With the help of Hawaii’s DAR and cooperation of the community and visitors, I believe together we can reduce and prevent dead coral around our Hawaiian islands. Coral reefs in Hawaii have had an excessive amount of breakage and bleaching due to factors like walking on coral, water pollution, and recreational water activities like snorkeling and scuba diving. These factors all contribute to the dying of our coral reefs. Removing one factor from the issue would benefit our marine life and local community alike. Hence, I believe that non-Hawaii residents should be restricted from snorkeling and scuba diving at beaches because eliminating one factor will have a positive impact on our coral reefs.

When it was discovered that the commonly used chemicals in sunscreen oxybenzone and octinoxate were harmful to coral reefs, on May 1st, 2018 Hawaii legislation became the first state to pass a bill that will ban the sale of sunscreens containing those chemicals. The bill will go into effect January 1st, 2021. Those chemicals contribute to coral bleaching which can lead to dead coral. Our state is undeniably not blind to the issue of coral damage and dying reefs, but I think taking it one step further by restricting non-Hawaii residents will be key in aiding our coral reefs. Coral bleaching plays a huge factor in our dying reefs and our state recognizes that, and additionally taking action against the breakage of our coral would be beneficial to our marine life. 

That aside, why should the solution be restricting non-Hawaii residents from snorkeling and scuba diving? It is clear that inexperienced divers will be more likely to break coral or harm the reefs, especially if uneducated. Tourists or inexperienced divers who are not as well informed on the harm they can potentially cause can lead to ignorance and a higher chance of damaging the coral by walking on or touching the coral and breaking it. It has also been found that there are social factors that can contribute to damage to reefs, like the snorkel or scuba divers attitudes or perceptions. They might not have the same thoughtfulness or consideration to Hawaii’s marine life as the locals who think of the ocean as their home. 

Another essential aspect to point out is the magnitude of marine recreation from tourists alone. The Hawaiian islands are well known to attract lots of tourists with it’s sunny beaches, luscious mountains, and diverse culture and be the perfect vacation destination, bringing in a large sum of visitors. In 2017, there were approximately 9.4 million visitors across all the Hawaiian islands only in that one year, and it is estimated that over 80% of tourists participate in some form of ocean recreation. Hawaii’s population reaches close to 1.5 million annually, which is a sizable difference compared to the tourist population. Consequently, it is evident that the tourist population would have a much more extensive impact on harming the coral than our local population considering the approximate 9:1 population ratio. It would be illogical to not take that aspect into mind.

Continuing from the previous idea, it has been shown that beaches that receive a larger number of visitors also experience a higher amount of coral lost. Oahu displays a great example of how tourists affect the coral, due to the places with the most coral lost being on the north and windward sides of the island where tourists are often seen visiting. There is also documentation of major coral bleaching at some of Oahu’s most popular tourist beach attractions like Ko Olina and Hanauma Bay. Hanauma Bay alone has documented evidence showing how their heavy visitor traffic has increased reef sedimentation, breakage, and marine life behavior modification. Furthermore, due to a recent pandemic the Bay has closed for public safety, and now there is evidence showing recovery due to no visitor activity. 

Admittedly, it can be argued that restricting snorkeling and scuba diving to non-Hawaii residents can affect tourism population and revenues. It is a fact that tourism makes up 21% of Hawaii’s state economy and restricting that pastime could become controversial and unfavorable in the tourists’ point of view. However, Hawaii offers much more than just scuba diving and snorkeling. For example there are island tours, surf lessons, hikes and trails, lots of delicious cuisine, and just tanning on the beach is a favorite too. In my educated opinion, restricting tourists from one thing on the long list of activities to do on the islands will not affect tourism rates and revenue.

To conclude, restricting non-Hawaii residents from snorkeling and scuba diving at beaches will be beneficial for the Hawaii community and marine life environment. A lot of dead and damaged coral reefs will be prevented and reduced with the cooperation of the community and the help of the DAR. Our oceans and marine life are dying, and just making a small adjustment to our Hawaii tourism industry can positively impact our coral reefs and prevent coral damage and dead reefs.