How the polynesian wayfinders navigate the pacific ocean

in hur3 we have been learning how Polynesians used to guide the Pacific Ocean in early days.

Can you use your hands to navigate the Pacific Ocean? Polynesian way finders navigated the Pacific Ocean using the sun, moon, the Stars, clouds, the ocean swells, and birds.

The navigators used clouds to find mountainous islands. If there is a large amount of clouds in that area or to find lagoons, lagoons reflect off the underside of some clouds. Some clouds form when air encounters a mountain range or other types of terrain. When this happens, the air will rise and cool, and this cooler air is no longer able to hold all of the water vapor it was able to hold when it was warm. The extra water vapor begins to condense out of the air parcel in the form of liquid water droplets and a cloud is formed.

The types of clouds that form from encounters with mountains are stratus clouds and lenticular clouds. 

The image on this page shows how winds can blow into a mountain range and then rise higher in the atmosphere. The side of the mountains where the wind starts is called the windward side. The side of the mountains where the wind leaves the area is called the leeward side.

Another way that mountains cause cloud formation is when air rises because the mountain is warmer than the surrounding air and causes the air to rise. Once the air rises, it follows the same process to form clouds as described above. The types of clouds that form in this case are cumulonimbus (and associated mammatus clouds), and cumulus.

 The navigators used stars to find north and south using the north star and the southern cross. These stars are fixed stars.

The navigators used birds to find islands since birds can’t go that far away from land you can use their flight patterns to find islands.

In conclusion to the polynesian wayfinders, they use clouds to navigate the Pacific Ocean. A large amount of clouds to find mountainous islands, some clouds to reflect lagoons, flight patterns of birds, debris, fish, and vegetation. also the stars and birds to find land