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The Wai ‘Opae Tidepools are now protected. The southern half of the tide pools just makai (towards the ocean) of Vacationland have been put in a special protected status called a Marine Life Conservation District (MLCD). This is the result of a community initiative which was in the works for about six years, and three of the prime movers who should be acknowledged are Harry Kim, Jim Blakey and Bob Nishimoto. Many mahalos to them and to the many Puna people who turned out at the town meetings and the public hearings to support the protection of this very fragile ecosystem.
For many years we watched with sorrow the decline of marine species at the Wai ‘Opae tidepools. We observed night fishing using Clorox to stun the fish, aquarium collecting, littering, breaking of coral and other destructive behavior. We have seen 15-passenger van loads of tourists do damage to the coral gardens out of ignorance. We felt angry and helpless until we were invited to join a newly forming ad hoc group working to create a MLCD.
Many committee and public meetings were held in an attempt to get everyone's input and ideas. We arranged for a lecture and slide show by Dr. Leon Hallacher of UH to educate the community about the resource. Early on it was decided to put only the southern 2,500 feet of the tide pools into the MLCD, so as to provide an option for regular users of the area. An MLCD does not mean "keep out". The public can still enjoy the area. What cannot be done is any commercial use without a permit, fishing, damaging corals or any activities which would compromise the ecology.
Besides being a beautiful place to recreate, the Wai ‘Opae is also a fish nursery and the young fish that will now flourish there will someday grow up and support our local fishery and provide food for our families. As Dr. Hallacher informed us, the Wai ‘Opae is truly unique, and will become increasingly so now that it is protected.
Now we will move into the next phase of public education and informational signage, and the marine biologists will monitor the expected increase in marine populations and diversity which we all hope to see.
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UPDATE
Alerts !!!
1. Honu (Sea Turtle) Harassment. There have been several reports recently of people harassing sea turtles in nearby tidepools People have been seen playing catch with the smaller, immature turtles as well as trying to ride on the larger ones, thereby, preventing them from surfacing to get air. The green sea turtle is a federally-listed, endangered species and it is against the law to even touch one. If you see anyone harassing the turtles, please call DOCARE (Conservation and Resource Enforcement) at 974-6208.
2. Mangroves
Though the tidepools have been designated "protected", there are still threats to them, one of which is the mangrove. Mangroves were introduced in 1902 by the sugar company on Molokai to try to contain the mudflats caused by erosion after total deforestation of the land. They are now an Invasive species in Hawai‘i, and have begun to take hold in the tidepools. Mangroves change the entire ecosystem of a tidepool from coral and native fish nursery to muddy mangrove swamp. Malama O Puna has begun to eradicate them from the southern most section of Wai ‘Opae tidepools. We are realizing that if this is not done soon, and kept up with, the tidepools will quickly become a swamp. We have pulled out thousands of small ones, picked out thousands of seelings, and cut down many mature trees. They are actually an ingenious and tenacious plant. The seeds germinate on the plant, becoming a 6-8 inch seedling - a protruberance that hangs from the seed pod. The seedling falls from the pod, ready to float then sink into a crack and root. The small trees are hard to pull out even when just a small stalk with a few leaves. If you would like more information on plant identification and would like to help please call us at 965-2000 or send an E-mail. It's a great excuse to take a swim.
Below - Mangrove seedling still connected to fruit.
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