Earth Day 2006

They had this baline at NOAA's educational booth at the earth fair at Kahalu`u Beach today. Humpback Whales don't eat while they're in Hawaii. When they eat in Alaska they take take in huge amounts of water with herring and smelt swimming in it. Then they push the water out of their mouth through the baline. The water goes back into the sea but the baline keeps the food in the whale's mouth. An adult Humpback gobbles up a ton of food a day.

At the Earth Day booths I also learned about the effects of fish collecting on the yellow tang population. Thanks to fish replenishment sites along the Kona Coast, the population is increasing. Learn about the community group that made this possible: http://www.lostfishcoalition.org/ I also learned that cigarette butts can leave toxins in the sand and that is harmful to crabs.

There were some tourists at the beach, however, that didn't seem to learn anything. I saw one guy feeding peas to a Green Sea Turtle (an endangered specie) and I saw several other tourists stepping all over the coral. I wish visitors were more educated on proper ocean use. With the number of people trampling the coral at Kahalu`u everyday, it's only a matter of time before our beautiful reef is all dead and busted and crummy just like Haunama Bay on Oahu.