Coral Reef

March 05, 2024

(Mengshin Lin / Associated Press)

Inside the back section of my local newspaper was a new spin on the perils facing the Pacific Ocean.  The wildfire that decimated Lahaina, Hawaii, last August was the deadliest US fire in a century.  More than 2,000 buildings burned and there were 101 confirmed fatalities.  The fire also left behind piles of toxic debris.  Now there is concern that runoff could carry contaminants into the ocean where they could get into the coral, seaweed, and food chain.  Scientists say there has never been another instance of a large urban fire burning next to a coral reef anywhere in the world and they are using the Maui wildfire as a chance to study how chemicals and metals from burned plastics, lead paint, and lithium-ion batteries might affect delicate reef ecosystems.  The research is already underway in the waters off Maui, and could help inform residents, tourists, and coastal tropical communities worldwide as climate change increases the likelihood of extreme weather events of the kind that fueled the wildfire.  It is too soon to determine how the fire will affect Lahaina’s coral reef.

When I looked online, I found a coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals.  Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate.  Most coral reefs are built from stony corals (order, Scleractinia), whose polyps cluster in groups.  Coral is in the class Anthozoa in the animal phylum Cnidaria, which includes sea anemones and jellyfish, but unlike sea anemones, corals secrete hard carbonate exoskeletons that support and protect the coral.  Most reefs grow best in warm, shallow, clear, sunny, and agitated water.  Coral reefs first appeared 485 million years ago (Early Ordovician) displacing the microbial and sponge reefs of the Cambrian.  Coral reefs are sometimes called the “rainforests of the sea” and are some of the most diverse ecosystems in the world.  The reefs are a crucial indicator of healthy oceans.  The reefs are made up of stony corals, which are hard skeletons formed by thousands of individual living coral polyps that symbiotically host algae.  Fish, crabs, and other species find refuge in their midst.  Scientists say one-fourth of the ocean’s fish rely on healthy coral reefs for habitat, and a coral reef protects shoreline communities from powerful waves during storms.

Lahaina’s coral reef faced challenges before the fire from overfishing, abuse from kayak and stand-up paddleboard tours, warm ocean temperatures, and sediment from fallow fields and construction sites flowing into the ocean.  Much of the coral reef offshore of the burn zone was already degraded prior to the fire but there were still patches of nice reef, like in an area north of Lahaina Harbor near Mala Wharf.  In the past, Sea Maui, a whale watching and snorkeling tour company, would take snorkelers to the Mala Wharf reef to see turtles and occasional monk seals.  Phil LeBlanc, partner and chief operating officer, said, “We’re not into disaster tourism”.   The company’s boats now avoid the reef because of concerns about toxic runoff and out of respect for the town.  They now send their tours south to Olowalu or north to Honolua Bay.

THOUGHTS:  One of Hawaii’s oldest stories is the centuries-old chant called The Kumulipo, which reflects the central role of the coral reef in the island chain.  The chant tells how a coral polyp was the first living being to emerge from the darkness of creation.  Starfish, worms, sea cucumber, and other species followed, and humans came last.  “So the first form of life is a coral polyp.  That is your foundation.  The foundation of life is a coral,” said Ekolu Lindsey, a Lahaina community advocate.  This chant reflects the attitude and relationship the indigenous Hawaiians have with the coral reef.  The coral reef as the basis for much or marine life is also being understood by scientists.  Collapse of the reefs reflect the eventual collapse of oceans.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.