Essay Example on Hawaii: An Isolated Global Reef Destination

Introduction

According to Friedlander, Stamoulis, Kittinger, Drazen, and Tissot (2014), the Hawaiian Islands contain an isolated archipelago that incorporates one of the most significant reef regions in the World. They add that this has made it a popular tourist destination attracting over seven million tourists yearly. This number represents an increase of 65% spread over the last two decades, and according to Friedlander et al. (2014), the number is expected to continue increasing. According to Howes (2010), the upsurge in the Hawaiian tourism industry has prompted increased maritime travel given the under-development of alternative transport networks such as road and rail in the islands. Howes (2010) continues that increased maritime travel has subsequently led to increased marine-based activities within the Hawaiian Islands. According to Friedlander et al. (2014), over three-quarters of tourists that visit Hawaii engage in marine tourism activities in all the five main islands; Kauai, Lanai, Maui, Oahu and the Big Island. Marine tourism incorporates dynamic exercises, for example, scuba plunging and swimming, just as inactive exercises, for example, dolphin and whale experiences on boats (Gall & Thompson, 2015).

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According to Howes (2010), the quantity of private business administrators offering marine tourism experiences has likewise expanded. As per Friedlander et al. (2014), over a thousand maritime travel companies work in Hawaii. It, therefore, becomes essential to reevaluate these businesses and the effects of their operations on the island's beachfront and marine conditions. This paper investigates the sustainability of maritime travel in the Hawaiian Islands and the impact it has on marine life. To do that, the document first defines 'sustainability.' According to the Cambridge Dictionary, sustainability is "the ability to address one's issues without undermining the ability of future ages to address their issues." With this definition in mind, the paper contends that maritime travel and tourism in the Hawaiian Islands is an unsustainable activity. This is due to the constrained guideline on marine tourism development, the unsafe impacts on coral reefs and marine life, and the absence of conduct changes that ecological training demands.

Overdevelopment and Limited Regulation

Throughout the years, the Hawaiian Islands have experienced minimum control of tourism growth, raising a moral worry for maritime travel operators. Numerous travel industry pioneers blame overdevelopment as one of Hawaii's biggest tourism-related environmental concerns. The expanding number of marine travel administrators in Hawaiian waters has prompted large amounts of sea contamination and marine garbage. These represent a threat to Hawaiian ocean life and land creatures such as birds. There is proof of death and harmed birds, turtles stranded ashore, and unsettling influences to short courses of fish and whales, all because of mass contamination in the sea (Howell, Bograd, Morishige, Seki, & Polovina, 2012).

Moreover, the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is gradually being destroyed by large amounts of contamination resulting from overdevelopment and an increase in maritime travel (Howell et al., 2012). According to Howell et al. (2012), this region is famous for its biodiversity and is inhabited by different species of coral, fish, invertebrates, planktons, seabirds, and turtles. However, the already contaminating marine debris threatens the integrity of the whole landmark.

As the business has turned out to be so immersed and increasingly aggressive, even organizations asserting 'green practices' have been observed compromising and partaking in destructive practices, such as dumping food leftovers overboard, bugging, or evacuating marine life. Howell et al's. (2012) investigative study into these "green" maritime travel operators revealed that numerous administrators were reluctant to implement their green approaches or rectify destructive conduct by tourists for fear of losing tips. An operator was cited as saying, "we allow visitors to pull off things like contacting marine life and breaking corals, since if we condemn them, we risk disappointing them and losing possible tips, or much worse getting a negative review online" (Gall & Thompson, 2015). In Hawaii, maritime tourism travel operators largely depend on client reviews and get many of their customers through referrals. Hence, operators are generally willing to allow visitors to get away with anything they do regardless of nature and impact as long as it ensures a useful customer review.

Exposing Marine Life to Risk

The most excellent highlight of marine travel is the exposure to the first-hand experience with marine life that poses a significant threat to the creatures. Indeed, even uninvolved tasks such as whale and dolphin viewing from boats can have an enduring effect on the animals. According to Pawar, Shirgaonkar, and Patil (2016), the primary sense of cetaceans is vocalization, and it is used to impart, explore, and find prey. The presence of tour boats and ships changes these vocalizations. Vocalizations can influence the song phase and length in humpback whales prompting animal strain and uncertainty (Pawar et al., 2016). The ship and boat movements also affect the sleeping spinner dolphins. They feed seaward at night and return to shielded bays and coastlines during the day to relax and tend to their young ones (Pawar et al., 2016). Sadly, this exposes them to the dangers posed by tour boats and ships.

According to Gall and Thompson (2015), maritime tour operators often target the sheltered bays since they know they are accessible sights for dolphin viewing. Visiting these bays interferes with the dolphins' critical relaxation periods, leading to their aggression. This leaves them exhausted and more vulnerable to prey. In Hawaii, this practice has likewise been the cause of long-term stress and concern for spinner dolphins. This is even though the state has a law that restricts boats and ships to at least 45 meters, the quiet bays of dolphins (Pawar et al., 2016). The distance of 45 meters has proven to be close enough to affect the dolphins negatively. According to Howell et al., (2012), Hawaii has other numerous marine species that are likewise protected by state law, specifically in the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Protection Act. For instance, handling a Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle is illegal (Howell et al., 2012). However, the majority of tourists are either uninformed or not interested in this law, and discipline is typically not completed in these conditions. As earlier mentioned, these laws are overlooked to impress tourists.

Destruction of Coral Reefs

Some of the most often observed destructive actions of tourists are kicking, stepping, and sitting on coral reefs. According to Howell et al. (2012), coral reefs are one of the most environmentally assorted, relevant, and profitable items. In any case, their damage is regularly disregarded since the instant social, and financial results from the damages frequently exceed the long-term advantages of their preservation. Past studies done on Oahu island indicate that nearly half of its marine tourism businesses offer basic diving for non-certified members, which included putting unpracticed divers legitimately into reef areas. Given their unfamiliarity with diving, they strain on maintaining buoyancy, thus continuously kicking and touching fragile coral and damaging them. Furthermore, submerged cameras are disregarded as a risk to coral reefs when scuba diving or swimming. Inexpert divers and camera users can harm coral reefs when they are distracted and lose their stability.

Conservation Training

Despite maritime travel having adverse effects such as pollution, it also fosters environmental acknowledgment that assists in facilitating marine mammals' conservation. This is one of the significant contentions concerning the sustainability of maritime travel and tourism (Howell et al., 2012). The industry looks to offer environmental training that advances information, aptitudes, and a promise to work towards ecological issues. However, very few Hawaiian maritime tour operators provide the sort of knowledge that makes tourists change their lifestyle and embrace more preservation-orientated practices. Previous studies on environmental training in marine travel settings discovered that the data presented is specifically contorted to preclude harsh realities and seldom results in ecological perceptions or practices (Friedlander et al., 2014). The success of instructive endeavors for tourists in the future will rely upon proper administration of marine creature experiences and understanding projects incorporating the information.

Recommendations

According to Pawar et al. (2016), a survey on ways of preventing or limiting coral reef destruction over every single marine region on the islands showed that the majority of the local Hawaiian inhabitants ranked controlling the tourist population as the leading solution. Numerous different arrangements have been recommended, for instance, spatial zoning, client charges, site restorations, and the promoting of elective destinations (Gall & Thompson, 2015). In any case, regardless of the legal guidelines put in place, the results of maritime travel and tourism sustainability primarily depend on values. Nothing changes if people care less.

Given the condition of our seas, it is more significant now than ever for individuals to care enough to practice sustainable practices in the maritime travel industry. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report that three-quarters of the World's coral reefs face the risk of destruction, with the remaining quarter having been already damaged permanently (Friedlander et al., 2014). Suffices to say, its high time sustainable solutions to these environmental effects are found to prevent further damage to oceans.

The maritime travel and tourism industry in Hawaii represents 17% of the gross state revenue (Friedlander et al., 2014). However, this number risks dropping to zero if maritime travel and tourism continue to have such a detrimental effect on our oceans. This would subsequently damage the state's economy. Quite directly and from a different perspective, a death to our oceans is death to us. The beaches and seas are the World's most significant carbon sinks, and without them, life on earth becomes unbearable. Suffices to say, maritime industries should change their approach and policies to pave the way for an increasingly sustainable future.

Conclusion

In conclusion, although marine the travel industry may have unique goals to expose individuals to new encounters and instruct them, the externalities of this industry are accomplishing more mischief than anything. The absence or disregard of control measures has caused rapid expansion of maritime activities. This has led to congestion and mass pollution. Marine life and coral reefs are bearing the weight of marine travel and tourism activities, and the education provided by maritime operators is not sufficient to prompt long-term behavior changes.

References

Friedlander, A. M., Stamoulis, K. A., Kittinger, J. N., Drazen, J. C., & Tissot, B. N. (2014). Understanding the Scale of Marine Protection in Hawai 'i: From Community-Based Management to the Remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. In Advances in marine biology (Vol. 69, pp. 153-203). Academic Press. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128002148000050

Gall, S. C., & Thompson, R. C. (2015). The impact of debris on marine life. Marine pollution bulletin, 92(1-2), 170-179. Retrieved from https://www.scie...