Honolulu Star-Advertiser © Susan Scott
December 28, 1998
When it comes to marine conservation, most of us feel small and helpless. Who wants (or has the time) to fight big business, the federal government or a roomful of loud, angry people? Not me. And not many people I know.
Still, the majority of Hawaii residents love the ocean and feel frustrated that it is so often misused. But if each of us directs that frustration toward one or two small conservation acts throughout the year, we can make a difference.
Here are a few ideas for some easy New Year’s resolutions that will help Hawaii have cleaner water and healthier marine life:
- Leash your dog at the beach and in nature parks. Recently, I was walking on Kailua Beach where dogs running free were nearly as common as children building sand castles.
Yes, dogs are adored members of our families, and we love to watch them play. But these lovable pets are hunters by nature and do serious damage to Hawaii’s wildlife.
Dogs kill ghost crabs.
Loose dogs prevent migratory shorebirds from feeding at the beach.
At Kaena Point, where seabirds nest, dogs kill chicks, sometimes by the dozen.
- Pick up after your dog. Dog feces pollute our ocean waters. This is especially true at beaches, but it also occurs on lawns and gutters when rains wash the feces into storm drains that empty into the ocean.
Don’t get discouraged when you see others not picking up after their dog. The more some of us do it, the quicker the practice becomes the norm.
- Don’t collect or buy seashells. When you see jewelry, plant holders or other household items made of seashells, remember that each shell was once the home of a living snail.
These animals are a vital link in the marine food chain and thus help keep our reefs healthy.
When snails die naturally, their empty shells become homes for hermit crabs, animals that eat dead plant and animal material and thus clean the reefs.
If a hermit doesn’t use an empty shell, it eventually disintegrates, recycling its calcium carbonate back into the ocean.
So do the ocean a favor in 1999: If you find a pretty shell on the beach, admire it, then toss it back. And take a pass on those cute cowrie earrings.
- Try being a true vegetarian. I am always amazed when someone tells me they have turned vegetarian because they don’t want to kill animals — and then order a mahimahi sandwich.
Fish and invertebrates are living, breathing animals that suffer and die as painfully as land animals do. I’m not saying we should never kill and eat marine animals. But I am suggesting that if you are a vegetarian, either full- or part-time, or thinking of trying to become one, the ocean’s animals should count, too.
- Don’t kill fish needlessly. Whenever I visit my sailboat in the Ala Wai Boat Harbor, I see people fishing there. But the Department of Health has issued a warning not to eat fish from this harbor due to pollution.
When I ask these fishers if they intend to eat their catch, they say no, they just like to fish.
This year, try sitting by the water and admiring live fish instead of catching and killing them.
- Teach children marine conservation. This is probably the most important item on the list for making a difference. Our kids inherit not only the ocean, but also our ideas about how to treat it.
Talk to kids about dogs being hunters, about seashells being snail homes, about choosing what to eat and about respecting life.
Help children learn to love the ocean by taking them often to the beach, the aquarium and Sea Life Park.
Happy New Year.