#coral bleaching

A team of fishers and marine resource advocates are working to overhaul reef fishing rules — but they say it needs to come with tougher penalties.

The Nature Conservancy first purchased statewide coral reef insurance in 2022. The new policy doubles the area covered – as well as the minimum payout following a damaging hurricane or tropical storm.

New research led by the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research shows that, when coral bleaching occurs, corals release unique organic compounds that promote bacterial growth and bacteria that may further stress reefs and put them at greater risk for more damage.

Fish Pono- Save our Reefs, a local public education campaign, aims to raise awareness on replenishing herbivore fish populations for healthy coral reefs.

Scientists from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa have developed a strategy using a hedging approach to choose key coral species for future reef restoration.

The 939-acre Olowalu reef has been identified as one of the most essential reefs to protect on the island of Maui, but issues from both the land and sea threaten this vital reef system. Learn more about this ecosystem and the efforts to protect it in a free webinar, “The Vision for Olowalu-Ukumehame-Papalaua,” on Nov. 2 at 5:30 p.m.

A study led by University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa student researchers revealed that exposing rice coral larvae to warmer temperatures did not improve survival once the coral developed into juveniles and were exposed to heat stress. 

A coalition of 60 community leaders, conservation organizations, businesses, elected officials and academics has petitioned the federal government to ban three chemicals from sunscreens and other personal care products. The petition cites scientific studies on the dangers to Hawai‘i’s coral reefs and coastal ecosystems posed by oxybenzone, octinoxate and octocrylene.

Hāpuna Beach State Park was awarded the number one spot for the best beaches in America.

A pioneering smart buoy and mooring system to collect realtime data was installed at Mala Reef by the Kohola Film Project as part of a global initiative launched by Aqualink to preserve coral reefs.

Ali Miller, a marine naturalist and UH Maui College student before the COVID-19 pandemic, was featured in the Mares Scuba Diving blog. Miller was featured for her children’s book “How Cara Lost Her Color,” the book highlights the impacts of climate change on the mass bleaching of coral reefs globally. 

Following the latest mass coral bleaching event in Hawaiian waters last fall, the Department of Land and Natural Resources is now using an equipment rich, aerial platform to map and access the health of reefs along the more than 700 miles of shoreline in the Main Hawaiian Islands.

An extensive coral bleaching event that has been impacting reefs across of Hawaiʻi did not cause as much damage as experts anticipated it would.

The Center reports that “Cauliflower coral coverage around Hawaiʻi declined by 36 percent from 1999 to 2012, and current conditions are expected to worsen that decline.”

A team from the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources conducted a rapid assessment of coral health at Molokini and along Maui’s south shore from Mākena to Māʻalaea.

Hawai’i’s coral reefs will be entering a major bleaching event within the next two months, if not sooner, the Department of Land and Natural Resources warns. DLNR administrator Brian Neilson said the bleaching is “probably going to be worse than the ones we experienced four and five years ago.”

A small team from the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources carefully ‘planted’ extremely rare, endemic Porites duerdeni coral onto a reef in Kaneohe Bay just off Coconut Island.

A new report released by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine stated, while the management of local and regional stressors threatening coral reefs is critical, these efforts on their own will not be enough in the face of global climate change.

Cauliflower corals have declined significantly, including a 36% drop in coverage across Hawaiʻi from 1999 to 2012.

The Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the US Food and Drug Administration today to ban two  chemicals from sunscreens and other personal care products that they say are killing precious coral and damaging reefs.