After ten years, mysterious markings carved into Hawaii’s beach have resurfaced, possibly carrying a 1,000-year-old warning.

Around July 23, the tide receded along the shoreline of Pōkaʻī Bay in Waianae, revealing a series of 26 petroglyphs that date from between 1000 and 1400 AD.

According to US archaeologists, the petroglyphs, which primarily depict stick figures that resemble humans, may have served as a visual record of historical or spiritual occurrences, but their precise significance is still unknown because there is no written context.

But according to Native Hawaiians, the symbols represent an ancestral warning about environmental changes, particularly impending climate change-related tragedies.

Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner Glen Kila said, “It’s telling the community that the ocean is rising.”

An 8.8-magnitude earthquake that slammed Russia’s coast on Tuesday prompted additional tsunami warnings, and hours later, the largest volcano in the area erupted.

It was the biggest earthquake to strike Russia’s Kamchatka area since 1952 and the sixth most violent on record.

On Wednesday morning, the large earthquake caused tsunami waves to hit the coasts of northern California and Washington; the biggest wave ever measured along the US West Coast was 3.6 feet.

This is the first time since 2016 that the entire set of 26 petroglyphs—carvings in the rock surfaces—has been seen on the island of Oahu.

The sand covering the panel is frequently removed by seasonal surf swells. However, between May and November, these seasonal conditions usually only show portions of the ancient sculptures.

Stretching roughly 115 feet, the entire collection near Pōkaʻī Bay has withstood severe summer storms and even hurricanes before being exposed for the first time in ten years by shifting ocean waves.

Kila speculates that an early Polynesian community at Waianae may have produced the discovered petroglyphs more than a millennium ago.

A more conservative estimate of roughly 600 years was provided by Laura Gilda, an archaeologist with the US Army Garrison Hawaii.

At low tide, when the green algae growing on the sandstone boulder was swept away by softer waves, beachgoers could readily discern the enormous symbols.

18 of the 26 petroglyphs, according to archaeologists, seem to be anthropomorphic stick figures, which are straightforward illustrations of human-like shapes with bodies, limbs, and heads represented by lines.

It’s unknown if the remaining genitalia are those of males or women, but eight are thought to display male genitalia.

The panel seems to be narrating a religious or ceremonial story, Kila told the Associated Press.

The largest of the petroglyph figures, with one hand pointing down and the other with fingers up, represents the rising and setting of the sun, according to native Hawaiian teachings.

“My interpretation, just by looking at it, was an interpretation of Maui, the demigod, Maui,” Kila previously explained during a 2017 interview.

According to Native Hawaiian mythology, Maui is a mythical person who is renowned for his immense strength and size.

Local tradition has it that he snared the sun in one narrative and used his fishhook to drag the Hawaiian islands out of the water in another.

Kila went on to say that, like the rising sun, the fingers on the raised hand of the largest petroglyph seem to point east.

“It’s a religious symbol. Like what we have for Christianity, the cross or the other symbols,” the cultural practitioner continued.

Native Hawaiians think the petroglyphs’ resurgence could be an indication that more natural disasters are approaching, even though there doesn’t seem to be a direct link between the recent megaquakes and their presence.

A tsunami warning was issued Wednesday morning for both Oahu and Hawaii’s Big Island, but evacuation orders were swiftly revoked.

Because of wave surges and potential flooding, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency recommended citizens to stay at least 100 feet away from inland waterways or marinas that are connected to the ocean.

“If possible, remove or deploy vessels to deep water,” the agency said.