Easy Ways YOU Can Protect the Coral Reef!  Malama Kai! 

PREVENTING POLLUTION IS MUCH EASIER THAN CLEANING IT UP! (REMEMBER; ALL WATER FLOWS TO THE SEA, EVENTUALLY…)

JOIN SOS!  

Educate others by donating to help place reef awareness signs to hang at your business or home! For Info: sos@saveourseas.org

 

 BE AN O.G. (Ocean Guardian)

Safety First! IF IN DOUBT DON'T GO OUT!

PLEASE Do not stand on, walk on or touch the coral reef!  Even if the reef looks “dead”, it has many life forms you can not see!  Please help us protect the coral reef so that our children may be able to enjoy them too!  Corals are colonies of many individual animals that reproduce/grow very slowly, (about 2 inches per year). Shallow, calm waters produce the most fragile corals. These corals are often in the same areas frequented by snorkelers.

By touching or standing on coral we kill them. One touch can harm the reef. More can kill it. Keep off the reef when swimming, snorkeling and diving.

Use Proper Buoyancy. Float Above The Reef

Human contact causes damage to reef animals and plants! Coral and other animals can harm you!  

Please Don’t kick up sand. Sediments can smother fragile coral polyps.

 

Please Do Not Leave Litter or Cigarette Butts. Animals die by eating trash!  Dispose of your rubbish properly. Any kind of litter pollutes the water and can harm the reef and marine life.  Leave an area cleaner than when you found it. Cigarette Butts and plastic bag look like food to marine animals. For animals everything is a potential source of food. Many animals die every year because of ingesting trash.

 

PLEASE No Touching, Chasing or Bothering Turtles or Monk Seals. They are Protected! Observe and Keep the legal distance of 50 yards (45m).    Touching or harassing animals can injure you or them Take only pictures, leave only bubbles.  Please leave marine life alone! It is against the law to touch or harass turtles, monk seals and dolphins. These animals are all protected and endangered. 

 

Please Do Not Feed the Fish, It Disrupts Their Natural feeding habits and you may be injured.  Coral Reef ecosystems feed, shelter and provide habitats for animals.  They protect the shoreline from wave and sand erosion and create Hawai’i’s famous white sand beaches and underwater gardens.  Fish have plenty of food on the living reef!

No collecting live or dead reef souvenirs! Take a pictures (It will last longer)!

Recycle ~ Reduce ~ Reuse

Look for the bins or take it home! The landfills of Hawai’i and the world are filling up and our islands can  handle only so much garbage….

 

Support reef-friendly businesses.   Ask the fishing, boating, hotel, aquarium, dive or snorkeling operators how they protect the reef. Be sure they care for the living reef ecosystem. While Boating: Please use Moorings. No anchors on the reef! Remind all Captains. Support community mooring projects.

Tan, Don’t Burn! Do Try to Use Biodegradable Sunscreen! Even something as simple as applying sunscreen a half hour before snorkeling can minimize damage to reef creatures. A film of Sunscreen at the surface of the sea can block oxygen from fish and other creatures.

Respect local fishermen.  Stay out of KAPU (Hawaiian Subsistence Fishing) Zones & Observe MPA (Marine Protected Area) Regulations. 

If you see these simple "rules" being broken: Do Something. Speak up! Most people have no idea about the complex interactions happening on, around and inside the reef.  Learn about these unique complex ecosystems. Our Fragile Reefs Must Be Cared For!

Marine Mammal Harassment issues please call NOAA 1-800-853-1964 or

Hawai'i State DLNR Department of Conservation and Resource

Enforcement (DOCARE) Kauai (808) 274-3521

Kauai Monk Seal Help 651-7668

Other At Home Everyday easy solutions:

Control runoff and erosion:
Use more plants and less pavement. Divert runoff from pavement and roof drains onto grass or other vegetation. Don't over water. Use drip irrigation.

Minimize nutrient build up:
Use less fertilizer. Choose slow release fertilizer and apply it conservatively. Use phosphate free biodegradable soaps and detergents.  Use the bathrooms on shore before going out in a boat. Boaters use the sewage pump out station at harbors, or discharge marine sanitation devices in deep water.
 
Control bacteria and viruses:
Never put grease down the drain. It's the #1 cause of raw sewage spills. Pick up animal feces and put in trash or toilet.  Keep garbage dumpsters covered.

Control toxic chemicals:
Tolerate more bugs and use fewer pesticides. Use, store, and dispose of pesticides according to instructions on the label. Recycle used motor oil and car batteries.
Learn about safe alternatives to household hazardous chemicals. Dispose of household wastes properly. Never put oil, paint, or antifreeze down a storm drain.

Reduce marine debris:
Recycle glass, plastic, cardboard, aluminum cans, and tires. Buy products made from recycled materials. Select products with minimal packaging and reusable containers.

Conserve water and energy:
Repair leaks and install water saving showerheads and toilet flappers. Learn about xeriscaping (landscaping to conserve water use).

Preserve coral reefs:
Use permanent day-use moorings where available. Otherwise, anchor in sand or rubble.
Don't feed the fish. Avoid touching and walking on live corals.

Take action:
Stencil on storm drains in your neighborhood: DON ‘T DUMP . . . DRAINS TO OCEAN. Adopt and clean up a beach, reef, or stream. Teach awareness to children and friends. Volunteer to monitor beaches and coastal waters.

VOTE RESPONSIBLY

Here are some other facts and figures to ponder... There is a lot of "bad stuff" going in the ocean...

NON-POINT SOURCE POLLUTION

A recent National Academy of Sciences study estimates that the oil running off our streets and driveways and ultimately flowing into the oceans is equal to an Exxon Valdez oil spill—10.9 million gallons—every eight months (NRC, 2002a).

The amount of nitrogen released into coastal waters along the Atlantic seaboard and the Gulf of Mexico from anthropogenic sources has increased about fivefold since the pre-industrial era, and may increase another 30 percent by 2030 if current practices continue (Howarth et al., 2000).

Two-thirds of our estuaries and bays are either moderately or severely degraded by eutrophication (Bricker et al., 1999).

More than 13,000 beaches were closed or under pollution advisories in 2001, an increase of 20 percent from the previous year (NRDC, 2002).

POINT SOURCE POLLUTION

In the U.S., animal feedlots produce about 500 million tons of manure each year, more than three times the amount of sanitary waste produced by the human population (EPA, 2002).

Based on EPA estimates, in one week a 3000-passenger cruise ship generates about 210,000 gallons of sewage, 1,000,000 gallons of gray water (shower, sink, and dishwashing water), 37,000 gallons of oily bilge water, more than 8 tons of solid waste, millions of gallons of ballast water containing potential invasive species, and toxic wastes from dry cleaning and photo-processing laboratories (Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., 1998; Eley, 2000; Holland America, 2002).

INVASIVE SPECIES

Introduced species crowd out native species, alter habitats, and impose economic burdens on coastal communities.

The rate of marine introductions has risen exponentially over the past 200 years and shows no sign of leveling off (Carlton, 2001).

More than 175 species of introduced marine invertebrates, fish, algae, and higher plants live in San Francisco Bay (Cohen and Carlton, 1995, 1998; Cohen and Carlton unpublished data).

AQUACULTURE

A December 2000 storm resulted in the escape of 100,000 salmon from a single farm in Maine, about 1,000 times the number of documented wild adult salmon in Maine (NRC, 2002b).

A salmon farm of 200,000 fish releases an amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, and fecal matter roughly equivalent to the nutrient waste in the untreated sewage from 20,000, 25,000, and 65,000 people, respectively (Hardy, 2000).

Over the past decade, nearly one million non-native Atlantic salmon have escaped from fish farms and established themselves in streams in the

CLIMATE CHANGE

Global air temperature is expected to warm by 2.5 to 10.4oF (1.4 to 5.8oC) in the 21^st century, affecting sea-surface temperatures and raising the global sea level by 4 to 35 inches (9 to 88 cm) (IPCC, 2001).

Recent estimates suggest an increase in mean sea-surface temperature of only 2oF (1oC) could cause the global destruction of coral reef ecosystems (Hoegh-Guldberg, 1999).

Climate change will modify the flow of energy and cycling of materials within ecosystems— in some cases, altering their ability to provide the ecosystem services we depend upon.

Increases in temperature may slow or shut down the Atlantic thermohaline circulation that powers the Gulf Stream, causing reductions in sea-surface and air temperatures over the North Atlantic and northern Europe, changes in the geographic distributions of fisheries, and increased risk of hypoxia in the deep ocean.

BY-CATCH

Worldwide, scientists estimate that fishermen discarded about 25 percent of what they caught during the 1980s and the early 1990s, about 60 billion pounds each year (Alverson et al., 1994; Alverson, 1998).

By-catch of albatrosses, petrels, and shearwaters in longline fisheries is one of the greatest threats to seabirds (Robertson and Gales, 1998; Tasker et al., 2000).

By-catch in the Atlantic pelagic longline fishery may be jeopardizing the continued existence of the loggerhead and leatherback sea turtles off the eastern U.S. seaboard (NMFS, 2001).

HABITAT ALTERATION

Fishing gear that drags along or digs into the seafloor destroys habitat needed by marine wildlife, including commercially fished species.

Typical trawl fisheries in northern California and New England trawl the same section of sea bottom more than once per year on average (Friedlander et al., 1999; Auster et al., 1996).

Bottom-dwelling invertebrates can take up to five years or more

to recover from one pass of a dredge (Peterson and Estes, 2001).

OVER FISHING

As of 2001, the government could only assure us that 22 percent of fish stocks under federal management (211 of 959 stocks) were being fished sustainably (NMFS, 2002).

Over fishing often removes top predators and can result in dramatic changes in the structure and diversity of marine ecosystems (Dayton et al., 2002).

By 1989, populations of New England cod, haddock, and yellowtail flounder had reached historic lows. In U.S. waters, Atlantic halibut are commercially extinct—too rare

to justify a directed fishing effort. Populations of some rockfish species on the West

Coast have dropped to less than 10 percent of their past levels (MacCall and He, 2002).

Rebuilding U.S. fisheries has the potential to restore and create tens of thousands of family wage jobs and add at least 1.3 billion dollars to the U.S. economy (POC, 2003).

COASTAL DEVELOPMENT

Sprawl development is consuming land at a rate of five or more times the rate of population growth in many coastal areas. Sprawl needlessly destroys wildlife habitat and degrades water quality.

More than one-fourth of all the land converted from rural to suburban and urban uses since European settlement occurred during the 15-year period between 1982 and 1997 (the last year for which such figures are available) (NRI, 2000).

Coastal marshes, which trap floodwaters, filter out pollutants, and serve as “nurseries” for wildlife, are disappearing at a rate of 20,000 acres per year. Louisiana alone has lost half a million acres of wetlands since the 1950s.

Adapted from Pew Oceans Commission, A report to the Nation, Recommendations for New Ocean Policy, May 2003