Website Correction & Further Comments

[Ursula Keuper-Bennett]

Hello John, 

You wrote: 

>The website is:http://www.io.org/-bunrab/honolist.htm 

That will just give people error messages.  The ACTUAL address is: 

http://www.io.org/-bunrab/honohist.htm 

Honohist stands for Honokowai history. 

You wrote: 

>I have just looked through the homepage of Ursula Keuper-Bennett, as she  
>described on May 6.  This is a superb use of the Web to convey to the public  
>what is happening to many reefs. 

My husband and I really appreciate the kind words, thank you.  I have 
snorkelled/dived this Honokowai reef every summer since 1977 and he since 
1987. Then it experienced an permanent invasion of Hypnea musciformis 
punctuated by two devastating Cladophora algae blooms in '89 and 91. 

Our reef got trashed.  Since that time we have watched the resident sea 
turtles in the area sicken and "disappear" (we can't prove they die) from a 
disease called fibropapillomas.  There is a sewage treatment plant 
(injection well style) within an easy walk and an impressive amount of the 
red fertile West Maui mountainside (complete with fertilizers from 
pineapples) makes its way to the ocean bottom via run off.   

And we get to go back July 1st and dive the area again.  For the several of 
you wondering, yes, we have pondered what effect diving in such waters might 
have on us.... 

John you wrote: 
> 
>Has anyone done any studies to explain the algal dominance in Honokowai? 

Sure.  Some.  A nutrient run-off study conducted in the dry season comes to 
mind.  Another search for whether effluent from the injection wells made it 
to the ocean.  They found some traces but nothing to get excited about. 
Read a couple of other papers about the seaweed/algae characteristics and 
distribution. 
Most of the studies are what you scientists would refer to as "preliminary". 

I think the thing that stands out most from all the diving over the years is 
that one Cladophora bloom - just one - can do in a whole lot of corals. 
That was the message we wanted to send. 

I need to repeat again, the website is: 

http://www.io.org/-bunrab/honohist.htm 

Best regards 

                      ^                  Ursula Keuper-Bennett 
                     0 0                 Mississauga, Ontario 
            /V^\     | |     /^V\        Email: howzit at io.org 
          /V     Turtle Trax     V\ 
        /V      soon 1 yr old      V\    http://www.io.org/~bunrab