Coral reefs in Hawai’i are home to a spectacular biodiversity of plant and animal species (many endemic to the Hawaiian archipelago), support a deep-rooted culture of subsistence fishing, provide coastal protection, and are central to tourism and recreational activities.
Climate stressors on coral reefs include sustained high sea surface temperature (SST) leading to coral bleaching, more intense, damaging storms, sea level rise and sedimentation impacts, and the potential to alter ocean currents and increase ocean acidification. Climate stressors on coral reefs in Hawai’i are exacerbated by coastal pollution (runoff, spills, etc), fishing, impacts from tourism and vessel traffic. This combination of stressors also makes them more vulnerable to coral disease, loss of genetic diversity, and decreases their resilience to future impacts.
One of the most visible impacts of climate change on Hawai’i’s coral reefs has been coral bleaching. The most recent widespread coral bleaching event in Hawai’i occurred during the 2019 El Niño, a year of record heat for Hawai’i and during the arrival of a massive ocean heatwave called “the Blob.” As climate change continues, scientists project that these heatwave events and warmer sea surface temperatures (SSTs) may result in more frequent and more intense El Niño events. Reducing man-made impacts on coral reefs before, during, and after these events gives them a better chance at recovering from climate-induced stressors like coral bleaching. Coral restoration activities can include introducing regulations or promoting education to reduce pressures from recreational and commercial vessels, eliminating point source pollution and minimizing runoff, hands-on coral restoration and research, and keeping our beaches and oceans clean.
Pacific RISA Project Assistant Krista Jaspers recently participated in a reef cleanup with Captain Max Boat Tours, a snorkel tour company out of Kewalo Basin Harbor in Honolulu. The boat took volunteer freedivers to Turtle Canyons, named for the Hawaiian green sea turtles often found feeding and resting on the finger reefs below the surface. Directly offshore in Waikiki, this dive site sees dozens of tour boats and hundreds of tourists everyday – items collected in the clean up included plastic drink cups, snorkel masks, clothing items that were smothering entire coral heads, fishing gear, and even a fake flower lei (see featured image). Some of these items are blown off or fall from tour boats, and many more come from the thousands of tourists that pack the beaches everyday. Other popular dive sites are littered with discarded fishing gear that pose entanglement hazards for marine mammals like the endangered Hawaiian monk seal and the Hawaiian green and hawksbill turtles.
What can you do? Although Pacific RISA does not currently offer volunteer opportunities, there are many local non-profit organizations in Hawai’i that do!
Beach/Underwater Clean-ups:
Sustainable Coastlines: https://www.sustainablecoastlineshawaii.org/
Surfrider O’ahu: https://hawaii.surfrider.org/
808 Clean-ups (native plant restoration and clean-ups):https://808cleanups.org/
Ocean Defenders Alliance: https://www.oceandefenders.org/what-we-do/hawaii.html
Coral Restoration:
The Coral Conservancy: http://thecoralconservancy.org/
Kuleana Coral: https://www.kuleanacoral.com/
Malama Maunalua: https://www.malamamaunalua.org/
Other:
Paepae o He’eia: https://paepaeoheeia.org/volunteer/
Hawai’i Wildlife Fund: https://www.wildhawaii.org/get-involved/volunteer/
HMAR: https://h-mar.org/get-involved/
Learn more about the world’s coral reefs and get real-time analysis of climatic conditions:
NOAA Coral Reef Watch: Utilizes remote sensing, modeled and in situ data to observe, predict, and report to its users on the coral reef environment worldwide. CRW provides the only global early-warning system of coral reef ecosystem physical environmental changes.
Allen Coral Atlas: Worldwide coral reef atlas to assist stakeholders ranging from local communities to regional and national governments to reach their coral reef conservation goals.
Even at the global level, coral bleaching is a severe problem and is influenced by many factors such as climate change, ocean acidification, etc. This is a very good initiative for the conservation of nature and together we can make a difference!!!!