A UCL-led group of world-leading scientists is joining Pacific sailors on a voyage like no other - to understand how indigenous navigators expertly find their way by sensing the swells of the ocean.
Sailors from the Marshall Islands in the central Pacific are famed for their extraordinary skill of wave piloting. Using feel and sight, they read the water and wind, noticing subtle changes in ocean swells to sense islands 50km beyond the horizon and find their way.
The Marshall Islands, which lie between Hawaii and Australia, are made up of 29 atolls and cover around 750,000 square miles.
Researchers from UCL, the University of Stirling, Harvard University and the University of Hawai’i at Hilo will set sail on a catamaran in August with three indigenous Marshallese sailing experts and a documentary filmmaker.
Traditional navigation skills such as wave piloting are largely unexplored by science. By deploying cutting-edge technologies including mobile eye-tracking and 360-degree motion capture, the experts in physics, neuroscience, philosophy, anthropology, oceanography and computer science aim to understand the human brain and navigation, as well as to document and preserve this unique navigation technique.
One of the anticipated outcomes is with helping our understanding of neurological disease, particularly Alzheimer’s, which has disorientation as an early symptom.
The expedition has deep cultural and societal significance, as well as advancing science, say researchers. The US detonated nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958, causing environmental damage, the displacement of hundreds of residents from their homes, and the loss of cultural traditions. The project’s participants hope the findings will help revitalise wave piloting for future generations and give back to the Marshallese community.
Professor Hugo Spiers (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences) is leading the project, following on from his previous research investigating the brains and expert navigational skills of London taxi drivers who have passed a test on "The Knowledge" by learning the layouts of more than 26,000 streets.*
He commented: "This voyage represents an incredible coming together of different scientific disciplines with indigenous knowledge to understand a remarkable achievement of humanity: the ancient art of wayfinding across the vast Pacific ocean. The team will include experts in indigenous seafaring, neuroscience, psychology, neurology, philosophy, anthropology, high energy physics, oceanography, and computer science.
"Together we can help understand how the ocean, wind and sky patterns are used by the brain’s internal global positioning system in expert sailors and relate these to cultural understandings. Discoveries may be important for developing tests that help in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease, which has disorientation as one of the earliest symptoms."
Researcher Dr Pablo Fernandez Velasco (University of Stirling and UCL Psychology & Language Sciences) said: "Navigation is a fundamental cognitive capacity. It is evolutionarily ancient, and it is key to survival. However, much of our knowledge about it in neuroscience and psychology comes from a narrow subset of the world population solving navigational challenges in a small set of experimental settings. This expedition is a radical departure from the confines of the laboratory. By collaborating with Marshallese sailors, we hope to gain a much deeper understanding of how navigation unfolds in the real world.
"The voyage happens in a local context of growing environmental threats, as well as a history of devastating nuclear testing. Nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands displaced entire communities, eroding traditions and indigenous knowledge vital for a sustainable future. Today, climate change threatens the very existence of these low-lying atolls."
A central partner in the project is Waan Aelon in Majel (WAM), a Marshallese canoe-building school led by Alson Kelen, an apprentice of the last known South Pacific master navigator, or ri-meto. The project will help WAM to pass down traditional skills and equip Marshallese youth with the tools they need for a sustainable future.
Dr Joe Genz (University of Hawai’I at Hilo) said: "The most exciting aspect of this project for me is the applied nature of research on traditional navigation to the medical field. Mariners’ knowledge of Marshallese seascapes, geographies of the coral atolls of the Marshall Islands, and orientation during inter-island voyaging have the potential to provide culture-specific insights into detection of early onset Alzheimer’s Disease."
Neuroscience PhD candidate Maria Ahmad (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences), who is undertaking the voyage as part of her PhD research in UCL’s Ecological Brain Doctoral Training Programme , commented: "For centuries people had traversed the sea without navigational tools. Previous literature highlights the remarkable connection that master navigators had with the ocean. Yet we still do not fully understand the cognitive processes behind this extraordinary ability.
"By studying how Indigenous seafarers in the Marshall Islands interpret environmental cues at sea, we gain access to a rich, multi-sensory world. This is important, as it opens new pathways for exploring fundamental questions about human cognition. At the same time, applying scientific methods in this context could help develop culturally relevant tools to address disproportionately high rates of health concerns, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
The research team is raising money for a community event at Aur, which is the final destination of the expedition. The event will involve food for the community (following Marshallese traditions), as well as games and citizen science. The event will include navigation-themed games (e.g. blindfolded pointing) and the video game Sea Hero Quest, both in tablets and in VR headsets. Sea Hero Quest is a multi-platform adventure game designed specifically to help advance the understanding of spatial navigation. Support the campaign here.
- Marshallese master navigators read the water and wind to find their way. Photo by Chewy Lin.
Chris Lane
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E: chris.lane [at] ucl.ac.uk
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