Friday morning began by meeting with Kerry Irish to discuss the design of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument.  On June 15th, 2006, President Bush designated an area 1200 statute miles long by 100 nautical miles wide as a protected monument by power of the Antiquities Act of 1906.  This area houses about 7,000 species, a quarter of which are endemic to Hawaii.  There has never before been an aquatic monument established under this act, so Kerry is working to determine how exactly to manage this monument.  The Antiquities Act's lack of defined guidelines has presented Kerry with 'A real opportunity to make a difference' during the design of this monument.  Previously, the area had been listed as a sanctuary by President Clinton, but President Bush's move to make the area a monument offers much greater legal protection.  Currently, the State of Hawaii, the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Commerce serve as co-trustees of this magnificent marine monument.   

 Despite the absolute protection now offered to this vast area of coral reefs and the marine life inhabiting it, there is much controversy surrounding the monument itself.  Native Hawaiians, fishermen, the scientific community, lawyers, and the public all have differing and diverse opinions about the establishment and usefulness of this monument.  This has caused much frustration in the community as progress has been made through the natural growing pains of the design process.  It was a unique experience and absolutely fascinating to listen to Kerry talk as she walked us through the various issues that must be dealt with during the design process.  Also, the amount of governmental red-tape that must be navigated to implement procedures for protection blew me away, and the task Kerry faces appears to be truly monumental.  

 After talking with Kerry, we hopped in our beloved econovan, and moved onto our next exotic locale, Hanauma Bay. Hanauma Bay is a remarkable example of marine conservation in action.  As recently as 1988, an estimated 10,000 people visited the bay a day.  This number is mind-boggling after seeing the small size of the beach and bay.  Luckily, restrictive measures were employed during the 1990's, and now only around 3,000 people are allowed daily.   Just imagine 10,000 people on this beach, and also look at the stream of people entering the bay as viewed from the reef:

 Upon entering the park, we were required to listen to a brief orientation followed by an educational video.  This orientation is designed to educate visitors to the delicate nature of this amazing reef ecosystem, teaching tourists safe and environmentally friendly snorkeling practices.  After entering the beach, we immediately witnessed many individuals standing on the reef, an action that was specifically deemed as harmful during the orientation.  There wasn't much we could do, so we found a nice spot to settle, and geared-up to go for a snorkel.  

 Now, Emily was excited to go on another sea turtle hunt, but I think I was equally excited to try out my new underwater casing for my digital camera.   Amy, Emily and myself buddied up and headed in.  After about 5 minutes we spotted our first Honu (green sea turtle).

Emily was PSYCHED, but like a good ecotourist, she withheld the urge to dive down and hug the turtles.  As we continued our snorkel, we saw a variety of reef life, here are some pictures of just a few of the fish we saw:  

  Unfortunately, our Hanauma Bay experience had to come to an end, but I think it is safe to say that everyone enjoyed a wonderful day of snorkeling which just so happened to occur on the most beautiful day we experienced on our trip.  To end a great day, Dave Johnston and Kerry Irish had us over for a dinner of Ahi, Opa, Mahi-Mahi, and veggie burgers, a fabulous night to help wind down a remarkable trip.  Sadly, no Spam was served as Costco only sold six-packs. 

-Andrew