North Shore corals a concern
ANINI ReefGuardians Hawaii has landed on Kauai and is doing surveys of reef conditions around the island. At Anini, they report healthy coral growth, but those involved in the surveys have concerns about the Makua, (Tunnels) reef and the corals in Hanalei Bay.
4 Comments
Hi What concerns do they have?
As long as our county does nothing to clean up the Hanalei river, the coral and the people will continue to suffer the consequences. The cesspools need to be eliminated from along the river banks and replaced with septic systems and the chemical runoffs from ag fields need to be controlled. Then maybe we can decrease the bacteria count and make Hanalei Bay pristine again.
I would love to know the methodology of the coral survey. My observations are completely the opposite of this survery. All I see when I am in the water is degradation in stony corals. Almost every Pocillopora meandrina (Cauliflower Coral) is damaged, especially the large specimens. The Montipora capitatas (Rice Coral), have white band and black band disease on most colonies. I agree with Truth that nutrient runoff from agriculture and sewage systems are killing the reef. I see a lot of hair algae, that is sure sign of nutrient overload, the hair algae overwhelms the reef, stops coraline algae growth and coral polyp deposition. High phosphate and nitrates inhibit coral polyp growth and CaCo3 skeletal building within a mature coral colony. Only after Kauai gets the agricultural runnoff and sewage situation under control will the North Shore see true recovery of the corals.
how can it be, isn’t due to closure and previous articles, peace love and tranquility and abudance of aina returned to north shore?