People Pose the Gre Atest Thre at to This Delicate Marine Ecosystem

Sunday, December 25, 2005 S E C T I O N F H A W A I I ’ S C O R A L R E E F KURE 13 MIDWAY 4 WHERE’S THE CORAL? PEA R L AN D HERMES The Hawaiian archipelago stretches almost 1,500 miles ofrm 1 Hilo to Kure Atoll and is home to the majority of corale er f 6 5 LA YSA N ecosystem in U.S. waters. The North w e s t e r n Hawaiian Islands, LI SIA N SKI mostly uninhabited reefs and atolls west of Kauai, are under consideration to become the largest national marine 2 7 9 MA R O sa n c t u a r y in the country. A decision by the National Oceanic 8 10 (N OT SHOWN TO SCAL E ) GA R DNER PINNA CLE S and Atmospheric Administration is expected next year. RADL E 3 C 12 FRENCH FRIGAT E SHOAL S NECKER 11 NIHOA KA UAI HAWAII’S DOMINANT CORALS MOLOKA I of The three corals depicted here are the most OAH U fr equently seen in the Main Hawaiian Islands. LA N A I HA WAI I The common English name is given, followed by MA UI the Hawaiian name and the scientific name. 1. Lobe coral Pohaku puna / Porites lobata Amazing creat u r e melds STORIES BY Fo r ms encrusting or massive forms from the IF E in t e r tidal zone to depths of more than 180 feet. LDIANA LEONE Long, narrow cracks often found on this coral pl a n t , animal and mineral ar e produced by a type of shrimp. Living G R A PH I C BY Coral biologist Cynthia Hunter knows there’ s some confu- colonies range in color from yellowish-green to sion about her favorite crea t u re . BRYANT FUKUTOMI br own and sometimes blue. “Is coral an animal, a plant or a mineral,” she asked people 2. Finger coral attending one of the Waikiki Aquarium’s “Coral Spawning and Ko‘a / Porites compres s a Reef Romance” educational events. Most common in wave protected areas like bays Most who dared an answer said “animal.” Some said or deeper reef slopes to depths of about 150 “plant.” feet. It has many growth forms, but all of them People pose the grea test threa t to this delicate marine ecosystem Hunter smiled slyly and said, “Ahhhh, it’s all three . ” show some sort of fingerlike branching. Color of Each coral animal, which is called a polyp, is made of two live colonies ranges from light brown to light V E RYBODY’S HEARD about the symbiotic algae that live inside many coral tissue layers, shaped like a hollow sack, with a mouth ringed ye l l o w i s h - g re e n . value of rainfores t s . animals. DOS AND DON’TS TO PROTE CT THE CORAL by stinging tentacles. 3. Cauliflower or rose coral How they house countless >> Observations of coral disease are in- But except for a brief larval period when they are fre e - >> Do enjoy live coral in the ocean. But don’t >> Do n ’ t take coral home. State law proh i b i t s Ko‘a / Pocillopora meandrina u n d i s c o v e red cre a t u res, foods, cre a s i n g . swimming, each coral polyp lives planted in a cup-like depres - touch it, rub against it, walk on it or drop the breaking, damaging or taking any stony Pr efers wave-agitated environments, and is plants and medicines — maybe “In Hawaii, more than 1.2 million people sion (a calyx, or calices plural) in the calcium carbonate anchor on it. Whether hundreds of years old coral from Hawaii waters, including reef and found at depths down to about 150 feet. even the cure for cancer. live within three miles of living coral re e f , ” ex t e r nal skeleton of the coral colony. Each new generation of or just getting established, the living part of mu s h r oom corals. It’s also illegal to sell any Colonies form heads about 10 to 20 inches in The same can be said of coral ree f s . Dave Gulko, a state Division of Aquatic Re- coral polyps literally lives on the bones of its ancestors. E coral is on its outer surface — the very stony coral native to the Hawaiian Islands. di a m e t e r . Branches are heavy and leaf-like, and Only 2 percent of the world’s oceans so u r ces coral reef scientist. “On Oahu, Maui The Hawaiian creation hymn, the Kumulipo, mentions coral po r tion of it that people are most likely to First violations are subject to a fine of up to fork bluntly near the ends. Color of living houses coral reefs, but in that small are a and at Kailua-Kona, you have some of the early in its description of the formation of the islands, saying: disturb. Research shows that being stepped $1,000 and/or 30 days in jail, plus up to $1,000 colonies ranges from brown to pink. teems a staggering diversity of life. And the l a rgest human populations so near major “B o r n the coral polyp, born of him a coral colony emerge d . ” on nine times can kill a coral. per specimen taken illegally. Penalties coral reefs of Hawaii are home for the major- coral in the Pacific, if not the world,” he said. The rock-like reefs are a basic building block of a trop i - >> Do clean your boat hull reg u l a r l y . Many of in c r ease for subsequent violations. ity of coral found in U.S. waters. Coral reefs provide food and habitat for CREATU RES OF THE REEF cal underwater ecosystem. the aquatic invasive species in Hawaii, which >> Do n ’ t dump aquarium water. No aquarium H a w a i i ’s reefs are home to more than 40 many fish and invertebrates. They buffer the The marine crea t u r es shown in this illustration Inside all reef-building coral lives a tiny, single-celled can overgr ow and harm native species, water or crea t u r es should go into strea m s , species of reef-building coral and more than islands from storms and create the break for ar e but a fraction of the more than 5,000 species alga called zooxanthellae. In a mutually cooperative hitched a ride here from faraway ports on st o r m drains or the ocean. Flush water down 5,000 marine species. One in four of Hawaii’s our famous waves. that inhabit Hawaii waters. One in four of Hawaii a g reement that meets both cre a t u res’ needs, the algae boat hulls or in ballast water. That’s also how a toilet and bury the res t . reef plants and animals are found nowhere A majority of island residents spend time marine species are found nowhere else in the photosynthesizes its own food from the sun’s energy and they get from one place to another in-state. >> Do n ’ t leave fishing equipment in the ocean. else in the world. on Hawaii’s reefs, beaches and nearshore wa- world. The animals here were selected as has enough left over to nourish the coral animal. Cleaning boating equipment (including Abandoned fishing lines and nets can The most pristine reefs are in the uninhab- ters, according to a survey by the Hawaii rep r esentative of those that casual divers and Though coral has “no organs — no heart, no liver, no anchors, chains and ladders) and dive gear entangle and kill marine mammals, sea ited and protected Nort h w e s t e rn Hawaiian Coral Reef Initiative Research Prog r a m . snorkelers in the main Hawaiian Islands are brain, no lungs,” Hunter said. “It has survived hundred s keeps the damage from spreading. Be sure to tu r tles and fish. These “ghost Islands. The decline of reef ecosystems in the S u rvey respondents from 1,600 house- likely to see. of millions of years with the simplest of body forms . ” dispose of what you clean off in a rubbish bin. nets” and debris main Hawaiian Islands shows clearly that, as holds said they are worried about the in- Yet, despite its simplicity, coral is an astonishing >> Do observe fishing regulations. Take only can also damage in the rainforest, the biggest threat to the c reasing pre s s u re on beach and reef are a s 4. Gr een sea turtl e ti m e - k e e p e r . what you need; comply with rules about coral ree f s . coral ree f ’s delicate web of life is — humans. f rom development, pollution and overf i s h- Honu / Chelonia mydas For example, at 9:15 p.m., two to four days after a when and where to fish; and obey the size Scientific re s e a rch conducted in Hawaii ing. Some mentioned that Hawaii would be 5. Convict tang new moon in summer, the rice coral in the Wai k i k i limits. The rules are designed to allow has made clear that: just like the mainland if it weren ’ t for the ree f Manini / Acanthurus triostegus Aquarium spawn. As recently as the 1980s, “no one fish to rep ro d u c e .

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