by Abraham “Snake” Ah Hee rides waves when the surf is up and dives for octopus and shells when the water is calm. The lifelong resident of Lahaina, Hawaii, spends so much time in the ocean that his wife jokes that he has to wet his gills.
But these days Ah Hee worries that the water facing her hometown of Maui may not be safe after the deadliest wildfire in the US in a century scorched more than 2,000 buildings in August and left behind a pile of toxic waste. He is concerned that runoff could carry contaminants into the ocean where they could enter the coral, seaweed and food chain.
“Now with all these things happening, you don’t know if the fish are good to eat,” Ah Hee said.
Scientists say there has never been another case of a large urban fire burning near a coral reef anywhere in the world and are using the Maui wildfire as an opportunity to study how chemicals and metals are formed from burnt plastics, lead paint and lithium-ion batteries. sensitive reef ecosystems may be affected.
The research, which is already underway in the waters off Maui, could help inform residents, tourists and tropical coastal communities around the world about how climate change increases the likelihood of such extreme weather events. which fueled the wildfire.
A bill before the state House would add long-term funding for water quality monitoring in hopes of providing answers to residents whose lives are closely tied to the ocean.
For now, state officials are urging the public to limit exposure to the ocean and seafood until scientists understand what may be making its way through the food chain.
“I know a lot of people usually ask, ‘Is the water safe? can we go out Is it safe to make fish and eat the fish?” said Russell Sparks, Maui aquatic biologist at the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. “We just want to reinforce the message that we know it’s frustrating, but if people can be patient. We’ve never come across anything like this.”
Coral reefs are sometimes called the “rainforests of the sea” because they are so vital to healthy oceans. They consist of stony corals, which are hard skeletons formed by thousands of individual coral polyps that feed symbiotically on algae. Fish, crabs and other species find refuge among them. Scientists say a quarter of the ocean’s fish depend on healthy coral reefs, which protect coastal communities from powerful waves during storms.
One of Hawaii’s oldest stories, the centuries-old chant known as The Kumulipo, illustrates the central role of coral in the island chain. He says that a coral polyp was the first living thing to emerge from the darkness of creation. Starfish, worms, sea cucumber and other species followed. People who came last.
“So the first life form is a coral polyp. That is your foundation. Corals are the foundation of life,” said Ekolu Lindsey, a Lahaina community advocate who has long pushed to restore coral reefs, fishing and traditions in his hometown.
Lahaina’s coral reefs faced challenges even before the fire, including overfishing, abuse from kayak and stand-up paddleboard tours, warm ocean temperatures and sediment flows from fallow fields and construction sites, Lindsey said.
Much of the offshore coral in the burn zone was already degraded by August, Sparks said, but there were some nice patches of reef, like an area north of Lahaina Bay toward Mala Wharf.
Sea Maui, a whale watching and snorkeling tour company, has often taken snorkelers to Mala Wharf’s reefs in the past, where they would often spot turtles and sometimes monk seals. Now, the company’s boats avoid the reef because of concerns about runoff and out of respect for the town, said Phil LeBlanc, partner and chief operating officer.
“We don’t have the disaster tourism,” said LeBlanc, who runs tours south to Olowalu or north to Honolua Bay.
Researchers at the University of Hawaii at Manoa received a $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to test the water soon after the fire.
In October, they deployed 20 sensors from West Maui that measure temperature, salinity, oxygen, turbidity and chlorophyll every five minutes. They have six sensors that measure where water is flowing for clues about where contaminants might travel and accumulate, said Andrea Kealoha, a Manoa and Maui native professor who is leading the research project.
The Hui O Ka Wai Ola citizen science group collects additional samples, including after heavy rain events.
Researchers are taking tissue fragments from fish, seaweed and coral for signs of heavy metals and contaminants from burnt wood, metals and plastics.
Their grant covers work until August. So far they don’t have enough data to draw conclusions but they aim to release some results within a month.
Kealoha suspects that scientists could detect pollutants that collect in plants and animals over the next two to five years. Degraded reefs and lower water quality could develop over the same time frame and she is pushing for a long-term monitoring plan that could be supported with state funds, she said.
The wildfire’s effects may also extend beyond Maui, as scientists believe currents carry water from Lahaina’s waters to nearby Lanai and Molokai.
“Fish you collect to eat from reefs on Molokai may contain compounds that have washed into the water from the rain in Lahaina and been carried by ocean currents across the channel and onto the reefs of neighboring islands,” Eric said. Conklin, Mr. Young. Nature Conservancy director of marine science for Hawaii and Palmyra.
Authorities trying to limit harmful runoff. The US Army Corps of Engineers is removing rubble and ash. The US Environmental Protection Agency applied a soil stabilizer to prevent ash and dust from dispersing. Maui County officials placed protective barriers along storm drains and coastal roads to prevent debris.
Lindsey, the community advocate, lost his house in the fire. Immediately after the fire, he was more focused on where he would live and the welfare of his family than on the reef. But he also noticed that the environment shapes his spiritual, mental and physical health.
He recalled that turtles, seals and hundreds of crab marks on the beach in front of the remains of his house inspired him to go surfing two months after the fire. Heavy rains in January, and not knowing the run-off, kept him out of the water ever since. But he still believes in nature’s ability to heal.
“When you see resources back like I did, it fills your heart,” Lindsey said. “Wow, we’ve made a big mess of this place and if we leave it alone, nature will sort itself out.”
