A Research Study About Maunalua Bay

In Hawaii the marine life has been affected because of many tourist. Ever since tourist have came to hawaii the ocean has become very dangerous to the sea creatures in it. They have negatively affected the ocean in many ways such as polluting the ocean by throwing their plastics, and even oil spills that is occurring in areas from them.

Coral bleaching is normally characterized by the expulsion of the zooxanthellae algae, loss of algal pigmentation, or both. Coral bleaching events have had serious effects on corals and reefs worldwide. What is crucial to the understanding of zooxanthellae expulsion and bleaching is how the density of zooxanthellae within the coral is changing, if at all, under the prevailing range of environmental conditions (Gates and Edmunds, 1999). Over the last twenty years, there has been a dramatic increase in both the frequency and intensity of coral bleaching events. Sixty major bleaching events have been reported between 1960 and 1979, whereas only nine were reported prior to 1979 (Huppert and Stone, 1998). Given the dependence of the coral on this symbiotic algae, it is important to determine the cause of these bleaching events. According to Helvarg (2000, p.12):

I have been interested in marine sciences since I was a child. I grew up in and around the water. Being a resident of South Florida, and an avid boater, I have seen the degradation of the Florida reef system. I was fortunate enough that my parents were able to purchase a house in Key Largo when I was just 6 years old. I quickly got familiar with the surrounding ocean. My favorite place to go diving was a protected reef about 3 miles offshore called Molasses Reef. Since there is no fishing, lobstering, or even anchoring on this reef, the protected area has not changed much since I was a kid. Yet, one can start seeing changing not too far away for this tropical reef oasis. This part of the reef is unprotected and has changed drastically over

Teens all around Hawai’i are very very passionate about Mauna Kea because it has long lasting history as the biggest mountain and is sacerd to hawaiian’s and they want to protect it from change. Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano on the island of Hawai’i, it has the highest point in the State of Hawai’i, as well as being the tallest mountain in the world when measured from base to summit. I am a 15 year old Sophomore at Konawaena High School.

Hawaii is surrounded by crystal clear and refreshing water. There are many types of marine life that are swimming around in the beautiful waters of Hawaii, such as green sea turtles, humpback whales, and manta rays. Marine-related tourism is a mainstay of Hawaii's economy and is consistently cited as having the best diving destinations and top beaches in the world. Hawaii's marine realm is outstandingly rich and highly unique. Twenty-five percent of coral reef fish alone do not exist anywhere else on earth. When corals, algae, reef fish and other species are included, up to 62% of Hawaii's marine species are found solely in Hawaii.

Through the Biology 124 Lab class on the spring 2016, my classmates, professor, and I went to Maunalua Bay for initial monitoring. I had never been there, so I surprised the difference between the real bay and what I expected. The Maunalua Bay is cleaner and more beautiful than I expected. I thought that there are more rocks, but there are more algae and sea animals than rocks. I found Asparagopsis taxiformis, Avrainvillea amadelpha, Gracilaria salicornia, shrimp, crab, and hermit crab. There are Avrainvillea amadelpha the most. I enjoyed finding many algaes and sea animals, and counting the algaes in Maunalua Bay.

As the rocky intertidal shore is the fringe between the terrestrial zone and the marine zone, it is not uncommon to find that the elevation of the rocky shore increases as it moves inland. This is evident in Figure 1(A), as the 0m mark marks the portion of the sampling site that is in the water and just before the rocky shore and the 10m mark is the highest point of the sampling site and the closest mark to the terrestrial zone. Due to this change in elevation, three zones have been able to be identified in the intertidal zone and these help with distinguishing which animals and plants will be found along the rocky shore. The low intertidal zone and the high intertidal zone are the two zones that are the most extreme when it comes to physical factors. The low intertidal zone has to deal with constant wave action and the high intertidal zone has to deal with large expanses of exposure to air, which makes it less desirable to marine life that are unable to adapt to a more terrestrial life (Moreira, n.d.).

Fourteen water chemistry and stable isotope samples were collected from springs, streams, and wells from April to September, 2012 (Figure 3.1 and Figure 3.2). Springs and wells located near the JoFZ and CMFZ within Paliza Canyon to the east of Cañon de San Diego near Ponderosa and Jemez Pueblo, NM were targeted for sampling.

To fully analyze Spring Creek, the collected samples must be representative of the depth and width of this creek. To make sure that the width of all the samples was represented, the boat moved side to side of the entire channel of as samples of the water surface were collected. To get samples that are representative of the depth, the geologists sampled the upper 0.2 to 2.5m of the river using a three-meter long tube with a diameter of five centimeters. The shores of the Spring Creek were also sampled in order to determine if there was any deposition of heavy metals along the shores (Alpers, Taylor, Domagalski, 2000).

These measurements were taken at five different reef sites in Sarasota Bay near New Pass. Some of these sites were well known to

This particular reef is home to approximately 600 different hard and soft species of coral, 1,600 species of fish, 240 species of birds, 133 varieties of sharks and rays, and countless species of anemones, sponges, marine worms, and crustaceans (GBRMPA 2015). The reef comprises a contiguous latitudinal region between 10° S and 24° S, spans between 60 and 250 kilometers in width, and has an average depth of 35 meters, although at points reaches as far as 2,000 meters in depth (GBRMPA 2015). The average recorded temperature for the winter month’s ranges between 14° and 26° Celsius, for summer months the range is between 24° and 33° Celsius (NOAA 2015). Data was collected from ReefBase, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), ReefTemp, as well as the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA). ReefBase is a uses mapping software to monitor the health of worldwide coral reef systems, as well as the potential influencers that may affect their health. The website includes downloadable GIS data regarding sea surface temperature, coral bleaching severity, among information concerning other coral reef ailments and stressors. The map layers containing information about sea surface temperature between the years of 2003 and 2007 were

Hawaii coral reefʻs are one of the most amazing sceneries in this world, because of Hawaiiʻs crystal clear blue water; astonishing species of colorful coral and fish of every color tourist are drawn to this beautiful display. Hawaiiʻs coral reefʻs make up about 85 percent of all coral reefʻs in the united states. The coral reefʻs ecosystem is the most diverse and significant ecosystem the world has seen; there are about 4,000 species of fish that rely on coral reefʻs for support. Hawaii has one of the worldʻs most beautiful marine life ecosystem. There are about 400 native marine life species that are only found here in our coastal waters. Hawaiis coral reefs are such a special sight because you will never see anything like it anywhere else

Fiji is an Island Nation in located in the South Pacific Ocean at one corner of the Coral Triangle, which is home to the most marine biodiversity on Earth. In fact, Fiji’s world renowned, spectacular color, coral reefs entice the naked eye, while many other coral reef sites globally have degraded. The reefs of Fiji seem to remain vibrant and diverse, making them a high priority for marine conservation in the Pacific Ocean.

At mid-shore, for example, exposure is 50 percent of the time to air, and 50 percent to water. This area forms the eulittoral zone, and a greater number of species are found here than in the littoral fringe. Communities found in this zone must be tolerant of short periods of exposure to air between the tides, although they almost always require regular submersion or “at least a thorough wetting” (Tait and Dipper, 1998). Species include barnacles, mussels, and other sessile forms such as oysters (Boaden & Seed, 1985). The barnacles commonly belong to such genera as Balanus, Chthamalus, and Tetraclita. There is a strong tendency (Stephenson & Stephenson, 1972) for this zone to be further divided into two or three subzones. In lower subzones, barnacles may be obliterated or overshadowed by other sedentary forms; but in the higher eulittoral subzones barnacles are greatest in concentration, and show dominance. The eulittoral is bounded at the top end by the disappearance of barnacles in any significant quantity (Stephenson & Stephenson, 1972).

On the 9th of March, I went to Siren’s Rocks to investigate the community pattern, also called zonation, within the bounds of Island Bay’s Wellington Ecological Marine Reserve. The ecosystem of Taputeranga Marine Reserve takes the full impact of the Southern ocean swells. This Reserve is influenced by three different oceanic currents. This is an abiotic factor. The currents impact helps shape the rocky shoreline into the ecological community of different species of shore life into a pattern of different zones (zonation).