Author: Jim Law



For many years, Hawaiian Ohana, Hui, and tourists alike, have enjoyed Kauai for its pristine environment.

Numerous water sports such as: Fishing, Surfing, Snorkeling & Scuba Diving, have been the norm since most can remember. Now, there appears to be something that is happening that many people may not be aware of.

A place called "Hanalei Bay" located on the North Shore of Kauai, has long been a major influence in peoples lives since way before recorded history. Ancient Kalo (Taro) farms, villages full of people thriving, children playing along its shores, and eons of a multitude of uses have come and gone. Most, with respect to the Ocean, the Land, and all of its creatures and abundance of sources of food.

There are recent developments that are NOT in harmony with nature. There is a great disrespect and misuse of our natural resources that is going on. Long ago, our Native Hawaiians knew very well, that keeping in balance with respect to the land and Sea, was imperative for their survival. Especially being on an Island where there are limitations to (healthy) population growth that is based on supply and demand.

Here are some of the issues at hand: 
1) The beachfront bathhouses have septic issues that are archaic, defunct, and have a tendency to leak into the Bay during rainfall. This is poisoning our Bay and is causing illness to people who swim in certain areas of the Bay during certain times. Ask any hospital staff; Nurse or Doctor, who treats staph (Staphylococcus aureus) infections as to where these originate from the most.

2) There is a species of Grouper called "Roi" which for most people, issues of exotic species introduction usually means what they see on the Land. But what many people don't know, is what has happened to our Ocean under the waves over the years. This certain species of fish, called the Roi (Grouper), was first introduced over (55) years ago into Hawaiian waters to provide food for those who enjoy eating fish. Its been recently discovered, that this particular fish for some reason, may or may NOT, have a deadly toxin in its flesh. Its the not-knowing part, that has led most fisherman to find another food source, so now there is a population explosion problem and the Roi are happy, but the Reef and...the Fishermen, are not. It seems that Roi like to gobble up anything in their path, including small fry that will never live to see another day beyond 6 inches.

Click Here to read more about the disease issue with Anini Roi Grouper:
http://www.saveourseas.org/saveourseas/studentlin_1./Pages/ciguatera.html

3) Now for the most urgent issue at hand; The pollution of Hanalei Bay that is being exasperated by what is happening upstream. It is apparent, through both underwater, dry land, and aerial photographs (both video & still shots) that a certain landowner has created a public domain waterway without a permit, let alone an Engineer, Flood Study, No-Rise study or Wildlife Study. Basically, as of August 15th 2010, it appears that there was no Environmental Impact Study done or this subject would be mute.

Certain organizations have pressed the press, reached certain levels of the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) DLNR (Department of Land and Natural Resources) with very little results. The digging of a canal still continues on private land that now empties into the Hanalei River and silt continues to wash downstream out the mouth into Hanalei Bay which is killing off the coral reef, the silt is creating an unnatural beach at the mouth of the bay which now provides places for dozens of cars to park to watch the sunset, but few people are aware that this muddy looking stuff that they are parking on does not belong there.

How can this be? How can one person get away with this you ask? This is where you can only guess, and it usually involves money.

How can you help?  DONATE HERE https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=JJ2PGX29PU8TJ

If you are an Environmental Lawyer, please contact us.

Summary:
If this blatant abuse of our natural resources continues, you can expect the following to happen:

1) There will be NO living reef in Hanalei Bay and the areas just outside the bay within 5-10 years.

2) There will be many upset fisherman and people who dine on Seafood; no reef = no fish

3) There will be a decline in tourism revenue: no reef = no snorkeling, diving, or fishing.

4) There will be an increase in disease in humans; the quality of waves for surfing will change. A reef that has been buried by silt, sand and sediment, means that waves will break differently and closer to shore in some places and further out in others, maybe this is good, maybe bad, but we see it as a problem overall as some have already contracted disease from the tainted water that is flowing out of the Hanalei River.

Much of this is due to the private developer upstream as we mentioned above who has constructed a road, a dam, and a man-made canal...all without a permit that required hiring an Engineer, Environmental Study, No-Rise Study, Wildlife impact Study etc...had this been done, this would not even be up for discussion because permitting would have been denied for much of the work, if not all of it.

Lets join hands and do what we can to stop this foolishness... for ourselves, and for generations to come.










If you can help with issues that we discuss here, please contact Jim Law at sedonajames@msn.com

Thank you,

Jim Law
Producer/Editor/Writer/Author/Adviser for HRF

First off...lets begin by learning from our past mistakes of what happened in Florida, the Philippines and Bahama Islands. This is a Global problem, but the way we can make positive change is by starting right here in Kauai. The ill effects of dying reefs from pollution to Hanalei River and Bay will result in the following problems:

1) People will continue getting sick and some may even die.
2) Tourism will suffer and so will the bank accounts of those who rely upon it for income.
3) Our reefs may die off completely and fishing and diving in certain areas will come to an end. 

Remember...its all connected. If the reefs die, so does the economy and well-being of the locals.

Read my following article and decide for yourself if you would like to donate money or time for a good cause.  We need the funding for Scientific research, Educational outreach and Documentary Film Production.

Visit the Hanalei River Foundation website for more info and donate to a good cause. http://www.hanaleiriverheritagefoundation.org/

Bad news about the coral reef die-off in the Philippines. Florida has had this going on, mostly in the Keys and also the Bahamas over the past 30 years.

"Bleaching" is what they call it in Florida. It appears to have much to do with Global warming and carbon emissions caused by humans on a Global level. But the cause must be looked at on a regional basis to see what is really happening in Kauai.

I owned a Saltwater Tropical Fish business in Florida and I was just getting in to buying fish for cheap for resale from the Philippines. The tragedy there in the Philippines is that they used a chemical to stun hard to catch fish...Ammonia was commonly used in a squeeze bottle and Quinaldine was also used to spray over the reef to stun the fish. This was later outlawed but some locals kept it up. Fish that were caught this way soon developed neurotoxin-disorders and died quickly in the home aquarium, so wholesalers banned buying from unreliable sources. It was a known killer of the coral reefs. I soon gave up the business in 1973 when I became conscious that I was part of the problem.

Bleaching occurs when the conditions necessary to sustain the coral's zooxanthellae cannot be maintained. Any environmental trigger that affects the coral's ability to supply the zooxanthellae with nutrients for photosynthesis (carbon dioxide, ammonium) will lead to expulsion.This process is a "downward spiral", whereby the coral's failure to prevent the division of zooxanthellae leads to ever-greater amounts of the photosynthesis-derived carbon to be diverted into the algae rather than the coral. This makes the energy balance required for the coral to continue sustaining its algae more fragile, and hence the coral loses the ability to maintain its parasitic control on its zooxanthellae.

Triggers

Coral bleaching is a generalized stress response of corals and can be caused by a number of biotic and abiotic factors, including:

• increased (most commonly), or reduced water temperatures
• increased solar irradiance (photosynthetically active radiation and ultraviolet band light)
• changes in water chemistry (in particular acidification)
• increased sedimentation (due to silt runoff)
• bacterial infections
• changes in salinity
• herbicides
• low tide and exposure
• cyanide fishing
• elevated sea levels due to global warming

While most of these triggers may result in localized bleaching events (tens to hundreds of kilometers), mass coral bleaching events occur at a regional or global scale and are triggered by periods of elevated thermal stress resulting from increased sea surface temperatures.

Like the Botulism issue, its important to get the facts on what the root cause is in each particular case. As for the reefs on the North Shore of Kauai for instance, reef die-off can be something very different than lets say what is going on in Mauai or other Islands.

Tests must be done very carefully by process of elimination, following the list above. Research funding can be brought about by targeting specific goals such as this. It is my hope that the Hanalei River Heritage Foundation obtains such funding.

I would surmise the following (4) causes are part or all of the problem with drawing from the above list we can narrow it down:

1) Changes in water chemistry (generally speaking, this is a primary cause that blankets the below issues)
 
2) Bacterial infections (caused by water chemistry alterations)
 
3) Herbicides  (run-off from nearby Golf Courses,  again..water chemistry alterations)
 
4) Increased sedimentation  (from upstream Hanalei River illegal dredging of a canal)

To sum it up...its both Silt and water chemistry changes that have/are causing the Coral die off in my opinion. Now its time to narrow the gap and find out through Scientific research, the exact Chemical causes and sources.

One thing that is not mentioned in chemistry changes as a cause, is SunScreens. Millions of people in our oceans wearing them now more than ever and although oils float,  its the PH and Chemistry that gets messed up. I suspect its a combination of things going on here.

Authored by Jim Law