Founded by Ismaël Patu-Huukena, Kuhane o Hiva (the soul of the ocean in Huukena’s native Marquisian language) is an Indigenous-led association based in “French Polynesia” that is dedicated to protecting the ocean by bringing cultural and spiritual protocols into marine conservation. The goal of Kuhane o Hiva is to be able to respond to ocean emergencies and requests involving all types of species.

About Huukena Ismaël

"We want to try to revive culture through people," explains Ismaël Huukena, "today young people prefer to play video games and connect to social networks rather than be interested in their culture, we want to show them the importance.”

Known as “the aito” of the ocean for swimming from island to island (more than 3,000 km in total), Huukena has a gift for communicating with marine life (whales in particular) that is used to support our missions.