What are conditions like at Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve, which has been shuttered since mid-March due to COVID-19 restrictions?

The biggest change is the noticeable improvement in the water quality. … With no swimmers or snorkelers causing artificial sediment resuspension and sedimentation, the clarity has improved significantly. This has provided the opportunity for corals on the reef flats to once again begin thriving and growing instead of declining and dying, aided further by the lack of people walking on the reef and destroying or damaging them. Also, there is no chemical sunscreen haze on the water for the first time in over 40 years. You can’t taste it or smell it in the air anymore.

Researchers from the Hawaiian Institute for Marine Biology’s Coral Reef Ecology Lab are seeing more and larger fish, and the fish seem to be approaching closer to the researchers, indicating their feeding behaviors are no longer being interrupted by the thousands of visitors a day. …

In addition to being designated as the state’s first Marine Life Conservation District (MLCD) in 1967, Hanauma Bay is also one of Hawaii’s 12 class AA marine embayments under the U.S. Clean Water Act. Seven months into this unprecedented closure, the bay is moving noticeably closer to becoming a pristine MLCD and class AA waters.

I am personally surprised and excited by how we can now see the bay successfully attempting to heal itself. … We must collectively shift our focus and prioritize environmental stewardship above commercial profits.

Thoughts on the City Council’s recent approval of a resolution to establish a reservation system that limits the daily count of visitors?

Friends of Hanauma Bay (FOHB) supported the resolution for many reasons: as a way to open a new pathway to best meet COVID-19 public health requirements upon reopening to the public; to reduce and more evenly distribute the numbers of visitors to help mitigate degradation of the marine environment; to improve the visitor experience by ensuring they don’t have to wait in line for long periods of time; and to get an actual count of the visitors to the bay.

Our support was strongly predicated on the resolution’s language urging the city administration to work with a number of key stakeholders in the establishment and implementation of a reservation system. Hawaii residents have felt unwelcome at Hanauma Bay for years, so it is important for them to have access to a reservations that are equal or greater than that available to visitors.

… We believe there should be a cap of 1,000 visitors a day at Hanauma Bay for environmental reasons. Also, the Visitors’ Center at the Nature Preserve should be redesigned to meet new public health guidelines that will be with us for the foreseeable future.

On Wednesday, the City Council passed Bill 44, which imposes higher nonresident entrance and vehicle parking fees. Thoughts?

We support Bill 44 as a matter of principle, and because about 90% of visitors to Hanauma Bay are nonresidents. The preserve is not funded by tax dollars. It depends on revenue from nonresident entrance fees, parking fees, and revenues from the four commercial companies that have been awarded contracts to operate on preserve property. These revenue streams were cut off abruptly with the onset of the pandemic, so it’s an appropriate time to recalibrate the nonresident fee structure before Hawaii reopens to tourism.

Further, the beginning of a natural resurgence of Hanauma Bay during its closure affords a remarkable opportunity to start a landmark coral restoration program at the bay, which should logically be paid for by the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve Fund. …

What portion of revenues should be reserved for Hanauma Bay’s maintenance and upgrades?

In 2004, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court ruled that money earned at Hanauma Bay can only be spent at Hanauma Bay, so it is illegal to redirect proceeds from Hanauma Bay to other city sites, including parks or other projects. In fact, because city administrations for years have not complied with this ruling, Friends of Hanauma Bay advocated for an ongoing long-term audit of the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve Fund to rectify this discrepancy and prevent recurrence.

As FOHB marks its 30th anniversary this year, what are the nonprofit’s priorities?

We’re dedicated to conservation of coastal and marine environments, emphasizing stewardship of natural resources of the bay. We are the official adopting agency for Hanauma Bay, conducting quarterly cleanups of the preserve and serving as the primary advocate in the community for the protection, preservation and restoration.

Some of our short-term goals include ensuring the completion of the audit of the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve Fund and resolution of any discrepancies; continuing important citizen science like our coral colony temporal texture study; and re-starting cleanups when the bay reopens to the public.

THE BIO FILE

>> Title: Friends of Hanauma Bay, president; joined FOHB as a volunteer docent six years ago.

>> Personal: Born in Louisiana, spent early years in Peru and Brazil; family settled in Illinois, where she graduated from college before joining the U.S. Navy. Celebrated 29th wedding anniversary with husband Ralph this year “and feel so blessed to be living here.”

>> Education: Bachelor of science in biophysical geography, University of Illinois Champagne-Urbana; master’s degree in telecommunications systems management, Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.

>> One more thing: Sending a special aloha to kumu hula Shirley Recca and hula sisters in Halau Hula ‘O Namakahulali: “I deeply cherish their guidance, friendship and laughter. Especially their laughter!”