KHFMA’s 4th Birthday Bash and Ridge to Reef Celebration!

On July 25^th, 2013, the Kahekili Herbivore Fisheries Management Area (KHFMA) turned 4, and to celebrate, we held its annual “Birthday Bash” on Sunday, July 28th.

This event has really grown over the years, and this year we expanded its scope to have a broader “Ridge to Reef” theme. We had all the usual fun, educational, and DELICIOUS components of the event, like our signature culinary contest, plus some new things, such as Hawai‘i’s first-ever seaweed-eating competition! (not so delicious, depending on who you ask…)

It was a fun party, hosted by the West Maui Ridge to Reef Initiative, the Coral Reef Alliance, Ka‘anapali Makai Watch, West Maui Kumuwai, SeaWeb, and the Division of Aquatic Resources, and involved many groups engaged in conservation work on Maui, and an amazing array of awesome volunteers. The purpose of the event was to get everyone together to raise awareness and involve our community in watershed and reef stewardship. Every part of the event incorporated that theme.

The Seaweed-Eating Competition by far drew the most attention, and landed the event on the front page of the Maui News, just under the story about Hurricane Flossie which was bearing down on us and closed down the beaches the following day – close one! We fully admit that this seaweed-eating contest was an experiment, but it turned out well – it was a fun spectacle that drew quite the crowd. To tie in to the event’s theme, and that of the KHFMA, our contestants were dubbed “human herbivores,” and had to eat their pile of seaweed salad off a placemat depicting a healthy coral reef- essentially playing the role of a grazer (like the protected fishes and urchins within the KHFMA) “cleaning” the reef of potentially coral-smothering seaweed. We held two bouts, one for five men and one for five women, and the first to finish their pile (1 lb for the women, 1.25 lbs for the men) was crowned the winner. For the men, it was Ka’au Abraham, and for the women, it was Elizabeth Triplett. While the seaweed eating happened, Darla White from the Division of Aquatic Resources shared some of the science surrounding the KHFMA, and everyone learned more about herbivores and their importance than they’d ever expected when they showed up that morning! Check out some video from the contest - from the women's competition, and from the mens'.

Of course, we held our KHFMA and Ridge to Reef themed Culinary Contest, where the judging is based on appearance, not on taste, according to two themes, “Most Creative,” and “Science Geekiest.” Darlene Wallace won the former with her massive artistic creation featuring all sorts of reef life, and Amy Hodges won the latter, with a concoction depicting eutrophication (the process of elevated nutrients impacting the reef). Everyone at the event got to vote, and we awarded an additional prize for “fan favorite” by allowing anyone to vote online – Amy won that title as well!

 

 

 

Another new activity was the Ridge to Reef “Savvy Shopper Relay”, which pitted teams against each other to complete an obstacle course that included the task of sorting products and items representing specific behaviors into “reef friendly” and “reef foe” categories. It was fun AND educational! To find out more about reef-friendly products, check out the West Maui Kumuwai website and the Ocean Preferred labeled products!

There was a water quality monitoring demonstration, led by Robin Knox, who showed everyone how to get and process a turbidity sample, to measure the clarity of the water.

And always a highlight, a reef tour led by Darla White allowed participants to go snorkeling and check out the reef, which is always enlightening when led by a marine scientist. Darla also shared the methods of the Herbivore Enhancement Area fish surveys, which has involved a team of volunteers assisting DAR in collecting data since before the establishment of the KHFMA. 

The FishIdentification Network (FIN) was also onhand to conduct a fish survey as part of the Great Annual Fish Count, in its 13^th year in Hawaii!

 

We also had a Ridge to Reef Hui outreach tent zone, where local groups set up tables to share information and talk story with attendees. 

 

A crafting station for kids was hosted by the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary – kids colored and made their own coral reef hats featuring herbivores!

 

 

We had AMAZING prizes donated for the event, including overnight stays at West Maui resorts, gift certificates for restaurants and activities, and more. Attendees had lots of chances to win prizes, starting by checking in, and participating in all the activities – prizes were given out via hourly random drawings, and to those who won the various contests. Thanks to volunteer London Poole for helping to coordinate the prize donations!

We appreciate all the prize donors for their generosity and support of this event:

Choice Health Bar – gift certificate

CJs Deli & Diner – two $25 gift certificates

Hawaiian Village Coffee – gift certificate

Island Press Coffee – gift certificate

Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa – dinner for two at Japengo

Hurley – apparel

Ka’anapali Beach Hotel – 1 night in a partial ocean view room, and gift certificate for two for the Sunday Champagne Brunch

Lahaina Fire Station - apparel

Maui Ocean Center – four 1-Day Journey guest passes

Quicksilver- apparel

Ritz Carlton Kapalua – one night in a deluxe room with breakfast buffet for two

Roxy - apparel

Trilogy Excursions – four guest passes for the South Maui Sunset Sail

Volcom – apparel

Westin Ka‘anapali Ocean Resort Villas – gift certificates for Spa Helani and Pulehu restaurant

Mahalo to the Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort Villas for all their support of our ongoing efforts as well as the event! Here they are awarding the prizes to Elizabeth & Ka'au, who won in the seaweed-eating contest.

Amy cleaned up!

To see more photos from the event, check out these albums here and here. Mahalo to Ananda Stone of Splash Productions for providing photo and video services for the event!

Darren McDaniel (@TheMauiDarren) from the Honua Kai Resort & Spa

Kristen & Sheila from SeaWeb giving out free West Maui Kumuwai t-shirts to the first 50 attendees!

Thanks to all the volunteers who made it another successful event – you all are THE BEST!!

Finally, last but certainly not least, we recognized a number of individuals at the event for their ongoing contributions and generosity with their time, energy, and expertise:

Ka’anapali Makai Watch outreach & education team:

John Seebart, Karen Wetmore, Julie & Mike Merrick, Terry & Marie Schroeder, Don & Joyce Judy and Don Jr, Sheila Murphy, and Sofia de la Sota; and of course the “box-father” who eschews any official affiliations, Don McLeish.

Herbivore Enhancement Area survey volunteers (noting # of surveys completed to date):

Rick Long (165), Audrey Dack (79), John Seebart (42), Jim Surowiec (24), Don Judy (23), Flo Bahr (23), Fred Litt (23), Eileen Robb (21), Linda Tesar-Amimoto (13), Debbie Hazard (11), Julie Merrick (7), Mike Merrick (7), Arjuna Collier (6), Donna Brown (6), Katherine Jordan (6), Carrie DeMott (5), Joyce Judy (5) Lisa Davis (5).

Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) surveys conducted at Kahekili, total to date:

Don Judy (489!!), Rick Long (87), Karen Levy (42), Donna Brown (30), Liz Foote (28), Fred Litt (19), Flo Bahr (16), Julie Merrick (11), Sharon Ringsven (9), Linda Castro (7), Pam Daoust (7), Eileen Robb (7) and Nancy Kanyuk (5).

West Maui Ridge to Reef volunteers:

Alan, AJ and Jake Kuiper, Ananda Stone, and Jez Gonzales.