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How did the ancient Polynesian
navigators manage to populate

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the entirety of the Pacific Ocean
with no instruments of any kind?

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We do know that they did manage it because
here they are and we know that there is

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a certain amount of misinformation out
there about how they accomplished it.

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Today we're gonna do a deep dive into
their actual methods, and find out

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how they accomplished that which many
people might assume would be impossible.

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And that's coming up
right now on Skeptoid.

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You are

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listening to Skeptoid.

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I'm Brian Dunning from Skeptoid.com.

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Facts and Fiction of
Polynesian Navigation Part 2.

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This episode was sponsored by Frederic
Raña, Skeptoid's Earl of Elixirs.

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To personally sponsor your own
episode, come to skeptoid.com/sponsor.

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Welcome to the show that separates fact
from fiction, science from pseudoscience,

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real history from fake history, and
helps us all make better life decisions

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by knowing what's real and what's not.

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For 4,000 years, the people who were
to become the Polynesians, gradually

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migrated eastward across the Pacific
Ocean from the region around Taiwan.

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Eventually they reached what is today
French Polynesia, and from there

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they spread outward toward the three
corners of the Polynesian Triangle:

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Hawaii, New Zealand, and Rapa Nui.

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One of the greatest and most difficult
migrations in human history had

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been successfully completed, and in
doing so, they developed wayfinding

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-- traditional Polynesian navigating.

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It was a skill that easily
rivaled any other ever created.

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And today we're gonna
find out how it worked.

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Last week in part one, we talked about
the history of this skill and how it

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had almost become completely lost by
the middle of the 20th century, and

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also dispensed with a few popular
myths and misconceptions about it.

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Today we're gonna give an overview
of what these navigators actually

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had to learn and actually did.

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Voyaging was typically done in their
larger boats called voyaging canoes.

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These were typically large
twin-hulled catamarans or

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single-hulled canoes with outriggers.

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Several types of sails were used.

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Navigating with no instruments of any kind
was accomplished with surprising accuracy.

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And since so much went into it, we're not
gonna waste any time but jump right in.

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We'll start with what was by
far the most important skill:

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Celestial Navigation.

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By far, the most important wayfinding
technique was celestial navigation,

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just as it would be today for us
if we lost our modern electronics.

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They did not of course have compasses.

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In fact, they had no knowledge that
such a thing as magnetic north existed.

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However, the system they developed
was basically just as good.

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It was called the star compass.

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The Polynesian star compass had 32
houses comparable to our 360 degrees.

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They had a north, south, east, and
west, each with seven points in

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between, giving eight steps from
one cardinal direction to the next.

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Just as we might say northeast, which
divides into north, northeast, which

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divides into north, north, northeast
as the first step clockwise from North.

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Each house had a name.

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Polynesian master navigators memorized
a staggering 220 plus stars, and for

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each which house it would rise and set
in and even understood how to adapt

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these positions based on the season.

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So with a glance at which stars were
near the horizon, they knew exactly

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which direction they were headed.

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That in itself is an astonishing
accomplishment of memory, and even

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more impressive is the generational
learning it was built upon.

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The star compass also incorporated
the moon and the planets.

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They understood the difference
between the planets and the stars,

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even if they didn't know what they
actually are, which didn't matter.

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The differences in their movements
and cycles was helpful and their

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greater brightness (plus that of
the moon) helped when sky conditions

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made the other stars hard to see.

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In daytime, the houses in which the sun
rose and set gave them their heading.

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They had no clock, so they measured the
time of day by the sun's height above

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the horizon, calibrated by season.

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They might use their hand a stick or
anything, each according to individual

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preference to know how far along they
were between noon and sunset or sunrise.

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The sun's reflection on the
ocean drew a literal line

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from the canoe to the horizon.

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At noon, it was due north and throughout
the day, the navigator could easily

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tell in which house that line was in.

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All of this applies south of the equator.

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When they traveled north of the
equator, everything was reversed.

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The knowledge base was doubled.

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Obviously this is a simplified overview,
but it effectively tells us two things:

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one, that the star compass was extremely
accurate, rivaling the real compasses

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used by later European sailors; and
two, that it required an immense

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amount of mentoring and experience.

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Pick any random Polynesian navigator,
they could easily rival today's

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top celestial navigation experts.

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Ocean Swell Patterns.

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So important was celestial navigation,
that analysis of ocean swell patterns

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was a supplemental method, which any
good navigator kept on top of constantly,

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assuming that some storm might obscure
the sky unexpectedly at any time.

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Swells, as opposed to waves, are the
deep, consistent wave systems generated

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by consistent tradewinds or distant
storms and could be relied upon to

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maintain both their direction and their
period for days or weeks at a time.

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Their consistency comes from the
fact that their primary cause is

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the equally consistent tradewinds.

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Navigators noted what directional
house the swells were in and

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could recalibrate that every time
celestial bodies were visible.

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Swells can also come from
distant storms and swells in

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different directions are additive.

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They're nearly always multiple swell
patterns going on at any given time.

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The prevailing swell is usually obvious
to the eye, but to the Polynesian

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navigator, more data was needed.

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The traditional way that they sensed
multiple swells, including patterns

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too subtle to see, was to sit or lie
in the very bottom of the canoe in

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direct contact with the hull, allowing
the body to sense every movement.

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Experienced navigators are said to
have been able to detect as many as

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five different swell patterns at once.

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Wave and Current Analysis.

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Waves, as distinguished from swells,
are smaller and more localized.

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They told a powerful story about
nearby islands that might be

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obscured by dark or low visibility.

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Islands at sea influence wave patterns
primarily through two processes:

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reflection and refraction, effects
that in some cases can be detected

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as far as 50 kilometers away.

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Wave reflection occurs when waves
strike the island and bounce back.

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Though the details depend on
shoreline shape and energy absorption.

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Refraction is subtler: as waves
pass near the island, they slow in

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shallower water and bend, altering
their direction beyond the island.

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The result is interference in
surrounding wave patterns guided

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by the same physical rules, yet
uniquely shaped by each island's

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size, form, bathymetry and geology.

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These changes relative to the
wave's normal uninterrupted

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directions were evident by the way
they'd change from house to house.

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This could tell the navigator
which direction the island was

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in and how far away it was.

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And since every island changed wave
patterns differently, in many cases

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they could even identify the island.

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Marshall Islanders developed the
most sophisticated such system,

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creating "stick charts" made
of palm frond ribs and shells.

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These were teaching tools that represented
wave patterns around specific islands.

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Atmospheric and Cloud Phenomena.

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Clouds take distinctive forms
above different kinds of islands.

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For example, mountainous islands create
thermal updrafts that produce tall

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cumulus clouds, allowing many islands
to be spotted from far away even

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while they're still below the horizon.

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All islands present warmer surfaces
than the open ocean during daylight

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hours, resulting in localized
weather patterns above them.

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Clouds can also help the
navigator in other ways.

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In the right conditions, clouds can
reflect the color of the water below.

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When there's a broad patch of
light turquoise water in a shallow

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lagoon, this can sometimes lend
a subtle hue to clouds above it.

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Just as nighttime clouds above a
city can reflect the prevailing

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color of streetlights over
various parts of the city.

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Birds.

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Birds turn out to be the
island hunter's best friends.

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The white tern in
particular came in handy.

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White terns would fly far out to
sea in search of fish each morning,

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sometimes as much as 200 kilometers.

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Then in the evening, they
would fly straight back.

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So if a navigator was lucky enough to
spot a white tern, the bird provided a

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heading either directly from or toward
an island, depending on the time of day.

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Brown terns also provided a similar
service, only closer to the island.

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They made similar ventures -- out
in the morning, back in the

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evening -- but generally stayed
within about 60 kilometers of land.

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Sometimes white terns were carried aboard
in cages and could be released if the

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navigator suspected they were near land.

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They would fly up, often circle
for a short time, and then beeline

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straight for the nearest island.

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Marine Life and Debris Indicators.

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Fish and flotsam were more than just
things in the sea; they were indicators

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of how far from land you were.

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The Polynesians understood that
certain fish species preferred

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certain depths of water, certain water
temperatures, and distances from land.

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If coastal fish were spotted, it meant you
couldn't be too far from reefs or lagoons.

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When deep water species appeared, it meant
you were still out in the open ocean.

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Marine animal behavior was also a clue.

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Dolphins and porpoises often frequent
certain places around islands, and

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during migratory seasons, whales
would provide directional references.

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Floating vegetable matter helped
navigators in at least two ways.

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First, its condition: if it was
fresher, it meant you had to be

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pretty close to land; if it was
more degraded and weathered, you

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could still be quite far away.

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Second was its type: driftwood,
leaves, coconut husk, and seaweed all

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indicated different types of island
vegetation, giving an early identifier

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to which type of island (or which
specific island) you were approaching.

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If the water was more cloudy or
had a brown hue, that meant river

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runoff, again indicating type or
identification of a nearby island.

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Wind Pattern Analysis.

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Understanding the wind patterns
of the Pacific Ocean was not so

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much a part of navigating during a
voyage, but of planning in advance.

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Over the centuries, the Polynesians
came to understand these patterns very

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well: northeast tradewinds above the
equator, southeast tradewinds below.

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Captain Cook found that their knowledge
was so complete that they knew to wait

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for the summer monsoons -- when these
patterns all changed rather drastically

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-- to make trips northward from New Zealand
to Fiji or from Samoa to the Society

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Islands; journeys that would otherwise
be both difficult and inefficient if

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attempted during the rest of the year.

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And finally: Dead Reckoning.

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The master navigator held in their
head an extensive database of

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as many islands as each had ever
visited or been taught about.

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They commonly knew the relative
positions of over 100 islands.

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Distances between them was tracked in
"canoe days." The route from one island

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to the next was often established as a
doglegged path, going in one direction

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for so many canoe days, often trying
to arrive at a point directly up wind

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from the destination, which would be
another known number of canoe days ahead.

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Tracking progress against these
measurements was done with dead reckoning.

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Often mischaracterized as an
experience-driven hunch or gut feeling

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about how far you've come, dead
reckoning is actually a calculation.

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It's a relatively simple
time-speed-distance calculation.

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The Polynesians did understand
mathematics, mainly driven

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by the needs of wayfinding.

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They had no system of writing, and so
they used what we term ethnomathematics,

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like measuring the height of a star
with your thumb using whatever the

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00:14:32,474 --> 00:14:35,114
local geography and culture provides.

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Polynesian navigators knew how
long they'd been traveling.

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They were both excellent judges of their
speed through the water and were able

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to measure it against waypoints like
islands, or changes in wave patterns.

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And they knew the canoe day distances.

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They were in fact calculating
-- ethnomathematically.

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Every last bit of this skillset, from
knowing the relative positions and spacing

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in canoe days of a hundred different
islands, to learning all the wind patterns

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at all the times of the year throughout
all the latitudes of the Polynesian

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00:15:11,369 --> 00:15:16,739
triangle, to clouds and birds and marine
life, to how the interaction of waves

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00:15:16,739 --> 00:15:21,884
with islands will look 100 kilometers
away, to learning the ways different

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swells feel against your body through
the hull of a canoe, to memorizing in

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00:15:26,264 --> 00:15:33,584
which house would 220 different stars
rise and set in every season had to be

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taught and passed down from generation to
generation without any system of writing.

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00:15:40,784 --> 00:15:43,814
Navigators were apprentices for decades.

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Every one of them who ever voyaged
developed an amount of knowledge that

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00:15:48,779 --> 00:15:51,839
would put any modern PhD program to shame.

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And so we conclude our two-part series
on ancient Polynesian navigation.

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It was an art, it was a craft, and it
was a science, and it is being brought

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00:16:04,349 --> 00:16:09,209
back to life by groups such as the
Polynesian Voyaging Society throughout

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00:16:09,209 --> 00:16:14,189
the Pacific and by the master navigators
there who train the next generation to

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00:16:14,189 --> 00:16:20,474
ensure that this incredible, amazing,
intricate, elegant, and wonderful skill,

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00:16:21,044 --> 00:16:25,784
responsible for so much history and
for populating such a huge geographical

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chunk of our beautiful blue planet,
will always find its way home.

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We continue with more on Captain Cook's
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Chief among these are
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Check out what's coming up
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