Oahu Nature Tours was founded in October, 1995 by Michael Walther. Born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in Los Angeles, California, he first visited Hawaii in December 1972 for several months. In March 1980, he moved to Kauai and, while living in Poipu Beach, became interested in the native honeycreepers that survived in the remote Alakai Wilderness area. In November 1980, Michael returned to the mainland.
For the next 15 years he lived and worked in California but the memory of the colorful and disappearing honeycreepers stayed with him. During his last year in college, the fate of the Hawaii's native birds became the focal point of his research. In 1994, He choose to return to Hawaii "The endangered Species Capital of the World," to study the birds and do what he could to help them survive. For three months, Michael surveyed the native forest bird populations on Kauai to determine their status. His results were published in the Journal of the Hawaiian Audubon Society, Elepaio. Later, he returned to California to earn his degree and, after graduating with high honors in March 1995 in Anthropology and Environmental Studies, he arrived to Maui and volunteered for The National Biological Survey. Michael participated in a project studying several of the rarest birds on Earth, including the Maui Akepa, Maui Nukupu'u, Poouli, Maui Parrotbill and the Crested Honeycreeper. He worked on a research team that was surveying the wild, wet and windy slopes of the world's largest dormant volcano, Haleakala.
In the Fall of 1995, Michael, with the help of his brother Mark, started Oahu Nature Tours. The company slogan is "Conservation Through Education." The original tour van was a used, six passenger Dodge Caravan. Today Oahu Nature Tours has nine 15 passenger, air conditioned Chevy Express vans, and two 25 passenger Ford minibuses, and employs 33 excellent nature guides.
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