KHFMA's 3rd Birthday Bash!

The Kahekili Herbivore Fisheries Management Area’s third annual Birthday Bash celebration was held the last weekend of July at Kahekili Beach Park. Why not throw a birthday party for a Marine Managed Area?! Thanks to everyone who was part of our event, and thanks for wearing the birthday hats – it’s a tradition – even the KHFMA sign wears one.

The past two years we have held a potluck and conducted several educational and citizen science activities during the day, and this year decided we’d try to top last year’s festivities. Of course a main objective of the Birthday Bash was to raise awareness about the KHFMA and why it exists, so we wanted to make sure its themes of marine conservation and community involvement were well represented throughout all the festivities.

Through outreach stations and partygoing volunteers, beachgoers and participants had the opportunity to learn about the efforts of the Ka’anapali Makai Watch program, jointly coordinated by Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR), the Coral Reef Alliance, and Project S.E.A.-Link. The Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary outreach team was also onhand with an education station to talk to visitors and community members about their efforts. 

There were many people wearing yellow shirts – either in support of the Herbivore Enhancement Area (HEA) citizen science program coordinated by DAR, or our awesome team of Ka’anapali Makai Watch volunteers, who are out there talking to visitors, fishers, other community members, and serving as excellent “box-parents” to help get the word out about the KHFMA.

The Birthday Bash featured training on the HEA fish grazing surveys, and an in-water reef tour by DAR biologist (and Ka’anapali Makai Watch co-coordinator) Darla White, who took participants out to observe firsthand some key features of the reef at Kahekili – examples of healthy versus degraded reef, the “dead zones,” grazing herbivores, and the freshwater seeps which have been linked to the treated effluent from the Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility. Nothing takes the place of experience, and as Darla puts it, “you’ll see the reef through new eyes” after joining us in the water. 

Luna Kekoa, NOAA Coral Fellow and Ka’anapali Makai Watch co-coordinator, created and shared several interpretive displays to communicate the outcomes of the Creel fishing effort surveys conducted last year, and to convey a sense of place and provide a proper cultural context for the area. He also taught people about different types of fishing gear and their traditional usage, through interactive demonstrations. Many people had the chance to try throw-netting thanks to Luna’s instruction!

Environmental Scientist Robin Knox set up a water quality “talk story” station, and engaged volunteers and community members in dialogue on relevant water quality issues. The team also conducted some turbidity sampling together, and discussed the results. Robin wrote up a great blog post about the experience, and explained some of the technical considerations that go along with “standards” and “criteria,” as these themes can be complicated, but have serious implications. The exciting outcome from the event is that there seems to be a renewed interest in establishing a more ongoing community-based water quality  monitoring program for West Maui. Stay tuned for more on that…

The event also featured a team of divers conducting REEF’s Great Annual Fish Count, the 12^th to be held on Maui and the 21st overall! A crew from the Fish Identification Network and Maui Ocean Stewards made sure no fishes went uncounted that day.

Last but not least, one of the highlights from last year’s Birthday Bash were the manini and “phase shift” cakes and the seaurchin cupcakes made by the research team from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Their level of geeky awesomeness inspired us to develop a KHFMA-themed culinary contest for this year’s Birthday Bash. To be quite honest we had no idea how to run a culinary contest, but it sounded like a fun thing to try, that would also serve an education and outreach function. We came up with some categories  - “Hebivory/Grazing,” “KHFMA General,” “Best Use of Limu,” and “Science Geekiest,” and put the word out. We enlisted a VIP Guest Judging panel consisting of chefs from local Ka‘anapali area hotels - Chef David Roshenski from the Westin Ka‘anapali Ocean Resort, Chef Pavy Keomaniboth from the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa, and Chef Jojo Vasquez from the Banyan Tree at the Ritz Carlton Kapalua Resort; as well as professionals within the science, education and conservation community, including: Robin Knox (Water Quality Consulting, Inc. & Aquanimity Now), Dr. Mark Deakos (Hawaii Association for Marine Education and Research), Erin Iberg (Maui Ocean Center), Ka’au Abraham (Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary), Tova Callender (West Maui Ridge to Reef Initiative), and Eve Clute (West Maui Sustainability). We received donations of prizes from the Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas, the Ritz Calrton Kapalua, the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa, the Royal Lahaina, Trilogy Excursions, and Maui Sporting Goods. With all the pieces in place, we then put the word out.

What we didn’t quite expect was the 22 entries, and the amazing level of creativity that was on display! Check out the photos on the voting album that was posted on facebook; there are even more photos in the general album.

Congratulations to all the winners! Here they are below, listed by category:

KHFMA General: 1^st Place: Lindo Castro; 2^nd Place: Veronica Sylva

Herbivory/Grazing: 1^st Place: Sheila Murphy; 2^nd Place: Audrey Dack

Best Use of Limu: 1^st Place: Maria Demarest; 2^nd Place: Luna Kekoa

Science Geekiest: 1^st Place: Levi Lewis (check out his blog post here!); 2^nd Place:  Eve Clute

Most Creative: 1^st Place: Judy Lauridson; 2^nd Place: Sheila Murphy

Best Overall (including Judging Panel, community participants, and facebook voters): Maria Demarest; runner up - Linda Castro

So again, MAHALO to all of those who came out in support of the Kahekili Herbivore Fisheries Management Area, and made our 3^rd Birthday Bash a fun success! We also want to acknowlegde our amazing team of outreach volunteers who help spread the word about the KHFMA all the time, and those who are helping with the monitoring efforts as citizen scientists. You all know who you are, and you all are awesome and inspirational!!

We have a year ahead of us to figure out what to do for the 4^th Birthday Bash – if you have any creative ideas, please post them on our facebook wall!

photos in this post contributed by Darla White, Donna Brown & Liz Foote