11-11-2017, 11:09 AM
The interesting thing (to me) that nobody has mentioned about reef preservation is how bad Oxybenzone is and it’s prevalence in sunscreen sold in Hawaii.
Yes, ideally, coral does recover after bleaching events, as long as the water cools and there are no other major stress factors. But, the water isn’t cooling as much as in years past and in popular tourist destinations where the toxic load from Oxybenzone is excessive, it’s proving to be harder than one would hope.
I personally think it’s appalling that the importation and sale of Oxybenzone hasn’t been banned in Hawaii. Where the idea of preventing people (tourists) from excessive ocean recreation may not be feasible preventing them from inadvertently introducing poisons into the water is. Unfortunately our government has yet to demonstrate that they have the will to take such a definitive step toward ocean preservation. Some tried with Senate Bill 1150 this last legislative session but the bill was, shamefully in my opinion, left to wither on the vine.
If you are not hip to the humbug with Oxybenzone Big Island Now published a pretty good article on sunscreens here:
http://bigislandnow.com/2017/05/19/reefs...;is-reefs/
For a more in depth article on the chemicals in sunscreens and their effects one might read:
https://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/report/the...geauHeZPLg
And please, to do your part is simple, do not buy products that contain Oxybenzone. A list of eco-friendly sunscreens is here:
https://bantoxicsunscreens.com/2017/08/0...een-guide/
Yes, ideally, coral does recover after bleaching events, as long as the water cools and there are no other major stress factors. But, the water isn’t cooling as much as in years past and in popular tourist destinations where the toxic load from Oxybenzone is excessive, it’s proving to be harder than one would hope.
I personally think it’s appalling that the importation and sale of Oxybenzone hasn’t been banned in Hawaii. Where the idea of preventing people (tourists) from excessive ocean recreation may not be feasible preventing them from inadvertently introducing poisons into the water is. Unfortunately our government has yet to demonstrate that they have the will to take such a definitive step toward ocean preservation. Some tried with Senate Bill 1150 this last legislative session but the bill was, shamefully in my opinion, left to wither on the vine.
If you are not hip to the humbug with Oxybenzone Big Island Now published a pretty good article on sunscreens here:
http://bigislandnow.com/2017/05/19/reefs...;is-reefs/
For a more in depth article on the chemicals in sunscreens and their effects one might read:
https://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/report/the...geauHeZPLg
And please, to do your part is simple, do not buy products that contain Oxybenzone. A list of eco-friendly sunscreens is here:
https://bantoxicsunscreens.com/2017/08/0...een-guide/