Parallel paths across the Pacific: a speculative explanation for the dilep in Marshallese navigation

Abstract: Traditional techniques used by navigators in the Marshall Islands include the use of wave patterns as influenced by reflection and refraction around islands. The dilep is one such pattern, apparently providing signals to guide a navigator directly between two distant islands; so far there is no agreed causal explanation for such a phenomenon. We propose a mechanism; this generates a number of qualitative and quantitative predictions that may in principle be tested against satellite photo evidence, hydrodynamic simulations, experiments by small boat navigators in the right conditions, and ethnographic reports.