Navy seeks state’s OK to import dolphins
The state Board of Agriculture will consider a request by the Navy to allow the importation of bottlenose dolphins for scientific research by its controversial Marine Mammal Program.
The request will be taken up at the board’s Tuesday meeting at the Department of Agriculture’s Plant Quarantine Branch.
The Marine Mammal Program trains bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions to detect and mark sea mines and other potentially dangerous objects in the ocean.
Animal rights activists have objected to the Navy’s use of the animals for such potentially dangerous missions. Some have also speculated that the animals are also used for offensive military action, like delivering explosives to targets.
However, an entry on the Marine Mammal Program’s official website states, "The Navy does not now train, nor has it ever trained, its marine mammals to harm or injure humans in any fashion or to carry weapons to destroy ships. A popular movie in 1973 ("The Day of the Dolphin") and a number of charges and claims by animal rights organizations have resulted in theories and sometimes actual beliefs that Navy dolphins are assigned attack missions. This is absolutely false."
The site says dolphins cannot tell the difference between enemy and friendly vessels, divers and swimmers.
Fungus targeted as likely cause of ohia deaths
HILO » Hawaii scientists say a fungal pathogen may be responsible for recent die-offs of ohia trees.
The Hawaii Tribune Herald reports scientists are taking a close look at a fungal pathogen called Ceratocystis, which has previously been found in Hawaii on taro and Okinawan sweet potato, as the cause of rapid ohia death over the past five years.
University of Hawaii extension forester J.B. Friday says a tree with the disease can go from green to yellow to dead in two weeks.
Research plant pathologist Lisa Keith of the Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center performed experiments with the fungus, including inoculating ohia seedlings with the pathogen.
She says much remains to be discovered, such as how it spreads and why it kills some trees and not others.
Kauai planning to fill isle’s open lifeguard posts
Kauai County plans to hire more lifeguards.
Currently there are about 40 lifeguards on the island, the Garden Island newspaper reports.
"The Ocean Safety Bureau is looking to expand and improve our service to the community by fully staffing our division," bureau Supervisor Kalani Vierra said in a news release. "We currently have vacancies for lifeguard positions and we are actively hiring qualified applicants to join our Ocean Safety team. Now is the time for interested individuals to apply."
Randy Ortiz, the Kauai Fire Department’s ocean safety training captain, said applicants must be able to pass a test consisting of a variety of swim and rescue exercises. But most of the job, he said, is prevention: warning people away from danger.
