Aloha Kakou!

The road beckons yet again, so I'm packing for two back-to-back weeks of field work in Hawaii. I leave tomorrow for the Big Island where I'll join my Hawaiian Field Manager Liz Foote for a week of meetings and the launch of our NOAA voluntary standards development project for marine recreation providers in Kailua-Kona. Our goal is to facilitate a process where stakeholders there define a code of sustainable conduct in marine protected areas--known as Marine Life Conservation Districts (MLCDs) in Hawaii.

Liz and I were there a year ago laying some of the groundwork for this project so it will be great to finally return and get started with the real work. And yes, we plan to be in the water and among the reefs of Kealakekua Bay and Kahaluu Beach as much as possible. Both are protected areas but receive a tremendous visitor traffic. Last time I was there I witnessed everything from fish feeding and standing on coral to people surrounding and harassing a resting sea turtle. But it was also Kona where I had the best night dive of my life where I was swarmed by 15 enormous manta's during a feeding aggregation. Looking forward to what Kona will show me this time.

After Kona, Liz and I return to her home island of Maui and our conservation projects at the MLCDs of Honolua Bay and Molokini. Our Maui projects are into their third year now and we are dealing with both exciting prospects as well as some frustrating challenges in coral conservation. This shorter leg of my Hawaiian trip is mostly check-ins with stakeholders, assessing progress, and exploring some new project possibilities. I love Maui and it feels like my second home in Hawaii now. Maybe if I'm lucky I can still catch a Humpback or two in the Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary during our dives at Molokini.

Keep checking back and look for the Hawaii Blogging 2008 logo for island-style posts over the next two weeks.