During dry periods on the arid island, the shallow lake shrinks due to effect of evaporation.

[7] Hālaliʻi and Halulu were also the names of important Hawaiian high chiefs (aliʻi) of the island of Niʻihau.

[8] Prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II, Niʻihau owner and rancher Aylmer Francis Robinson plowed trenches using mules and tractors into the lakes and surrounding lands on Niʻihau to prevent Japanese planes from landing and using the island as a military airfield.

These efforts led to the crash landing of Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service pilot Shigenori Nishikaichi during the Niihau incident.

[12] In ancient Hawaii, a kapu forbade Hawaiians from catching the fish in the lake except during harvest time.