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coastalexplorer · 29-01-2019, 20:52

Gordon...The web site you referred to was the one I looked at last October when a CF member first brought it to our attention. The subsequent reading that I did showed that the USA was planning to pump sand back on top to restore it this year; because it is so important as a breeding ground for birds and turtles.

jmschmidt · 29-01-2019, 21:09

I have been out here for fifty years, this island was never huge as nesting ground for the simple reason it was never huge. All these "scientists" work on grant money and come up with this nonsense. The birds will be back when the sand returns, in the meantime most have moved on or different ones will repopulated the area.

The Island of Kauai was hit by two different hurricanes ten years apart. Both times nearly every single bird, land and sea, (not to mention every leaf on every tree)was blown out to sea. The island today has just as many varieties and numbers of birds, trees and leaves, if not more, than it every did.

alctel · 29-01-2019, 21:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmschmidt

I have been out here for fifty years, this island was never huge as nesting ground for the simple reason it was never huge. All these "scientists" work on grant money and come up with this nonsense. The birds will be back when the sand returns, in the meantime most have moved on or different ones will repopulated the area.

Well it's not birds they are worried about, it's monk seals and turtles, maybe you are thinking about a different island?

jmschmidt · 29-01-2019, 22:02

The reference was to "nesting." I didn't realized seals and turtles nested.

alctel · 29-01-2019, 22:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmschmidt

The reference was to "nesting." I didn't realized seals and turtles nested.

Well turtles certainly do, which is what they are mostly worried about. Maybe you should leave it to the scientists

osprey877 · 29-01-2019, 22:40

There may be a legal incentive for the US to rebuild the island as the 200 mile economic zone around the island might disappear if the island submerses.

**GordMay** · 30-01-2019, 03:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by coastalexplorer

Gordon...The web site you referred to was the one I looked at last October when a CF member first brought it to our attention. The subsequent reading that I did showed that the USA was planning to pump sand back on top to restore it this year; because it is so important as a breeding ground for birds and turtles.

I don't know if sand "nourishment" is planned or even contemplated to help the isles recover. I'm not certain how effective sand-pumping would be, in this case.

French Frigate Shoals is the nesting ground for 96 percent of the Hawaiian green sea turtle population, and approximately half lay their eggs at East Island. Historically, it has been the “single most important” nesting site for the turtle.
All nesting females had left by the time Walaka hit, so the storm likely had little if any impact on the adult population. But NOAA scientists estimate that 19 percent of this year’s nests on East Island had not yet hatched and were swept away by the storm. And 20 percent of the turtle nests on nearby Tern Island, the largest island in the French Frigate Shoals, were lost.
The island was also a critical habitat for the federally protected Hawaii monk seal, one of the most endangered marine mammals on the planet. Roughly 80 percent of the population of just over 1,400 seals live in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands, a remote archipelago that is surrounded by the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.
Clark, Fletcher and Littnan said scientists are already exploring what, if anything, can be done to intervene to protect these vulnerable habitats and increase the resilience of the affected species. Those efforts could include pumping sand back above the ocean’s surface to restore islets.
“We’re going to have to look at really creative ways to help support these species to persist into the future,” Littnan said.

Tetepare · 30-01-2019, 04:24

Note the proximity of other islands. Both turtles and monk seals will rehome for breeding. I assume birds will do likewise. While the scientists will cry the animals will adapt.

SoonerSailor · 08-02-2019, 07:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tetepare

Note the proximity of other islands. Both turtles and monk seals will rehome for breeding. I assume birds will do likewise. While the scientists will cry the animals will adapt.

I wonder why only 1 in 20 of the total population is using the other islands now? I guess they can build high rise apartments like we do when space is at a premium.

Please send your findings to the appropriate scientists, so they can quit and go home.

I imagine the human race will learn to re-home to another planet somewhere in the future too. So as long as we know there is such a solution, we can all stop thinking about things like this.

coastalexplorer · 08-02-2019, 09:02

Just received an emailed reminder to look back in on this thread again. Frankly I am somewhat surprised by some of the responses that seem to show limited concern for the our planet earth environment?

This previous Christmas I received an email from England sent by the maritime music entertainer Tom Lewis. members in the pacific northwest, from his time in Canada. and those members in England may be familiar with his work. I will copy and paste the email here. The song 'message in the bottle' is in my opinion loosely connected to this subject.

Tom Lewis

Phone: +44(0)7913 917318 / +44(0)7913 907303

60A Briggate, Shipley, West Yorkshire, BD17 7BT

SELF-PROPELLED MUSIC

" ... on earth peace, good will toward men" ( ... and women too ... of course!) In this day and age, that's becoming increasingly difficult ... but I'm trying.

In that spirit, allow me to offer this small gift . (The other evening I was performing SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS IN SEVENTY-FIVE MINUTES, when I was waylaid by Holiday Spirit and went 'off piste', into Christmas at Sea; thereby leaving no room for: Message in the Bottle.

Hardly 'seasonal' but, hey ... it's free! All good wishes, Tom.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."

Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Second inaugural address. (1937)

kapnd · 08-02-2019, 13:22

My favorite beaches in Hawaii are very nebulous, disappearing in certain winter weather conditions and returning through the summer as smaller waves and gentler currents return the sand to the beaches. The seasonal shoreline can vary by hundreds of feet!
In the before/after picture, one can clearly see that the sand is currently residing underwater, mostly to the upper right of the photo.
In time, and lacking more catastrophic weather events, it will likely fill back in at approximately the same location.
The sand shift is part of nature’s way, something that we humans only lightly grasp, and frequently attempt to manipulate, often with disastrous results!
Heaven forbid that they should operate sand dredges there, that will wreck even more havoc with the areas fragile ecosystem.

Vertor · 08-02-2019, 15:54

Interesting read. My initial thoughts jumped straight to pointing the finger of blame at global warming, but it seems there are two processes at play, one natural the other (potentially) man made. Might global warming be speeding up this particular process?

**GordMay** · 09-02-2019, 05:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vertor

Interesting read. My initial thoughts jumped straight to pointing the finger of blame at global warming, but it seems there are two processes at play, one natural the other (potentially) man made. Might global warming be speeding up this particular process?

I wouldn't think that AGW would have has any appreciable affect on this incident. It was a Hurricane (Walaka).

Vertor · 09-02-2019, 05:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by GordMay

I wouldn't think that AGW would have has any appreciable affect on this incident. It was a Hurricane (Walaka).

That was kind of my point GordMay, in the UK we get a lot of news about the efffects of global warming - you know what us Brits are like about the weather... This post had me jumping to conclusions, immediately thinking it was another message aimed at pointing out the effects of the same. Hope that makes sense?