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Paradise Trashed and Aloha Vanishing
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02-08-2008, 02:53 PM
Bringing the thread about trash forward. Does everyone (except me - until now)know about the floating raft of plastic waste twice the size of the US? It seems to be surrounding the Hawaiian Islands. Here is the link - but be prepared to get depressed and discouraged.
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/05/6856/
02-08-2008, 03:21 PM
Some years ago a friend who had sailed from Hawaii to California told me that on the whole trip he was constantly in the presence of garbage at sea. It was sad to hear. One might wish it was all a tall tale.
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator 
02-08-2008, 03:23 PM
One of the reasons that has been given for the tons of plastic debris that wash ashore onto Kamilo Beach, just east of Southpoint, is that it is at the confluence of both of the Pacific gyres. There are fairly frequent cleanups of this beach:
2007 cleanup http://honoluluweekly.com/diary/2007/12/sea-of-plastic/ 2006 cleanup http://www.pbase.com/charleswilliam3/beach_cleanup Article in NOAA 200th anniv issue http://celebrating200years.noaa.gov/maga...lcome.html News on a debris float http://kgmb9.com/main/content/view/1706/40/ Info on the RV Algalita that is collecting data on the Pacific Gyre http://www.algalita.org/ Sea Grant or UHH Marine Studies usually have a couple of cleanup trips there, from Hilo, a year... Matson has volunteerd containers & transport for the debris for some of the cleanups
02-08-2008, 04:08 PM
Have a look at alguita.com
Ocean Research Vessel Alguita, Captain Charlie Moore (part-time homes in Waimea and Holualoa). Charlie is the person who has brought attention to the NW Pacific floating "garbage continent". He and a crew are at sea (day 18) up there now, conducting research. Check out their blog: orvalguita.blogspot.com James Weatherford, Ph.D. 15-1888 Hialoa Hawaiian Paradise Park
02-09-2008, 08:46 AM
The LA Times did a very comprehensive series - habitats - toxins affecting oceans - ocean toxins affecting us - plastics - seawater acidity. Complete mutimedia presentation!
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/oceans...52.special The "plastics" are here - Kamilo Beach, South Point - How soon will everything else arrive? [V] [  ] [?]Time will tell - I'm listening? Time will tell - I should have been speaking?
02-11-2008, 01:17 PM
Just got to contribute to this thread. I just spent two weeks on the BI. Aloha is indeed vanishing, and paradise is being lost at an alarming rate.
I can't tell you how many times I was told, when I mentioned that I had bought property out Kalapana way, that I was the cause of all the Hawaiian's problems, that the rich haoles from the mainland are buying up all the land, and the natives can't afford it anymore. The Hawaiians used to be able to live off the land, fish, farm, etc, but now the seas are all fished out by the Japanese and American fleets, so they have to get their fish at McDonalds! They have to work at minimum wage jobs for large corporations, and cannot afford to even license their car or get insurance, so they sneak back and forth to the most local grocery to get their meager necessities. I understand. I looked at the help wanted ads in the newspaper and all I saw were really bad jobs in the service industry or maybe being a "model" Ha! Hilo is a very down-trodden city in my opinion. Evrywhere I looked the buildings and sidewalks were crumbling for lack of maintenance. mold and green slime cover the walls of the buildings. It seems to be a repository for many mentally ill people as well. What a shame, as the natural beauty, where you can still find it untouched, is so incredible. I saw people dropping off cars by the side of the road and removing all the wheels and tires. I saw old refridgerators just dumped in the ditch by the side of the road. I saw way too many dogs and cats and humans that were obviously homeless and had health issues. I noticed also that a great many people in Hawaii have missing teeth. obviously health care and health insurance is not very available to the common man there. How sad. Too bad. Like one poster says, if you can't eat it or **** it, piss on it and walk away, or something to that effect. Nice.
02-11-2008, 02:09 PM
Wow. It's so funny how different people see the same thing differently. I guess I have been lucky because no one has ever told me (in person) that I am the cause of the very few remaining native Hawaiian's stress. Although having been to Molokai (my first visit to Hawaii was to Molokai) I think I was inoculated against this because I could clearly see what an island was like before McDonalds (but not before Subway -- they have one of those!), and Wal-Mart. In other words, before those places that make an island look very much like the rest of America (that's bad, by the way --one of the great things about America used to be that every state was different. No more.). I only spent a week on Molokai, but it felt like a month, and I left changed. I can understand where locals are coming from. I mean, after you visit a distant and enormous waterfall, and you don't see another living human soul, well....
And it is true that there was a time when they could basically live off the land. It is also true that super-efficient Japanese marus are plundering the Pacific. They slaughter whales in the guise of "studying them". They pursue the ahi to the ends of the earth, to the point where one can foresee the end of the ahi. Can you imagine what the fishing must have been like off of Hawaii 50 years ago? No, me neither. Something every important and "Edenic" was lost here and we can't get it back.....unless we scrape every house off of all the islands, create a reservation and make a National Park out of the place. The islands will continue their slow degradation. It is human nature, with the exception of certain humans, like Teddy Roosevelt. The trash is disturbing. We can address it with better government, and better enforcement. No mercy! But if you focus on the positive, oh what wonders remain. I am pretty well-traveled, but after going to Hawaii, I don't want to go anywhere else. Do I want to go freeze in Paris, or sniff exhaust from cars in London? Not anymore. These islands are magnificent, even in their decripitude, and even with the odd eyesore. I respect your viewpoint, but I take a different view of Hilo. I absolutely love the "naturalistic" look of Hilo. It's the look of a forgotten outpost, a harbor town, populated by real people. Although I love the beaches near Kailua, the town of Kailua is much less charming to me than Hilo. Hilo has so much character.....it's all on parade at Cafe 100! Yes, health care is not what it should be on the islands. Health care is not what it should be in America, and that affects the islands, especially the poorest on the islands. A comparable person in Canada, France, or Britain would have access to health care just by showing up at the clinic. While on the mainland, whenever I see a doctor (thankfully not that many), I say "Wouldn't you rather live in Hawaii? They really need doctors there." We can fix it if we try. There are intense, and frustrating negatives about Hawaii, and the things that you note are different from mine (mine: larceny, lava). And yet you were pulled there. Me, too. So once we arrive for good, we can start working on solutions together. These islands deserve nothing less.
02-11-2008, 03:20 PM
The junk cars, 'Anywhere, USA' fast-food, crumbling sidewalks: all there to see. This can and must be changed.
As for the blame game about who did what to whom first and worst: get over it. We all got work to do to take care of our island, here and now, and for the children yet unborn. James Weatherford, Ph.D. 15-1888 Hialoa Hawaiian Paradise Park
02-12-2008, 10:15 AM
I would say that this is kind of "Aloha" vanishing. The use of Cell phones! People can be so rude when they use them. I just read about the following.
...The State of Hawaii agreed to pay $2.5 million as its share of liability in an accident involving a state employee who was allegedly talking on her cell phone when she hit a tourist. ----------------- Coming home soon! |
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