From the Editor
Story-Telling Coconuts
Luis Ayala
Coconuts are wonderful gifts from nature, since they are an excellent source of high-calories and of potable water. They also supply fibers for ropes and have hard shells suitable for the production of utensils, tools and even charcoal.
Ancient Austronesians always set sail with ample supplies of coconuts; even Captain Bligh traveled the seas with them. The famous mutiny aboard the Bounty was triggered, at least in part, by Bligh’s punishments of sailors who stole coconuts from the ship’s store.
Until recently, very little was known about the coconuts’ DNA, forcing biologists to use only plant morphology to trace their origins. Thanks to a generous grant from the National Geographic Society, a group of scientists started collecting and analyzing samples from areas previously unknown to scholars (mainly in the western Indian Ocean). One of the most striking findings from this DNA research is that Pacific Ocean coconuts are genetically distinct from their Indian Ocean counterparts. Studying their presence around the world gives us clues as to the movements of the people who introduced their cultivation during their travels.
The coconuts that you find today in Florida, USA, are largely the Indian Ocean type. On the Pacific side of the New World tropics, however, the coconuts are Pacific Ocean type. Some of these latter ones appear to have been transported there in pre-Columbian times by ancient Austronesians venturing east rather than west.
If coconuts could talk to us, can you imagine the stories they would tell? People fearlessly traveling across oceans, attempting to discover new lands or to establish trade routes, probably scared of the unknown, but comforted by the security blanket provided by their cargo of life-saving coconuts!
What gives you peace of mind in these uncertain times? Reach for a coconut drink or dessert as you ponder the answer.
Cheers,
Luis Ayala,
Editor and Publisher
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