Free webinar ‘Global Coastal Water Data Dashboard: A New Tool for Maui’s Community’ hosted by MNMRC on Dec. 4

The Maui Nui Marine Resource Council will host the December edition of its “Know Your Ocean Speaker Series” featuring Caesar Hjertén of Aqualink and Liz Yannell of Hui O Ka Wai Ola on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 5:30 p.m. via Zoom.

Earlier this year, the two organizations collaborated to incorporate water quality data from local beaches into Aqualink’s global platform. In this webinar, Hjertén and Yannell will share more about the heat stress, wind, and wave information available to the public as well as additional data from HOKWO on salinity, pH, turbidity (water cloudiness/murkiness), and nitrate levels (a wastewater and/or fertilizer indicator) at locations across Maui.

“Aqualink was born to help monitor our ocean’s major challenge with increasing heat stress,” said Hjertén. “In my presentation, I’ll discuss how elevated temperatures are affecting our reefs, along with the critical data and tools we’ve helped make accessible to empower communities to address these issues.”

“Being able to offer Hui data alongside Aqualink’s metrics is an exciting thing for our community,” said Yannell. “Not only can we see what is going on in reefs around the world and what is trending globally, but we can also compare that to conditions at our local beaches. What makes this collaboration even more special is the fact that Hui data is only available for Maui locations in the Aqualink system, giving us an even more robust idea of how our reefs are doing.”

Both organizations hope the data provided through this new tool will empower the community to make informed decisions and take the action needed to protect water and marine life in their area. In addition to key oceanographic data, Aqualink also offers live streams of selected locations around the world, including one in Keāhole, Hawaiʻi.

“Our goal is to make it easier for individuals to know what is going on in the waters that are most important to them,” said Hjertén. “If more people have access to the data, they are more likely to get involved with stewardship work and are better equipped to advocate for the needs of their communities.”

Registration for the talk is free and can be completed at https://bit.ly/KYOALHUI24.