MEDIA RELEASE

Researchers and students at the University of Hawaii at Hilo have launched a pair of websites providing information on the health of various coral reefs around Hawaii Island.

A research team led by Dr. Misaki Takabayashi, an associate professor in marine science, has spent the past seven years conducting investigations.

The team’s findings are available on-line with easy-to-follow formats.

http://geodata.sdal.hilo.hawaii.edu/techgis/wai/indexcopy.html displays time-series photographs that tracks changes in 48 coral colonies that were observed every month for the last 4-5 years at Waiopae tide pools in Puna.

http://coralhealth.spatial.hawaii.edu/ provides basic information about coral health and diseases along with the researchers’ data on coral disease prevalence at several sites around Hawaii Island.

Takabayashi’s team included Ph.D. student John Burns, master’s students Makani Gregg and Monika Frazier, and undergraduates Niegel Rozet, Eva Farah, Lauren Kapono, and Danielle Claar.

The health of corals is considered to be fundamental to Hawaii’s ocean life with direct cultural, environmental and economic significance.

Researchers hope that the websites will help Hawaii residents understand the importance of a healthy coral community and the state of its health at various reefs around the island.