Hawaii Considers Banning Sunscreens on Coral Reefs

There's a move afoot in Hawaii state government to ban common types of sunscreens from ocean environments because research is showing this is a contributing factor to the death of corals.

in a recent article by CBS News experts warn that a UV filtering ingredient ozybenzone is the main culprit. This agent has a powerful effect and even at incredibly minute dilution rates. Just an ounce of this chemical in volume the size of a swimming pool can have consequences.

If Hawaii lawmakers pass a bill banning the use of these sunscreens it will be the first state to do so. There alternatives to using products containing oxybenzone; primarily ones that contain titanium or Inc, these are safe. 

My Take:

It's about time the Hawaii state government steps up to the plate on this issue. This is just one of many areas of conservation that direly needs to be addressed in Hawaii. There are other coral reef areas in the world that have had sunscreen bans in effect for decades. I remember stepping on to a snorkel excursion in Xcaret in Mexico many years ago. The staff were actually searching your belongings for sunscreens as they weren't even allowed on the boat. And this was Mexico.  

What with the myriad other impacts on corals like bleaching and rising sea water temperatures, any efforts we can take on a local effort is important. 

Why Places Like the Forests of Kahuku are Important

The Kahuku tract of Volcanoes National Park was established a little over a decade ago and continues as a very special place of solitude for me. 

The atmosphere usually consists of mist and mystery - as if the forest has deep secrets that are hard to find. 

Perhaps the answers are in the presence of rare forest birds like the Akepa or the Akiapolaau.

I have found the Akepa only once on the Big Island in the Hakalau National Wildlife Refuge on the eastern edge of Mauna Kea. Although this species is possibly in few numbers in the upper reaches of the Kahuku, I've never seen it. 

Nevertheless, places like Kahuku (the land of which was purchased years ago by The Nature Conservancy), are super important for the protection it offers to endangered endemic plant and animal life. 

Still because of changes in outside disease influences like the Rapid Ohia Death problem that has plagued thousands of acres of island trees of recent, the efforts to protect what is here is intricate and demanding. 

For more information on Kahuku please visit the link on the National Park website.