Tag Archives: Hawaii


Thieves Sneak Off With Catch From Aquarium in Waikiki


Thieves made off with 15 moi (a type of featherfin) from a display tank situated at the Waikiki Aquarium this past weekend.

They forced their way into the aquarium after it had shut its doors for the day, and made off with 15 of the 21 fish in an outdoor tank, sometime between Friday evening and Saturday morning, officials at the aquarium stated.

They made their way over a chain-link fence, cut out an opening in the netting of the tank, and then proceeded to abduct the fish using their own net, officials at the Waikiki Aquarium reported.

“It looks like they threw the moi out, they lay on the ground there and they put them in the bag,” Director of the Waikiki Aquarium, Andrew Rossiter, explained. “There were scales and blood there. There were two dead moi left there in the morning that they missed.”

Workers at the aquarium found the two deceased moi left unceremoniously on the ground in front of the tank.

The estimated value of the stolen fish is around $1,500, though who knows what someone will pay for them on the black market.

Even though the fish were stolen, Rossiter feels the need to implore that these particular fish are not fit for human consumption, as they were prepped for breeding and thus contain some hormones and chemicals which make a fairly unappetizing cocktail.

“I would guess that they’ve been treated probably with hormones and probably with medication because they’re adult fish and they were for breeding,” he said.

One wonders why not take all the fish? And also.. What the heck are they going to do with them?

Sea Urchins Put To Test in Cleaning Up Algae

Sea urchin

Sea urchin - By: Marco Busdraghi

The coral reefs off of Hawaii are being smothered by tons of algae, and efforts have been made to help solve this dilemma. The answer comes from an unlikely source.. Sea Urchins. Sea urchins, commonly known as the “cows of the sea”, are being used along side a new underwater vacuuming system aptly named the “Super Sucker” in an attempt to finally start getting the algae off the reef and get them healthy again.

Researchers from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Aquatic Resources are pleased to announce that the project has been a success, as it has been using sea urchins alongside the Super Sucker for the past year in Kaneohe Bay.

“It exceeded our exectations,” Tony Montgomery, a state aquatic biologist commented. “It actually worked better than we thought.”

The project began in August of last year, where divers were manually removing the offending algae from the reef. Once harvested, the algae was then sucked up using the super sucker.. On another part of the reef however, a bunch of sea urchins were left to do their business. The results were that these cows of the sea were quite the eating machines. While the project is being deemed a success there is still a lot of algae to be removed, and Montgomery is remaining casually optimistic. “We will see how they do with thousands of pounds of algae to eat,” He said.

Hawaiian Coral Can be Safely Thawed in 1,000 Years!

Great star coral (Montastraea cavernosa)

Great star coral (Montastraea cavernosa)

Researchers from the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology at the University and the Smithsonian have brought the first frozen Hawaiian coral bank into existence to try and prevent them from becoming extinct and to preserve their diverse population in Hawaii.

A faculty member over at the HIMB, and also a respected scientist with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Mary Hagedorn, is leading the lab at the HIMB research facilities on Coconut Island in Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, which is storing the frozen cells of the coral.

“Because frozen banked cells are viable, the frozen material can be thawed one, 50 or, in theory, even 1,000 years from now to restore a species or population,” explains Hagedorn. “In fact, some of the frozen sperm samples have already been thawed and used to fertilize coral eggs to produce developing coral larvae.”

Many people tend to forget that Coral reefs are living, dynamic ecosystems which afford precious services: They are the home to many offspring for marine animals and other invertebrates; they give natural protection from storms on the coasts; they take carbon dioxide out of our atmosphere; and they even might be sources for future medical wonders.

So, is it any wonder that it would be a good idea to keep them alive? By freezing them, we are saving them, and can keep them alive for up to 1,000 years. Think of all the wonderful things will be accomplished, by simply saving the coral.. Imagine if we had the same initiative when it came to everything?

Animal Lovers Rejoice! Historic Shark Fin Ban!

Shark fins

Shark fins

On July 1st, Hawaii became the first government in the world to institute a law to ban the sale, distribution and even possession of shark fins, the news is sending ripples all around the globe, and animal advocates everywhere are cheering, and ramping up their efforts to get their governments to do the same.

This new law means that restaurants in Hawaii will not be able to serve shark fin soup, a real delicacy, but the implications are so much greater than a few items on a lunch menu.

The shark has made the jump from predator and food source, to being protected. The new law instituted in Hawaii is aiming to prevent shark finning, a rather gruesome process where, once caught, the fins are removed from the shark, and the rest of it is thrown back overboard.

State Senator, Clayton Hee had this to say about the momentous occasion, “As far as I’m concerned it’s no different than killing an elephant for its tusks or de-horning a rhinoceros for its horn. These are cruel and inhumane practices that have no business in a civilized world”.

It was Senator Hee, with the support of many animal rights advocates, which managed to drum up the votes to make it illegal to have, serve, buy, or sell shark fins.

Other States, such as California, are starting to jump on the band wagon, and even other countries are talking about creating similar laws.

Not surprisingly, China is where a lot of the efforts are being made. WildAid launched a campaign in China using NBA superstar Yao Ming, to get people to stop buying shark fins, and stop eating shark fin soup.

First ever U.S. marine debris action plan implemented in Hawaii

Yesterday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its Hawaiian partners announced the first marine debris action plan to be implemented in the United States. The goal of the plan is to actively assess and remove man-made debris such as plastics and lost fishing gear from Hawaii’s coastal waters. Each year, thousands of pounds of marine debris wash ashore on this delicate island chain.

We’ve all been working to address marine debris in Hawai‘i in our own way for years. It’s great to have a plan that we can all contribute to and work together on to tackle marine debris in Hawaii,” said Marvin Heskett, member of the Surfrider Foundation’s Oahu Chapter.

The plan establishes a cooperative framework for marine debris activities and aims to reduce

  • the current backlog of marine debris
  • fishing gear and solid waste disposal at sea
  • land-based debris in waterways
  • the number of abandoned and derelict vessels

For too long marine debris has marred the natural beauty of our ocean and threatened our marine ecosystem,” said Senator Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii. “I have long championed a coordinated effort to mitigate the many tons of debris that suffocate our coral, kill our fish and aquatic mammals and blanket our coastlines. This is a critical issue for our state and I am proud that Hawaii is taking the lead in finding a solution to this global problem.”

The Marine Debris Program has been developed by NOOA in cooperation with Hawaiian governmental agencies, NGO’s, academia, and private business partners. The plan builds on ongoing and past marine debris community efforts.

You can find the plan here. The site also has a video for download.

Shark tours not welcome in Hawaii

shark toursShark tours have become increasingly popular in Hawaiian waters, but tour operators that feed shark to assure their presence are now facing opposition from several different directions.

Sharks are an integral part of Hawaiian folklore and some Native Hawaiians consider sharks to be ancestral gods, aumakua, who helps fishermen by chasing fish into nets and guiding canoes safely back to shore. Tour boats feeding sharks for entertainment is therefore viewed as disrespectful by many.

“The disrespect of the aumakua, that’s what hurts us the most,” said Leighton Tseu, a Native Hawaiian who considers sharks ancestral gods.

Surfers and swimmers are on the other hand more worried about the potential hazards of teaching sharks to associate people with food. There are also fears that shark feeding will attract larger numbers of sharks to these waters and that the practise of feeding them will lure them closer to shore than before.

A third concern has been raised by environmentalists – how does daily shark feedings affects the ecological balance of Hawaiian waters? George Burgess, shark researcher at the University of Florida, says shark populations are likely to increase in areas where tours feed sharks daily, and that an inflated shark population might consume more prey, depleting other marine life. Burgess also fears that the feedings may attract so many sharks to those spots that sharks become scarce in other regions. This is naturally a large problem, since sharks are apex predators necessary for the overall balance of the ecosystems in which they exist.

Carl Meyer of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology does not share Burgess’s concerns, at least not for Hawaiian waters. Research carried out by Meyer shows that a majority of the sharks found at Haleiwa, a popular tour site, are Galapagos and Sandbar sharks – two types of sharks rarely documented attacking humans. Most of Hawaii shark attacks are carried out by Tiger sharks, and these sharks only account for 2 percent of the tour site’s sharks. Meyer’s research also shows that sharks at the North Shore tour site have not made any changes to their seasonal breeding and migration cycles since the feedings started.

Legal matters
Feeding sharks in Hawaiian waters is prohibited by state law, while federal law – which governs waters between 3 miles to 200 miles from the coast – prohibits the feeding of sharks off Hawaii and Pacific island territories like American Samoa. Fishermen are however allowed to bait sharks, and scientists engaging in government-funded research are also exempt from the ban.

The National Marine Fisheries Service in Honolulu is currently investigating Hawaiian tour operators offering shark safaris.

Beaked whales may be extra prone to decompression sickness

bottlenose whaleA new study funded by the U.S. navy and the Office of Naval Research show that Beaked whales are at higher risk of developing decompression sickness since they live with extremely high levels of nitrogen in their blood and body tissues. This may explain why beaked whales seem to be especially susceptible to naval sonar. If the sonar causes the animals to surface more rapidly than they would normally do, e.g. because they are frightened by the underwater sounds, it may lead to decompression sickness which may in turn explain the strandings associated with naval sonar exercises.

Decompression sickness, commonly referred to as “the bends” among scuba divers, is a consequence of the sudden drop in pressure that occurs when you ascend rapidly from the deep. When mammals dive, nitrogen builds in our bodies. If we ascend slowly the nitrogen isn’t dangerous, but if we ascend too quickly the nitrogen forms bubbles inside the body. Tiny bubbles might not sound like anything to fuzz about, but within the body it can be lethal.

Beaked whales are believed to accumulate large amounts of nitrogen within their bodies since they make repeated dives to such great depths. They can stay submerged without breathing for long periods of time and are capable of descending down to nearly 1,500 metres. Having this inclination for decompression sickness may explain why beaked whales seem to be more vulnerable to naval sonar than other marine mammals.

“It provides more evidence that beaked whales that are being found dead in association with naval sonar activities are likely to be getting decompression sickness,” said Robin Baird, a marine biologist at Cascadia Research Collective and one of the report’s authors.

The study has focused on three species of beaked whale: Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris), Blainville’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris), and the Northern bottlenose whale (Hyperoodon ampullatus). The Northern bottlenose whale was studied off the cost of Nova Scotia, Canada while the two others were observed around Hawaii, U.S.

According to a 2006 report in the Journal of Cetacean Research and Management, 41 known cases of mass strandings of Cuvier’s beaked whales have occurred since 1960. Some of them have happened at the same time as naval sonar exercises in the area, including Greece in 1996, the Bahamas in 2000, and the Canary Islands in 2002. When the beaked whales stranded in Bahamas were autopsied, they turned out to have bleedings around their brains and ears; bleedings which may have been caused by nitrogen bubbles.

The U.S. navy has agreed to adopt certain practises to protect whales, but is resisting more stringent restrictions until more scientific evidence is at hand. The navy has budgeted 26 million US per year over the next five years to fund marine mammal research on how these animals are affected by sound.

If you wish to find out more about the beaked whale study, it is published online this week in the journal Respiratory Physiology and Neurobiology.

Seven new bamboo corals discovered in Hawaii

NOAAA NOAA* expedition by has discovered seven new species of Bamboo corals (family Isididae) in the deep waters off Hawaii Six of them may belong to en entirely new genus.

The findings were made within the Papah Naumoku Kea Marine National Monument, one of the biggest marine conservation areas in the world.

These discoveries are important, because deep-sea corals support diverse seafloor ecosystems and also because these corals may be among the first marine organisms to be affected by ocean acidification,” said Dr Richard Spinrad, NOAA’s assistant administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.

The NOAA expedition made a lot of other interesting findings in addition to the new species, including a five foot (roughly 150 cm) tall Yellow bamboo coral tree and a 600 meter deep coral graveyard comprising an area of more 1 square kilometre. It is difficult to determine when the corals in the graveyard died; it could have happened a few thousand years back as well as more than one million years ago – or anytime in between.

Old corals can provide us with a lot of information about Earth’s history and how the oceans have changed over time since corals produce growth rings in a fashion similar to that of trees.

Studying these corals can help us understand how they survive for such long periods of time, as well as how they may respond to climate change in the future,” said Rob Dunbar, a Stanford University scientist.

* The US Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Reef damage from snorkelers and scuba divers not widespread in Hawaii

Reef damage more limited than suspected

A new study from Carl Meyer and Kim Holland of the Hawai’i Institute for Marine Biology encompassing four protected marine sites in Hawai’i reveals that snorkelers and scuba divers only have a low impact on coral reef habitants at these sites and that the impact is limited to comparatively small areas.

The study, funded by NOAA Fisheries and the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Aquatic Resources, is based on secret observations of snorkelers and scuba divers at four marine life conservation districts: Honolua-Mokule’ia on Maui, Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island, Manele-Hulopo’e on Lana’I, and Pupukea on O’ahu’s North Shore.

These are areas created with the overarching goal of maintaining an environment in pristine or near pristine condition“, says Meyer. “One of the ironies is that because it’s such a nice area, a lot of people want to come and visit it, and that sets up the potential for the original goal of marine protected areas to be undermined by overuse.

The researchers used handheld Global Positioning System (GPS) units to map the movements of swimmers in the water and identify “hot spots” where the highest amount of contacts with reefs and other substrate took place. They found that divers and snorkelers use no more than 15 percent of the total reef habitat at each studied site and that the visitors stay within comparatively small areas associated with access points.

Although Hawai’i marine protected areas were heavily used in comparison to those in other geographic locations, this did not translate into high recreation impact because most fragile corals were located below the maximum depth of impact of the dominant recreational activity (snorkeling),” according to the report.

The Meyer and Holland study provides information on a subject suffering form a severe shortage of reliable data.

A lot of work on marine protected areas has focused on what the marine life is doing, not people,” saysMeyer, who hopes that information from the study will be used to create designated access points and boat moorings to focus activities away from the most sensitive parts of the reefs. By looking at a dive site’s topographical features, it is possible to predict where snorkelers and scuba divers are most likely to proceed from an access point.

If you manage those access points somehow, you can determine where people go,” Meyer explains.

coral

Boat access vs. shore access

According to data retrieved from the study, boat access has a lower impact per dive than shore access, for several reasons. People that dive and snorkel from a boat do not access the site from land so there is no wading involved, but information and supervision also seem to play a major role.

Divers and snorkelers on tour boats are instructed on proper reef behaviour before going into the water and they are also monitored by dive tour staff.

If people are doing things they are not supposed to be doing, I’ve seen them intervene, and that separates boat-based activities from shore-based,” says Meyer.

Shore-based snorkelers and divers may of course receive instructions from shops where they rent their gear, but they will not be as strictly supervised during the actual dive as those who access from tour boats. There is less on-site management at dive spots accessed from shore, Mayer says.

According to the study, most of the substrate contacts between reef and humans occurred at shoreline access points where people waded to enter and exit the ocean. Even in such areas, the reef impact level was low since the contacts mainly involved sand or rocks where no coral grew. (The study does however point out that we “cannot rule out that (coral) colonization is being prevented by continued trampling.”) Only 14 percent of the contacts were between humans and live substrates, such coral, coralline algae, or invertebrates living attached to the substrate, and less than 1 percent of the contacts caused apparent damage, e.g. tissue abrasions or broken branches. Most of the damage was caused by snorkelers accessing from the shore. Scuba divers do however have a greater average impact on coral per dive than snorkelers, chiefly because scuba divers stay down longer each dive, explore a larger area, and venture deeper down.

Impact would be slashed in half if 16% of visitors stopped acting like morons

As in many other parts of the world, a major part of the damage is caused by a comparatively small part of the population.

One of things we noticed is that about half of the physical impacts that we observed in these areas [shoreline access points] resulted from only 16 percent of the people who are using it,” Meyer says. “There is a subset of people who have a much higher impact. If you can reach that 16 percent, you could literally halve the existing impact.”

Meyer suggests placing educational signs at popular dive sites and letting volunteers provide visitors with information and advice.

Only few places are heavily impacted by tourist, but those places are of high commercial and recreational value

Although coral trampling only damages a very small part of Hawai’i’s total reef resources, the damage naturally tend to take place along beaches and at offshore sites of high recreational value.

The state of Hawai’i’ is heavily dependant on its $800 million ocean recreation industry and managing even heavily visited areas is therefore imperative for the long-term financial stability of this island state and its inhabitants.

According to Ku’ulei Rodgers, another scientist with the Hawai’i Institute for Marine Biology, increased visitor use results in a clear pattern of decreasing coral cover and lower fish populations since popular reefs can’t recover from damages while being continuously trampled.

It can do really heavy damage to have people standing on the reef, but the good news is there are few places where there is a heavy impact from tourists. It’s mostly concentrated in places like Waikiki and Hanauma,” she said.

During the last fiscal year, the lower beach at the renowned snorkelling site Hanauma Bay was visited by 780,000 people. This can be compared to the areas studied by Meyer and Holland where the most heavily visited site, Kealakekua, was visited by roughly 103,300 snorkelers and 1,440 divers annually. Honolua-Mokule’ia received 84,000 snorkelers and 2,050 divers, Pupukea 47,700 snorkelers and 22,500 divers, and Manele-Hulopo’e a mere 28,200 snorkelers and 1,750 divers.

Closure, permit only or mandatory guides

In some situations, education and information simply isn’t enough. Last year, people straying onto unmarked coastal trails and trampling reefs at two popular snorkelling coves (the Aquarium and the Fish Bowl) forced managers of the ‘Ahihi-Kina’u Natural Reserve Area in South Maui to close much of the reserve’s 2,045 acres.

It was a big step for us,” says Bill Evanson, Maui District natural area manager for the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR).

The closure took place in October and will be in effect for two years to give damaged areas a chance to recover. An advisory board is currently considering whether to allow future access by permit only or through guided hikes. Before the closure, the ‘Ahihi-Kina’u Natural Reserve received 700 to 1,000 visitors a day.

The ‘Ahihi-Kina’u reserve was created for conservational reasons and is home to some of Hawai’i’s oldest reefs. Within the reserve, you can find rare anchialine ponds as well as numerous extraordinary geological and archaeological features.

Even though the reserve has only been closed since October last year, there are already noticeable signs of recovery.

We’re seeing that many of the tide pools and coves where there used to be people are inhabited by fish in numbers and variety we haven’t seen, says Evanson. Fish aren’t being scared away by the presence of people. Now they are able to feed, hide from larger predatory fish and breed.

Asian swamp eel invades North America!

In May this year, hundreds of Asian swamp eels were discovered in and around Silver Lake in historic Gibbsboro, New Jersey. This was the first finding in New Jersey, Asian swamp eelbut not the first finding in the United States. Unlike Florida, Georgia, and Hawaii – the three other U.S. states where this species have been discovered – New Jersey is however subjected to harsh winters and a breeding population of Asian swamp eels in New Jersey confirms the suspicion that this Asian invader has no problem adjusting to the
chilly climate of northern
North America.

Asian swamp eel

The Asian swamp eels were found by a local college student checking on frogs and turtles in the Silver Lake. As he spotted snake-like heads peeking from the water, he decided to photograph them and post the pictures online. This lead to the “snakes” being identified as Asian swamp eels, Monopterus albus, and prompted a call to the local authorities.

In its native environment in Asia and Australia, the swamp eel Monopterus albus inhabits gentle hill streams, estuaries and lowland wetlands, and it is a common species in rice paddies. It has developed a long row of traits that makes it an apt survivor in many different kinds of environments. Unfortunately, these traits also make it the “perfect” invasive species and biologists fear that the Asian swamp eel may wreck havoc with existing North American ecosystems, especially if the predatory species of these systems prefer to target familiar prey rather than catching the newcomers.

The Asian swamp eel can survive long periods of drought by burrowing in moist earth, and can therefore take advantage of seasonally appearing, short-lived bodies of water.

If its home becomes unsuitable, e.g. because of drought, this eel simply crawls ashore and make its way to a more suitable home by slithering over land, just like a snake. This makes it hard to eradicate from bodies of water using poison or similar; there is always the risk of at least two specimens getting away over land and forming a new breeding colony in nearby waters.

The Asian swamp eel can tolerate a wide range of oxygen levels in the water since it is capable of absorbing oxygen from the air above the surface through its skin. This skill doesn’t only come in handy in oxygen depleted waters; it is also what makes it possible for the fish to travel impressive distances over land.

This eel prefers freshwater habitats, but can tolerate brackish and saline conditions, which increases its chances of always finding a suitable home.

It eats all sorts of prey, not only fish, crustaceans, amphibians, and other aquatic animals, but detritus (decaying organic matter) as well. Highly specialized feeders have a much harder time adjusting to new habitats and are therefore less likely to become problematic invasive species.

This eel is a protandrous hermaphrodite, which means that it can change its sex. All specimens are born male, but can turn into females if necessary. This means that if an aquarist releases two male specimens into a lake, one of them can turn into a female to make reproduction possible.

In Georgia, the first specimens of Asian swamp eel was discovered in 1994, and three years later eels were found in Florida as well. The Hawaiian history of combating swamp eels is much longer as the first specimens are believed to have been released in Hawaiian waters about 100 years ago. In Georgia and New Jersey, biologists blame aquarists of having caused the situation by releasing their pets into the wild. In Florida and Hawaii however, Asian food markets and fish-farmers are considered more likely sources. Asian swamp eels are typically sold fresh in food markets and can be kept alive for long periods of time as long as their skin is kept moist.

New Jersey authorities are now focusing on containing the creatures while trying to figure out a way of annihilating them. “We’re not panicking yet,” says Lisa Barno, chief of the New Jersey Bureau of Freshwater Fisheries. “It’s more that it’s just an invasive species we’d rather not have. We’re still documenting the true extent of the problem, but right now it seems to be fairly contained.” One of the immediate goals is to prevent an expansion downstream to the Cooper River and a watershed leading to the Delaware River. Since May, only one Asian swamp eel has been discovered outside the Silver Lake.