Kahalu‘u Bay on Hawai‘i’s West Coast Recognized as a Mission Blue Hope Spot
May 26, 2022
Featured image (c) Bo Pardau
KONA, HAWAI‘I (May 26th, 2022)
On the west coast of the island of Hawai‘i is Kahalu‘u Bay, also known as ‘āina lei ali‘i, lands that adorn the chiefs. It is a wahi pana, a sacred, celebrated, and storied place abundant with cultural and ecological treasures.
Cindi Punihaole, director of The Kohala Center’s Kahalu‘u Bay Education Center (TKC-KBEC) and Dr. Christine Zalewski, president of Dear Ocean, are working to preserve Kahalu‘u Bay for generations to come. Punihaole describes how her native Hawaiian upbringing shapes her perspective and approach to conservation at Kahalu‘u Bay. “We were taught that taking care of the ʻāina, the land and sea, is your survival. It’s second nature for me to look at what gives us life.”
International marine conservation nonprofit Mission Blue has named Kahalu‘u Bay a Hope Spot and Punihaole and Zalewski as the Hope Spot Champions. Kahalu‘u is the 141st Hope Spot worldwide and the second Hope Spot in the state of Hawai‘i.
Dr. Sylvia Earle, Founder of Mission Blue, says, “Kahalu‘u Bay serves as a model for other smaller bays around the world and shows how they too can harness the deep relationships between people and the environment to protect these cherished places. [the] Bay has become a beacon of hope and a source of inspiration for the community.”
Kahalu‘u translates to “diving place” in English and is distinguished by its clear, shallow waters and diverse marine life. Kahalu‘u Bay has supported the community for centuries, providing food for local residents and serving as a sacred link to ancestral heritage. More recently, the bay has also served as a snorkeling destination for visitors from all over the world as they come to experience its rich natural and cultural resources.
The bay and its surrounding waters are home to several endangered and threatened species, such as ʻIlio holo i ka uaua (Hawaiian monk seals), Koholā (humpback whales), Honu (green turtles) and Honu‘ea (hawksbill turtles). It is also a critical habitat for hundreds of fish and invertebrate species, of which approximately a quarter are endemic, meaning they can be found nowhere else in the world. Juvenile fish utilize the calm shallow waters of Kahalu‘u Bay to mature, often overflowing and feeding the larger connectivity corridor along the Kona Coast.
However, the safe and shallow nature of Kahalu‘u Bay is a bit of a double-edged sword. Over the last several decades, the natural and cultural resources of the park have been degraded by an increase in several chronic stressors including impact from more than 400,000 beachgoers each year, poor water quality from nearby cesspools, increased runoff from development, coastal damage from rising sea levels, and climate change.
Punihaole and Zalewski have seen Kahalu‘u change over the years, and both of their organizations aim to reverse the damage brought upon the bay through these anthropogenic stressors.
Zalewski remembers the thriving Kahalu‘u Bay reef of 30 years ago, when there were far fewer stressors from development and visitors. “We need to be cognizant of ‘shifting baseline syndrome’, in which perceived accepted norms for an environment gradually change over time, causing the previous state to become forgotten.” She continues, “Today, when younger people go into the bay, they still see beautiful tropical fish and coral, but they don’t have a reference point to understand how much the bay has changed from what it once was. We hope to help restore the bay back to that state as much as possible for future generations.”
Similarly, Punihaole describes how her native Hawaiian upbringing shapes her perspective and approach to conservation. “We were taught by my elders the importance of taking care of a place, for the land gives us life”, she says. “I left for the mainland after graduating from high school. Upon my return, I was saddened as I observed so much of what I took for granted had begun to disappear including our abundant coral reefs. I felt the need to do something.”
Punihaole says that to effectively address the anthropogenic issues and restore the bay to its previous condition, people must engage with the bay with more awareness, care, and respect. She explains, “The ecosystem is at a tipping point and requires ongoing, effective management from the ground-up.”
Great strides have already been taken toward protecting this fragile and important ecosystem through multiple partnerships with community members, for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, and local government. Through the strong relationships built over time by Cindi Punihaole, along with the rest of TKC-KBEC and Dear Ocean, Kahalu‘u Bay has become a symbol of hope and inspiration for the community.
In an innovative public-private partnership intended to provide consistent, long-term preservation, TKC-KBEC operates at the bay in agreement with the County of Hawai‘i to provide daily stewardship and management. An example of this cooperative preservation effort is an annual temporary closure of the Beach Park in mid-May when cauliflower corals in Kahalu‘u Bay spawn. This year’s spawning has recently concluded, bringing with it the hope of a new generation of this ecologically important coral species.
For more than 15 years, Punihaole and her dedicated team of community ReefTeach volunteers have worked tirelessly to protect the bay through long-term ecological monitoring and daily educational programs aimed to inform visitors on how best to preserve the world’s marine treasures.TKC-KBEC and Dear Ocean hope that Kahalu‘u Bay will serve as a model for other small bays around the world. The designation of Kahalu‘u Bay as a Hope Spot demonstrates how smaller bays can integrate networks powered by modern technology with traditional knowledge to care for these places.
Zalewski says, “Our work at Kahaluʻu Bay fully aligns with Mission Blue’s views on empowering local communities, and we hope to prove that even geographically small bays can create profoundly large, global impact.” Punihaole expands on this idea, “It’s our hope for Kahaluʻu Bay to be a model for other bays, communities, and grass-roots organizations around the world to integrate local government, scientists, and citizens working together to create change.” She elaborates, “The land, the sea, the air, and the people are all connected. It’s this connectedness that extends the size of Kahaluʻu Bay far beyond its physical boundaries.”
About Kahalu‘u Bay Education Center
Kahaluʻu Bay Education Center (KBEC), a program of The Kohala Center (TKC), was established in 2007 to promote reef-friendly practices to visitors in an effort to protect Kahaluʻu Bay’s fragile ecosystem through education, research, and advocacy. The staff and volunteers at TKC-KBEC work every day to protect marine life in Kahaluʻu Bay.
TKC-KBEC works with local and state governments, NGO’s, and businesses, Hawaiʻi Island residents, scientists, and visitors from around the world to integrate ancestral knowledge with Western science to foster sustainable practices at the bay.
Kahalu‘u Bay Education Center Facebook
Kahalu‘u Bay Education Center Instagram
About Dear Ocean
Dear Ocean is a 501(c)3 designed to promote and support ocean conservation by raising awareness and appreciation of the marine environment and to serve as a catalyst for multidisciplinary collaboration in ocean-related sustainability efforts. Members of Dear Ocean strive to address the challenging and complex issues facing the world’s beautiful seas, recognizing that working together is essential to achieve the common goal of conserving the marine environment.
To learn more about the work being done at Kahalu‘u Bay, how to minimize your impact when visiting reef ecosystems, or how to help the conservation efforts, please visit any of the following pages:
Dear Ocean Pinterest
