Science
Biological Activities in and around the Pūpūkea MLCD
Public Park: The park along the immediate shoreline is under the jurisdiction of the City and County of Honolulu.
Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary: The National Oceanic Service manages the sanctuary, which is a seasonal home to an estimated 4000 to 5000 humpback whales. Here, the whales breed, calve, and nurse their young; this is the only place in the U.S. that these whales reproduce. The Sanctuary includes waters off Maui, the north shore of Kauai, the north and south shores of Oahu, and the Kohola coast of the Big Island.
State Department of Health: The D.O.H., through its Clean Water Branch and Environmental Planning Office, posts three kinds of water quality warnings: Brown-Water advisories related to storm runoff, High Indicator Bacterial Advisories, and Sewage Spills. The latest D.O.H water quality test was taken from Kalualoa, Sharks Cove, on January 5 2006.
U.S. Geological Survey’s Pūpūkea Road Rain Gage: Daily samples are taken from the Pūpūkea rain gage located 1,060 feet above mean ocean level.
U.S. Geological Survey’s Kamananui (Waimea) Rain Gage: Daily samples are taken from an elevation of 720 feet above mean ocean level.
Hawaii Coral Reef Initiative (Research Program): Principal analysis has been done on the effectiveness of Marine Managed Areas and MLCD zones. Results from the Pūpūkea MLCD appears to have shown little or no change and no increase in fish.
Federal Environmental Protection Agency: The EPA has a program called Beach Watch, and Hawaii is one of the states receiving funds for environmental monitoring. Periodic testing is done at major beach sites. The most recent water-quality tests conducted in or near the Pūpūkea MLCD were taken on January 10, 2006. This information is found online at “BEACON”—Beach Advisory and Closing Online Notification.
Surfrider Foundation/Rashguard.org: Rashguard is an organization which conducts testing or receives results from samples collected. The last Rashguard tests taken in or around the Pūpūkea MLCD were taken on December 29, 2005, at Waimea Bay.
University of Hawaii, Botany Department: Currently there is an ongoing study (conducted by Koa Shultz) of a rare Limu in the Pūpūkea MLCD. The Hawaiian name is not known at this point, but the scientific name for the species is Peleophycus. Current research has shown that the Limu can be found only in the springtime, but it cannot be found every spring. It is unknown if the plant alternates or grows only under certain conditions. Research is ongoing.
NOAA/NOS/NCCOS/CCMA, Pūpūkea MLCD Study: A recent statewide study of MLCDs titled “Fish Habitat Utilization Patterns and Evaluation of the Efficacy of Marine Protected Areas in Hawai‘i” was conducted by Friedlander, Brown, Monaco, and Clark. The final report was dated November 14, 2005. This was a statewide study covering eleven MLCDs.
Results showed that in the Pūpūkea MLCD, overall fish weight was four times higher in the MLCD compared to the outside areas open to fishing. Of the eleven MLCDs tested, Pūpūkea fell somewhere around the middle in relation to fish weight and reef life. Fish weight outside the MLCD was considered low (likely due to overfishing).
Major fish found in the MLCD were maikoiko, maiii, naenae and umaumalei. No major apex fish such as ulua, or ‘omilu were found. Outside the MLCD, Hinalea lauwili and maiii were common. Coral cover was 10%. Macroalgae was found to be low inside the MLCD but higher outside.
MPAs in Hawai'i
(1.62MB PDF document)
Environmental Assessment for Proposed Shark’s Cove Mall (Sept. 2004)
(4.91MB PDF document)
Basic Coral Reef Ecology
(35KB PDF document)
Marine Protected Areas in Hawaii
Distributed March 9, 2005. Downloadable in two parts:
Part 1: Main document
(12.9MB PDF document)
Part 2: Center-spread map
(2.2MB PDF document)
University of Hawaii Coral Reef Assessment & Monitoring Program Study