The Unsettled Sea: What We're Still Missing in Moana's Great Migration Mystery The 2016 animated film Moana has captivated audiences worldwide with its tale of a young Polynesian princess who sets sail to restore her island's heart.
Beneath the film's mythological surface lies a historical enigma that has puzzled archaeologists and anthropologists for decades: why did the ancestors of modern Polynesians suddenly embark on an epic eastward migration around 1,700 years ago?
Recent findings in climate science have yet to be fully integrated into our understanding of this pivotal event.