Researchers are try to Determine where Hanauma Bay is being Damaged by Tourism

Researchers with the University of Hawaii’s Hawaii Institute for Marine Biology say they’re now beginning to document the impacts that the bay’s 3,500 daily visitors are having on its coral system. This study is long overdue as it has taken 18 years to get done.

Lisa Bishop, president of the Friends of Hanauma Bay said, “It’s time we take a look and see what kind of impact visitors are having on Hanauma Bay. If the carrying capacity study comes out and says Hanauma Bay can handle 25,000 people a day at least we have science to support that. If it comes out and says we should be sticking more to 3,000 or 4,000 people a day, then we have science to back that up as well."

Hanauma Bay is joining the Kilauea Volcano to become the beacons for those of us that want the State and County governments to take a look at how tourism is impacting the environment. This is becoming more and more of an issue as just the shear volume of people visiting the land damages it despite the precautions that are taken.

A prime example is the areas on Kauai that were made inaccessible during the floods. People reported that the fish population returned immediately. Much faster than people thought just be not having hoards of people in the water.