Hawaiian Ocean Life and Coral Reef Etiquette
Protecting the Hawaiian coral reefs and the Hawaiian ocean wildlife that depend on the coral reefs for their shelter and food, is a growing concern for everyone. With 7 million tourists visiting Hawaii annually--even though not all of them are swimming in the ocean--an engaging way to educate tourists was needed.
Enter Ziggy Livnat who wrote and produced a seven minute public service announcement about Hawaiian reef etiquette 3 years ago. You may have seen it if you flew Aloha Airlines to get to Hawaii, took a Norwegian Cruise ship voyage, or visted the Maui Ocean Center or the Waikiki Aquarium.
Livenat's video features a friendly talking humuhumunukunukuapua'a Hawaiian fish (shown above) taking viewers on a tour of the fragile reef system and letting people know what can be done to protect it. Simple things like not standing on the reef or resting your snorkel and dive gear on the coral rocks, not littering the ocean or chasing honu Hawaiian sea turtles--all of these things can make a huge impact on not degrading our ocean environment. The emphasis of his film is that everyone can enjoy the natural wonder and beauty of the sea while maintaining eco-friendly and bio-friendly practices.
Click here to see the award winning original English version of Hawaiian Reef Etiquette. It has also been recently translated into Japanese.
Read our other informative post and download a free Hawaiian Reef Fish ID Chart.
That's a great video. I've always erred on the side of caution and I try to stay at least a few feet away from coral. I couldn't believe how people in the video were standing on the coral. That's awful!
Posted by: Sheila | October 08, 2007 at 07:07 PM
I am glad you liked the video. Hopefully people who watch it will remember its message when they go into the ocean.
Posted by: HawaiiVacationGifts | October 10, 2007 at 02:15 AM