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Public invited to free webinar on “Shark Research in Hawaii – With an Emphasis on Maui” by Dr. Kim Holland on Wednesday, March 3

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KIHEI, HI – Recent shark attacks that occurred off the coast of Maui in November (2020), December (2020) and January (2021), as well as an incident in February (2021) which involved a large shark biting a kayak, have many ocean users concerned and curious about the sharks found in our nearshore waters. The public is invited to learn more about our local sharks at a free Zoom presentation titled “Shark Research in Hawaii – With an Emphasis on Maui’ by Dr. Kim Holland. Dr. Holland is the Research Professor at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, (HIMB) at University of Hawaii at Manoa and the founder of the Shark Research Group at HIMB.

This free talk is hosted by Maui Nui Marine Resource Council’s “Know Your Ocean Speaker Series” and will take place on Wednesday, March 3 at 5:30 pm via Zoom. The presentation is free, but advance reservations are required. To reserve your spot, please visit https://bit.ly/SharkWebinar

For over 40 years Dr. Holland’s research has focused on the biology and movement patterns of large marine fishes such as tuna, billfishes and sharks. He has been a pioneer in helping to develop and deploy cutting edge tracking technologies that allow unprecedented insight into the movement patterns of marine fishes.

His presentation will include a brief overview of tracking technologies with an emphasis on what has been learned about the movements of sharks around Maui Nui.

“While many Maui residents and visitors are fearful about sharks, it’s important to remember that sharks play an important role in maintaining Hawaii’s ocean ecosystems,” said Anne Rillero, Communications, Community Outreach and Development Manager at Maui Nui Marine Resource Council. “We’re looking forward to learning more about Dr. Holland’s findings and insights about Hawaii’s sharks.”

Maui Nui Marine Resource Council’s “Know Your Ocean Speaker Series” events are held monthly via Zoom. Support for these events is provided by the County of Maui Mayor’s Office of Economic Development.

The emcee for this event is Darla Palmer-Ellingson, local radio show host of the public affairs program, Island Environment 360 Maui’s only commercially broadcast public affairs show on environmental and related Hawaiian cultural topics, aired on the stations of H-Hawaii Media.

To reserve your spot at this free Zoom webinar, please visit https://bit.ly/SharkWebinar

 

Experts tag a tiger shark with a tracking device in the waters off Maui. The satellite tag gets attached to the shark’s dorsal fin and sends a signal every time the fin surfaces the water. Photo Credit: HIMB

Public invited to free Zoom presentation about unique collaboration of 7 environmental projects funded by Maui CARES

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Program provided employment for more than 70 Maui and Molokai residents

“It’s like Maui County’s own version of the Civilian Conservation Corps”

KIHEI, HI – During the Great Depression, the government-sponsored Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) provided paychecks for 3 million unemployed young men and provided valuable labor for conservation projects across the country.

With unemployment at record levels due to COVID-19, a new program followed this historical CCC model and put more than 70 Maui and Molokai residents to work in November, providing seven local conservation nonprofits with needed labor to benefit coral reefs, cultural resources and the environment.

The public is invited to a free presentation on Weds. January 27 at 5:30 pm on Zoom to learn about this unique collaborative employment and workforce training program and the impact it had on our local environment. The presentation will include videos, photos and firsthand accounts of the projects and accomplishments, with information on how the projects incorporated traditional Hawaiian cultural practices and modern technology to prevent sediment pollution in the ocean and protect valuable cultural resources.

It’s free, but registration is required. To sign up, visit https://bit.ly/mauiCARES

This unique collaborative employment and workforce training program was made possible through the County of Maui Office of Economic Development’s Maui CARES program, which was funded by the Federal CARES Act. As the fiscal sponsor, Maui Nui Marine Resource Council oversaw the administration of the Maui CARES funding for the projects and managed the rapid employment of more than 70 new hires with the help of simplicityHR by ALTRES.

The workers participated in conservation and restoration projects in Olowalu, Waihe’e, Keanae, Kipahulu, Hana and Moloka’i. All of the projects were rooted in Hawaiian cultural practices and values which serve as the foundation of our community. Their work was filmed by Inflatable Film of Kula. The evening will include video premieres exclusively for webinar attendees.

“Through this presentation, attendees will be immersed in a virtual experience to feel the importance of Kuleana, ʻOhana, Kōkua, Aloha ʻAina, Mālama ʻAina, and Hānai ʻAina, said Ekolu Lindsey, President of Maui Cultural Lands and a principal organizer of this program. “Be inspired to follow in the footsteps of those who have come before us, as we share our legacies with you.”

The participating nonprofits include:

Ka Honua Momona on Molokai worked to restore two ancient fishponds, which will help trap sediment before it reaches the open ocean – with the benefit of also producing fish for local people.

Kipahulu ‘Ohana in East Maui improved a lo’i, or wetland taro farm. The taro plants will slow the flow of stormwater, allowing time for sediment in the water to settle, rather than flow out to sea.

Hawaiian Islands Land Trust in Waihe’e worked to remove invasive species along approximately 3,000 linear feet of Kalepa Stream to lower sediment loads in the nearshore waters off Waihe’e and protect offshore corals.

Ke Ao Hali‘i (KAH) in Hana worked on 27 acres of publicly owned land at Mokae/Kaholaiki and another ~2 acres of contiguous land, directly above Hamoa Beach. Their project included invasive plant removal and native habitat restoration for seabirds and insects, and a biological survey of ‘opihi as a baseline for a possible ‘opihi rest area in the future.

Kipuka Olowalu in West Maui reestablished washed out and damaged lo’i (taro fields), rebuilt vanished lo’i and prepared lo’i for planting in the Olowalu Cultural Reserve. Workers removed overgrowth, fire hazards and invasive plants; planted native plants and crops and repaired infrasturcture.

Na Moku ‘Aupuni O Ko‘olau Hui in East Maui worked on watershed management and stream maintenance, as well as stream and ditch monitoring in the East Maui Irrigation system to establish accurate data for stream and ditch flow and loss as a basis for making sound future management decisions related to this resource and delivery infrastructure.

Each of the nonprofits will be presenting their work and accomplishments through photos, video and stories from the field.

Na Mamo o Mu‘olea in East Maui focused on land and shoreline management on a county parcel (which Nā Mamo O Mū’olea has a 50 year lease). It included removal of invasive plants around a rock wall that is on the historic registry, and preparation for wall restorations, maintenance of two heiau on the property, installation of new fencing around an area designated for native trees and medicinal plants, and maintenance and repair of feral animal controls.

“This presentation is a celebration of all that was accomplished and learned,” said Lindsey. “We encourage the public to attend to connect with these organizations and the workers who put heart and soul into these challenging and impactful projects.“

The emcees for this event are Ekolu Lindsey and Darla Palmer-Ellingson, local radio show host of the public affairs program, Island Environment 360 Maui’s only commercially broadcast public affairs show on environmental and related Hawaiian cultural topics, aired on the stations of H-Hawaii Media.

About Maui Nui Marine Resource Council

Maui Nui Marine Resource Council is a community-based nonprofit organization celebrating 13 years of working for healthy coral reefs, clean ocean water and abundant native fish throughout Maui County. Our work includes co-managing the Hui O Ka Wai Ola Ocean Water Quality Monitoring Program in South and West Maui, efforts to reduce pollution in Mā‘alaea Bay (through erosion-control efforts in the Pohakea watershed and using oysters to filter sediment and pollutants from ocean water), coral reef research, visitor education programs and more. Learn more at www.mauireefs.org.

Free Webinar: “Exploring the Octopus: How to Learn from Animal Behavior”

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Photo courtesy Don Bloom

“Exploring the Octopus: How to Learn from Animal Behavior” is Topic of November 18 “Know Your Ocean Speaker Series” Free Webinar

Octopuses explore the world around them with their flexible arms, which can touch — and actually taste — to help them quickly identify prey. Maui Nui Marine Resource Council invites the public to learn more about the specialized octopus cells that make this unique ability possible at a free Zoom webinar titled “Exploring the Octopus: How to Learn from Animal Behavior” on Wednesday, November 18 at 3 pm. This presentation is part of MNMRC’s monthly “Know Your Ocean Speaker Series.”

The guest speaker will be Peter Kilian, Research Assistant and Aquatic Animal Technician at the Bellono Lab at the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University. The lab studies how diverse organisms sense and respond to changes in their environment.

Peter will be sharing his work on a paper which he co-authored that was recently published in Cell titled, “Molecular Basis of Chemotactile Sensation in Octopus.” Stories about this report, which describes how octopus can both touch and taste with their arms, have appeared in numerous newspapers, magazines, tv news shows and online journals, including The New York Times, CNN, Smithsonian Magazine and others.

As a research assistant and aquatic animal technician at Bellono Lab, Peter spends most of his time working with fish, sharks, cephalopods, and various other marine invertebrates to try and learn how and why they behave the way they do.

“So many of us on Maui are fascinated with octopuses, especially after ‘My Octopus Teacher’ launched on Netflix,” says Meredith Beeson, Project and Research Coordinator at Maui Nui Marine Resource Council. “We are excited to host this presentation by Peter Kilian, which will describe how Harvard researchers looked at the octopus at the molecular level to learn how the nervous system in the octopus’ arms — which operate largely independently from its centralized brain — allows these animals to both touch and taste their prey.”

The guest emcee will be Darla Palmer-Ellingson, local radio show host of the public affairs program, Island Environment 360 Maui’s only commercially broadcast public affairs show on environmental and related Hawaiian cultural topics. Her  program is made possible by H-Hawaii Media.

Maui Nui Marine Resource Council offers its monthly “Know Your Ocean Speaker Series” via Zoom, usually on the first Wednesday of the month. This month’s presentation was delayed due to Election Day and Veteran’s Day. Please note that this event will start at 3 pm, earlier than other “Know Your Ocean Speaker Series” talks, because the speaker is located in Massachusetts. If you wish to view the presentation, but cannot attend at 3 pm, please email [email protected] to receive emailed information about where and how to view the presentation later in the day.

To make a reservation for the live Zoom presentation, please visit https://bit.ly/OctopusTalk

The “Know Your Ocean Speaker Series” is made possible with support from the County of Maui Mayorʻs Office of Economic Development.

About our speaker:
Peter Kilian, Research Assistant and Aquatic Animal Technician at the Bellono Lab at the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard, has been interested in the mystery of animal behavior since a young age. His drive to work with animals originates from countless trips to the local zoo and aquarium when he was growing up. This curiosity continued to evolve in college, where Peter dove into his passion for animal work. While in college he spent time working as a beekeeper, a penguin aquarist at the New England Aquarium, and a pygmy octopus husbandry specialist in the mariculture lab at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA. He has since graduated from college, and now works full time in the Bellono Lab at Harvard as a research assistant and aquatic animal technician. He spends most of his time working with fish, sharks, cephalopods, and various other marine invertebrates to try and learn how and why they behave the way they do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“A Closer Look at Hawaiʻi’s Sea Turtles” is Topic of Sept. 9 “Know Your Ocean Speaker Series” Webinar

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A free Zoom webinar offering “A Closer Look at Hawaiʻiʻs Sea Turtles” will be presented on Wednesday, September 9 from 5:30 to 7 pm Hawaii Standard Time as part of Maui Nui Marine Resource Councilʻs  monthly “Know Your Ocean Speaker Series.” It will also air via Facebook Live at facebook.com/mnmrc, the Facebook page of Maui Nui Marine Resource Council.

The talk will feature presentations by Dr. Camryn Allen, a NOAA wildlife endocrinologist,  and Shandell Brunson, NOAA’s sea turtle stranding coordinator for Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Islands region.

Dr. Allen is the Supervisory Marine Biological Researcher (JIMAR) at the Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research at NOAA Fisheries Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center in the Protected Species Division. She created a sea turtle endocrinology laboratory to examine sex ratios of sea turtles in the wild.  Her talk will present findings on the ratio of male vs. female turtles at foraging grounds — and what that means for the potential impacts of climate change on our sea turtle populations.

Shandell Brunson is a biological sciences technician with the Marine Turtle Biology and Assessment Program and is NOAA’s sea turtle stranding coordinator for Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Islands region. She will share findings from sea turtle strandings in Hawai’i, including what’s being learned about threats from strandings, rehabilitations and deaths.

Our guest emcee is Darla Palmer-Ellingson, local radio show host of the public affairs program, Island Environment 360 Maui’s only commercially broadcast public affairs show on environmental and related Hawaiian cultural topics. The program is made possible by H-Hawaii Media.

This free online event is part of Maui Nui Marine Resource Councilʻs “Know Your Ocean Speaker Series” and is made possible with support from the County of Maui Mayorʻs Office of Economic Development.

Advance reservations are for the Zoom webinar.  To make your free reservation, please visit https://bit.ly/HawaiiSeaTurtles.

The talk will also be presented on Maui Nui Marine Resource Councilʻs Facebook Live page at https://www.facebook.com/MNMRC.

Questions will be accepted from the audience on both Zoom and Facebook.

 

Photos at left: Dr. Camryn Allen at work in the field.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo below: Shandell Brunson at a training with Maui Ocean Center Marine Institute (MOCMI) last November.

Free Oct. 7 Webinar by Daniel Amato, Ph.D. on “Sewage Impacts on Hawaiʻi’s Coastlines: Past, Present and Future”

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What will determine the future impacts of sewage on Hawai’i’s nearshore ecosystems and public health? Learn more at a free Zoom webinar titled “Sewage Impacts on Hawaiʻi’s Coastlines: Past, Present and Future” by Daniel Amato, Ph.D., which will include recent research and latest information on Hawaiʻi’s wastewater saga. The webinar will take place on Wednesday October 7 at 5:30 pm and is free and open to the public. It is presented by Maui Nui Marine Resource Council as part of their monthly “Know Your Ocean Speaker Series.” Advance reservations are recommended as the Zoom webinar is limited to 100 attendees. Make your free reservation at https://bit.ly/MauiSewage

“My talk will share reports on how injection wells and cesspools continue to pollute Hawaiʻi’s waters, with an emphasis on recent Maui studies,” says Dr. Amato. ”I will also present recent decisions from the Hawaiʻi State Legislature and the current status of their effort to phase out cesspools.”

Dr. Amato will also discuss the current situation with sewage pollution in Hawai’i, and will present community efforts and new technological developments in sewage detection that show promise for the future.

A water quality specialist, Dr. Amato’s professional work focuses on the detection and impacts of land-based pollution in the Pacific Ocean and the development of new technology to assist in detecting the DNA of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) in the water.Dr. Amato is a Marine Research Specialist at the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa, an Environmental Scientist at Element Environmental LLC, and serves as the coordinator for Surfrider-Oahu’s Blue Water Task Force.

“We are offering this webinar by Dr. Amato to share important information about sewage and its impact on Maui’s coastlines, including ocean water quality and our nearshore coral reefs,” says Amy Hodges, Programs and Operations Manager at Maui Nui Marine Resource Council. “It’s a critically important topic, at a time when our coral reefs need the benefit of clean ocean water, to survive the impacts of climate change and warming water.”

“We thank the County of Maui Mayorʻs Office of Economic Development for supporting our Know Your Ocean Speaker Series,” says Hodges.

For reservations for this talk, visit https://bit.ly/MauiSewage.

About Maui Nui Marine Resource Council:
Maui Nui Marine Resource Council is a community-based nonprofit organization celebrating 12 years of working for healthy coral reefs, clean ocean water and abundant native fish throughout Maui County. Our work includes co-managing the Hui O Ka Wai Ola Ocean Water Quality Monitoring Program in South and West Maui, efforts to reduce pollution in Mā‘alaea Bay (through erosion-control efforts in the Pohakea watershed and using oysters to filter sediment and pollutants from ocean water), coral reef research, visitor education programs and more. Learn more at www.mauireefs.org.

 


Free Talk on “The Coral Pledge” Initiative Created by Hawaii’s DLNR to Reduce Human Impacts on Hawaii’s Coral Reefs

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Maui Nui Marine Resource Council invites the public to a free talk on Monday, December 9 at 5:30 pm at The Sphere at Maui Ocean Center to learn about the “The Coral Pledge,” a new initiative to reduce human impacts on Hawaiiʻs reefs year-round.

The presenter will be Dan Dennison, Senior Communications Manager for the Hawaii Dept. of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR). The Coral Pledge was created by the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources and was introduced statewide earlier this month.

The eveningʻs presentation will include details about The Coral Pledge and will feature a showing of “Saving Coral,” a  half-hour television special created by DLNR to educate the public about threats to Hawaii’s coral reefs. Dennison will also provide updates on “30 x 30” which is a State of Hawaii commitment to effectively manage 30% of Hawaiiʻs nearshore ocean waters by 2030.

At the conclusion of the evening, Maui Ocean Center will also provide a special holiday treat for attendees: a viewing of the movie, “Humpbacks of Hawaii,” to be shown in 3D at The Sphere.

“The Coral Pledge provides a simple set of recommendations to help reduce human impacts to Hawai‘i reefs year-round, but particularly during bleaching events,” says Dennison. “While all ocean users can learn from the recommendations in The Coral Pledge, we especially encourage commercial tour operators and businesses who work in and around the ocean, and who regularly interact with visitors, to attend to learn about The Coral Pledge and hopefully to sign up to participate in this initiative.”

Admission to this event is free and the public is invited. Because seating is limited in The Sphere, the public is encouraged to make a free reservation by visiting https://bit.ly/coralpledge. 

Maui Ocean Center is donating the use of The Sphere to Maui Nui Marine Resource Council for this presentation. This new facility features comfortable movie-style seating, excellent acoustics and state-of-the-art video equipment with a large presentation screen.

Maui Nui Marine Resource Council holds free public presentations on the first Wednesday of each month, as part of its “Know Your Ocean Speaker Series.” However, this Monday, December 9 presentation on The Coral Pledge will replace Maui Nui Marine Resource Council’s regularly scheduled meeting for December.

About Dan Dennison


Dan Dennison currently serves as the Senior Communications Manager for the Hawaii Dept. of Land and Natural Resources. Dan brings more than four decades of broadcast journalism experience to his current position.

Prior to joining DLNR in 2014, Dan served as news director at six, top-rated television stations, in four states, including KHON2 and KHNL/K5 in Honolulu. He began his news management career in his native Colorado after being a television reporter and photographer for 25 years covering Western Colorado for Denver television stations. He has multiple Emmy awards, state broadcaster association awards, and Edward R. Murrow awards both as a reporter and news director.

At DLNR, Dan has been responsible for the production of more than 1.000 videos to date, including seven television specials. He supervises a team of communications specialists who handle all internal/external communications, media relations, and social media.

Dan has served on numerous state and national boards both as a broadcaster and now as a government communications professional. He is an avid hiker, bicyclist, snorkeler, skier, and loves to play tennis and Frisbee. He says he is both blessed and honored to document the work of DLNR staff and its many partners in the mountains, forests, and waters that comprise Hawaii Nei. “The best job in the world,” he says.


About Maui Nui Marine Resource Council

Maui Nui Marine Resource Council is a community-based nonprofit organization celebrating 11 years of working for healthy coral reefs, clean ocean water and abundant native fish throughout Maui County. Our work includes co-managing the Hui O Ka Wai Ola Ocean Water Quality Monitoring Program at 41 sites in South and West Maui, efforts to reduce pollution in Ma‘alaea Bay (through erosion-control efforts in the Pohakea watershed and using oysters to filter sediment and pollutants from ocean water), coral reef research, visitor education programs and more. Learn more at www.mauireefs.org.

Photo caption:
Dan spends a great deal of time shooting video and photographs in remote areas of Hawai’i to provide material for media coverage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dennison has been involved from the beginning in producing media materials to raise public awareness about Rapid Ohia Death.

 

Dan Dennison with Governor and First Lady Ige, hiking the Kalalau Trail in conjunction with the reopening of the Napali Coast State Wilderness Park and Ha’ena State Park on Kaua’i.

Dr. Steven Businger to Speak on “Severe Weather in a Warming World”

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MA’ALAEA, HI – A free presentation titled “Severe Weather in a Warming World” will be offered by Dr. Steven Businger on Wednesday, August 7 at The Sphere at Maui Ocean Center, as part of Maui Nui Marine Resource Council’s monthly meeting. The talk takes place from 5:30 pm to 7 pm. Doors open at 5 pm.

This presentation is open to the public and admission is free. Seating is limited so advance reservations are recommended. For reservations, visit https://bit.ly/hurricanetalk

Dr. Businger is the Professor and Chair of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Hawaii and has devoted the past 30 years to researching the evolution and structure of destructive atmospheric storms.

“My talk will cover the evolution of recent hurricanes and other severe weather events that have threatened Hawaii, including how and why they form, how their structure affects the hazards they produce, and the role that a warming climate may play in these events,” said Dr. Businger. “I will also cover the similarities and differences between hurricanes and kona lows (a winter half year phenomenon).”

“We are offering this presentation because hurricanes have a profound impact on Maui’s coastal areas, causing erosion, storm surges and damage to homes and property – and possibly to coral reefs,” said Robin Newbold, co-founder and Chair of Maui Nui Marine Resource Council. “The weather and the future of our reefs are inextricably linked.”

“Right now, we are fortunate to have our local coral reefs providing an estimated $377.1 million worth of protection from storm surges and big waves to Maui’s coastlines every year, according to a recently released study from the U.S. Geological Survey, The Nature Conservancy and UC-Santa Cruz,” noted Newbold.

“However, coral bleaching caused by warming ocean temperatures can make corals weak and brittle, and more likely to be broken off in strong waves,” said Newbold. “If the height of our corals is reduced, we can expect more storm-related damage along our coasts. If sea level rises, it will also be harder for corals to break up big waves.”

“Please attend this talk to learn about hurricanes and severe weather events in Hawaii, so we can all be better prepared and safer,” says Newbold.

A nonprofit Maui-based organization working for healthy coral reefs and clean ocean water, Maui Nui Marine Resource Council hosts monthly meetings on the first Wednesday of each month featuring guest presenters speaking on issues, ideas and new advances relating to Maui County’s nearshore ocean environment. The meetings are free and open to all. Maui Ocean Center generously donates space for these monthly meetings at The Sphere, its new high-tech facility featuring advanced audio and visual projection and comfortable movie-style amphitheater seating.

About Dr. Steven Businger:
Dr. Steven Businger is Professor and Chair of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Hawaii. He has made notable contributions to the atmospheric sciences in several important, yet diverse areas. For the past 30 years Professor Businger has been active in researching the evolution and structure of destructive atmospheric storms, resulting in fundamental contributions to our understanding of the formation of storm systems in cold air streams and in the tropics (e.g., Kona lows and tropical cyclones). To date he has over 80 peer-reviewed journal publications, published 2 academic textbooks, and seven book chapters.

Dr. Businger was elected Fellow of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) in 2010. He is an AMS Certified Consulting Meteorologist, and in 2011 Professor Businger received the UH Mānoa Chancellor’s Citation for Meritorious Teaching.

About Maui Nui Marine Resource Council:
An award-winning, community-based organization, Maui Nui Marine Resource Council is celebrating 11 years of working for healthy coral reefs, clean ocean water and abundant native fish. Maui Nui Marine Resource Council co-founded and co-manages Hui O Ka Wai Ola, a unique volunteer-based ocean water quality monitoring program that gathers data at 39 shoreline locations in South and West Maui. Maui Nui Marine Resource Council is working to restore clean ocean water at Ma’alaea Bay, through a pilot program to use oysters to improve ocean water quality in Ma’alaea Harbor and through upslope projects in the adjoining Pohakea Watershed. The organization also sponsors visitor education programs to encourage respect, protection and responsible use of our local coral reefs. To learn more visit www.mauireefs.org.

June 5 Meeting of Maui Nui Marine Resource Council 
to Feature Free Presentation on Carrying Capacity Study of Popular Oahu Snorkeling Site

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When considering Maui’s most popular reefs, how many snorkelers are too many? What’s the impact of hundreds or possibly thousands of snorkelers per day at our reefs? How do we determine the right amount of snorkelers at our local reefs?

If you’ve wondered about the answers to these questions, Maui Nui Marine Resource Council invites you to a free talk that will share methodology and findings from a carrying capacity study of O‘ahu’s heavily visited Hanauma Bay by researchers from The Coral Reef Ecology Lab (CREL). The free presentation will take place at the Wednesday, June 5 meeting of Maui Nui Marine Resource Council from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm at The Sphere at Maui Ocean Center. Doors open at 5 pm. Seating is limited so advance reservations are strongly recommended. To reserve, visit https://bit.ly/snorkelers

The featured guest presenters will be Sarah Jane Leicht Severino, Research Associate, and Ku‘ulei Rodgers, PhD, Principal Investigator of The Coral Reef Ecology Lab (CREL) at the University of Hawai‘i, Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology campus. They will speak about CREL’s Hanauma Bay Biological Carrying Capacity study, which quantifies the extent of human influence and determines the acceptable limits of disturbance to the marine resources of Hanauma Bay. For the past year, CREL has performed observational and manipulative experimentation within the Bay documenting the interactions between visitors and the marine environment as they relate to human use, coral tramping, sedimentation, and visual water clarity.

“The findings of the Hanauma Bay research should prove valuable in helping communities throughout Maui County evaluate the impacts of snorkelers at our popular reefs,” says Amy Hodges. “This talk is an excellent opportunity to explore how Maui County might most effectively answer the question of how many snorkelers — and under what circumstances — are too many snorkelers  at our local reefs?” 

About Dr. Ku’ulei Rodgers:

Dr. Ku‘ulei Rodgers has been working at the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology’s (HIMB) Coral Reef Ecology Lab since 1992 under the direction of Drs. Paul Jokiel and Fenny Cox, as an HIMB faculty member since 2005 and as the Principal Investigator of the Coral Reef Ecology Lab since 2016. Over 100 of her articles have been published in peer-reviewed journals, published reports, and conference proceedings. She was in the top five most read PeerJ journal articles in 2017.

Since 2005, she has provided graduate advising, mentoring, and training for 15 graduate students, 40 undergraduates, interns, and technicians, and 2 post-docs. Ku‘ulei has been heavily involved as Principal Investigator, Co-Principal Investigator or research assistant on 25 funded projects since her appointment, conducting research at sites on every island. She has secured funding through grants of over $3.5 million assisting in student support and research needs.

Many of her research projects are of an interdisciplinary nature involving close collaborations with over 20 UH researchers from the oceanography, engineering, and zoology departments and over 50 cooperative relationships with managers and scientists from federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private industry. Her research has been widely disseminated through extensive media coverage with well over 200 documented local television news interviews, newspaper articles, and media events, global webcast video coverage, national and international newspaper and web articles and radio interviews

Ku‘ulei was one of the co-founders along with Dr. Paul Jokiel, Dr. Eric Brown, and Will Smith of the ongoing Coral Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program established in 1999 and continues to serve as PI along with the State Division of Aquatic Resources.

About Sarah Jane Leicht Severino:
Sarah Jane Leicht Severino earned her MS in Marine Science at Hawai‘i Pacific University (HPU) in 2015. For her master’s research she developed a technique, the Fluorescence Census Technique (FCT), that utilizes the natural fluorescent pigmentation found within some species of corals to non-destructively census their smallest size classes in-situ under daylight conditions.

After graduate school, Sarah worked as a First Mate on HPU’s Research Vessel, Kaholo, for two years. In addition to managing fieldwork on HPU’s Research Vessel, she was recruited by the Navy to manage field operations for a project studying the structure of marine resources within the main Pearl Harbor shipping channel.  The FCT was used in the Pearl Harbor shipping channel to quickly and accurately quantify the abundance and recruitment patterns of juvenile coral colonies on their natural reef substrate. 

Since starting in the Coral Reef Ecology Lab, Sarah has been working toward establishing a biological carrying capacity for Hanauma Bay Marine Life Conservation District (MLCD). By analyzing historical data and performing several field experiments, she seeks to quantify changes in the benthic community of reefs at Hanauma Bay in response to pressure from human use.

About Maui Nui Marine Resource Council:

Established in 2007, Maui Nui Marine Resource Council (MNMRC) is an award-winning nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization working for healthy coral reefs, clean ocean water and abundant native fish for the islands of Maui County.

During the past 11 years since our organization’s establishment, we have been based on Maui and have achieved recognition for working with our local community to create culturally appropriate, effective science-based solutions to serious local threats facing our reefs. Many problems facing Maui County’s local reefs originate on land, which is why our projects and programs are community-based and work from mountains (mauka) to sea (makai). To learn more, visit www.mauireefs.org.

Free presentation about Kahoʻolawe –“Kūkulu Ke Ea A Kanaloa — The life and spirit of Kanaloa builds and takes form” at April 3 meeting

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Missed this event? View it here:

https://vimeo.com/332580699

 

The public is invited to a free presentation focusing on Kahoʻolawe titled, “Kūkulu Ke Ea A Kanaloa — The life and spirit of Kanaloa builds and takes form.” The talk will be presented by Dean Tokishi, Ocean Resources Specialist III, Kaho’olawe Island Reserve Commission, at the Wednesday, April 3 meeting of Maui Nui Marine Resource Council.  This event will take place at a new venue: The Sphere at Maui Ocean Center. 

“Kanaloa Kaho‘olawe’s rich history, complex present and hopeful future can be seen and felt,” said Tokishi. “My talk will cover everything from the island’s use as a prison colony, a ranch, and military live fire training site to the extensive unexploded ordinance clean-up project and the efforts to restore an entire island ecosystem, mauka to makai.”

The meeting and presentation will take place at Maui Ocean Center at The Sphere, a new high-tech dome-shaped presentation space, offering reclining movie-theater style seats and state-of-the-art visuals and acoustics. (Learn more about The Sphere at www.mauioceancenter.com) Doors open at 5 pm; please enter by the Administrative Office entrance at Maui Ocean Center. The presentation will take place from 5:30 pm to 7 pm. Admission is free and the public is invited. By order of the fire marshal, only 118 guests can be accommodated, so admission is on a first-come, first-served basis.

“Many on Maui look across the channel to Kahoʻolawe and wonder about its history, and what the island is like now,” says Amy Hodges, Program Manager at Maui Nui Marine Resource Council. “Thereʻs also a lot of curiosity about the reefs and marine resources of Kahoʻolawe. How are they surviving after the years of extreme sediment runoff caused by the decades of military bombing of Kahoʻolawe? We are grateful that Dean Tokishi will be sharing his manaʻo and knowledge about Kahoʻolawe with us all.”

“Please join us for this free talk, which will include time for questions from the audience,” says Hodges. “Iʻm confident that weʻll all learn much and come away inspired by the work that KIRC is doing to restore and protect Kahoʻolawe and its marine resources.”

“We thank Dean Tokishi in advance for this presentation, and also thank Maui Ocean Center for hosting this event,” says Hodges.

About Dean Tokishi:
Growing up on Maui, Dean graduated from Maui High School and later received a Bachelorʻs Degree in Marine Science from the University of Hawaii at Hilo. For three years he was involved in the restoration of Kahoʻolawe during the ordnance removal project. In January of 2003 he obtained a position with the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission (KIRC) in monitoring, managing and protecting all of the Reserves marine resources. Currently Dean serves as KIRCʻs Ocean Resources Program Manager where he is given the opportunity to educate others on the importance of these marine resources.

About Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission (KIRC)
From its inception by the State of Hawaiʻi in 1993, KIRC was funded through the Kahoʻolawe Island Rehabilitation Trust Fund – originating from a portion of the federal funding allocated to the Navy’s unexploded ordnance clearance project (ending in 2003). In 2014, KIRC partnered with PKO (Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana) and OHA (Office of Hawaiian Affairs) to publish a collaborative plan for the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve through 2026 (entitled I Ola Kanaloa!). With refined goals and objectives adopted by each organization, KIRC presented its self-sustainability financial plan to the Hawaiʻi State Legislature in 2016. Supported by an Aloha Kahoʻolawe campaign, which called for memberships, shared information and public testimony to affirm KIRC’s restoration and access programs, the State authorized permanent funding for KIRC staff and additional CIP funding for KIRC operations in 2018. Programs that bring community volunteers to the Reserve continue to rely on funds raised through donations, grants and memberships. Learn more at https://www.kahoolawe.hawaii.gov/home.php

About Maui Nui Marine Resource Council
Celebrating 11 years, Maui Nui Marine Resource Council is a Maui-based nonprofit organization working for healthy coral reefs, clean ocean water and the restoration of native fish for the islands of Maui County. To learn more, visit www.mauireefs.org.

Special thanks to Maui Ocean Center for donating use of The Sphere for this presentation.

 

Dean Tokishi poses at the cliffs of Kamohio, located along the southern shore of Kahoʻolawe.

Dean Tokishi installs underwater sediment traps to monitor the rate of terrestrial run off that is
coming off of Kaho‘olawe and into the marine environment.

Dean Tokishi records data on coral and fish density and abundance along a line transect, as part
of his work to understand the condition of Kahaoʻolaweʻs nearshore reefs and to educate the public
about them.

 

Free Presentation on “Wildfire on Maui: the History, Threat, and Our Collective Responsibility”

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Did you know that the area burned each year by wildfire in Hawaii has increased by 400% over the past several decades? Wildfires have an impact on our nearshore ocean environment and coral reefs, which is why Maui Nui Marine Resource Council is hosting a free presentation on “Wildfire on Maui: the History, Threat, and Our Collective Responsibility” on Wednesday, February 6.

The presentation will be offered by Clay Trauernicht, PhD, Wildland Fire Specialist at University of Hawaiʻi Cooperative Extension. It will take place from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm at Pacific Whale Foundation’s classrooms at the Ma’alaea Harbor Shops at 300 Ma’alaea Road, Ma’alaea (Wailuku). Doors open at 5:00 pm and complimentary refreshments will be served.

“Over the past decade, an average of more than 1,000 wildfires burned more than 17,000 acres each year in Hawai‘i, with the percentage of total land area burned comparable to and often exceeding figures for the fire-prone western United States,” reported Dr. Trauernicht.

“During my presentation, we’ll use fire science and a bit of history to tackle the how and why of the 400% increase in areas burned by wildfires in Hawaii,” said Dr. Trauernicht. “We’ll also look at the consequences it has for our watersheds and nearshore ecosystems.”

“The short story is that fire on Maui and other islands is a problem we’ve largely created,” he noted.  “It is therefore one of the few ‘natural’ disasters we can actually avoid.”

“We’ll consider our options to reduce fire risk and impacts on Maui and how the urgency to take action is increasing under a changing climate,” Dr. Trauernicht reported.

Attendees will be invited to share their questions, experiences and ideas about wildland fires on Maui at the conclusion of Dr. Trauernicht’s presentation.

Dr. Trauernicht earned his PhD in Plant Science at the University of Tasmania and a MS in Botanical Sciences at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He completed his BS in Biology at the University of Denver.  In addition to many years of botanical and ecological fieldwork, he has published and presented on plant community ecology and population modeling, geospatial analyses of fire and species occurrence, and the use of local knowledge to adapt management strategies and inform research needs.

His current focus is on improving wildland fire management in Hawaii and the Pacific with a strong emphasis on science extension and communication.  Dr. Trauernicht is the project leader for the Pacific Fire Exchange, part of the Joint Fire Science Program’s nationwide Fire Science Exchange Network.  He is currently working with the Pacific Island Climate Change Cooperative to extend climate science resources to Cooperative Extension programs throughout the Pacific Island region.

Maui Nui Marine Resource Council is a Maui-based nonprofit organization celebrating 17 years of working for healthy coral reefs, clean ocean water and an abundance of native fish for the islands of Maui County. In addition to co-managing the Hui O Ka Wai Ola ocean water quality testing program, which tests ocean water quality at 39 locations along the south and west shores of Maui, the nonprofit is working to improve ocean water quality in Ma’alaea Harbor through the use of installed oysters in cages. Maui Nui Marine Resource Council is also working in the Pohakea watershed above Ma’alaea Bay to prevent fire and erosion to protect ocean water quality and the coral reefs located in the bay. To learn more, visit www.mauireefs.org.