with gathering data in an area that has not been well studied in Hawaii.

Students learn about topics in marine ecology and conservation, species identification, and sampling techniques while taking part in OPIHI. Most importantly, students build their confidence and interest in science.

OPIHI provides opportunities for students to develop and investigate their own questions within the framework of monitoring biodiversity in the intertidal. This "place-based" learning connects students to their environment, to promote a sense of stewardship and appreciation for the natural world. 

Reef Check Hawaii has agreed to adopt and support the OPIHI program as part of Reef Check's Hawaii's commitment to education and conservation. Please visit the main OPIHI website for program information, as well as information on Hawaii’s unique intertidal, details on OPIHI methods and survey sites, and educational materials designed to assist teachers and students in exploring the intertidal and becoming part of this exciting monitoring project.

NOTE: The opihi is a large limpet found only in the rocky intertidal in Hawaii, and its cultural importance and threatened status are representative of why we are interested in the intertidal. The rationale behind OPIHI is summarized beautifully in the following passage from the Log of the Sea of Cortez by John Steinbeck:

It is easy to remember when we were small and lay on our stomachs beside a tide pool and our minds and eyes went so deeply into it, that size and identity were lost, and the creeping hermit crab was our size and the tiny octopus a monster. Then the waving algae covered us and we hid under a rock at the bottom and leaped out at fish. It is very possible that we, and even those who probe space with equations, simply extend this wonder.