Crisis of Complacency

A Crisis of Complacency

Coral reefs are among the Earth’s most beautiful, ancient and complex ecosystems. Healthy coral reefs are some of the most biologically diverse and economically valuable ecosystems on earth, providing food, jobs, recreation, pharmaceuticals, coastal protection and other important functions to virtually everyone on the planet.

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Hanalei Whales

If you were out in Hanalei Bay yesterday, you had quite a show as the sea was alive with critters! The whales were all over the place and I did a scuba dive out side of the St Regis Hotel a half mile out on Futures Reef. The sea was calm and clear for a change. The whales were singing and I captured some of their songs on video!

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Nudibranchs vs. Football

If you look close when you snorkel or scuba dive in Kauai you might find a bunch of worms! They are a tad bit prettier than the worms you may find in your garden. Nature makes some pretty impressive looking creatures and why these flat worms are so colorful, I am not sure but they are awesome to look at!

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As the Worm Turns

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Big Waves at Pukas

Because Kauai is a round island in the middle of the sea, you can find beautiful surf and diving as long as you want to drive a bit! Every few miles on Kauai has different waves, wind and reefs. Kauai is unique in this and that it is why it is the best island in the Pacific to do reef, beach, wetland and wave studies. But most of all it is the most beautiful place on the planet to enjoy all of what nature has to offer!

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Koloa Dive 1-27-2014

3 days ago I dove at Koloa Landing with Claire, Ben and several additional divers, we were teaching to recognize coral diseases. We did not find much disease which is good but we did find a new type of algae killing a lot of the giant old growth mound corals, which is super bad! This algae looks like it has growth rings similar to the growth rings in a tree.

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Ahukini Dive 1-27-2014

This dive site had some of the most beautiful giant mound corals growing on the jetty and in the the mouth of the bay a few years ago. I found the first outbreak of cyanobacterial disease on the rice corals about three years ago and since then hundreds of large rice corals have died.

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Beauty and the Beast… on the Reef

You may be diving along the reef in Hawaii and all of a sudden the reef turns into flashing bright yellow and red colors! What looks like a normal rock on the reef all of a sudden bolts away at 30 miles per hour, then it turns back into a rock right before your eyes!

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Poisonous Starfish

These Crown Of Thorns starfish are native to Hawaii and they eat coral. Often you will see a white patch of coral where the star has eaten the polyps. It may look like coral bleaching but usually you can see the rough edges of the live coral next to the dead coral. These large starfish sometimes get out of control and devastate entire parts of the reef.

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Cup Corals

Cup corals grow in dark areas where the sun does not shine. They are similar to an upside down jellyfish living in a hard tube attached to the reef. These little corals catch small organisms floating in the sea with their stinging tentacles. They are usually bright orange, pink or red.

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Tunnels Beach… Going, Going, Gone!

Chip Fletcher at UH is one of the most well known experts studying sea level rise in Hawaii along with NOAA. He told me five years ago that the beach at Tunnels will be gone within ten years! He was right but it is happening now five years early.

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