MNA Marine Biologist Adriana Santacruz-Castro, Ph.D. recently participated in the Delta International Coral Restoration Symposium. Held in Pingtung, Taiwan, the two-day conference invited top conservation institutions, including the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the world's largest nature conservation organization, the Mote Marine Laboratory, an international authority on marine ecology research, and Kaua‘i's very own Mālama Nā `Apapa. Attendees shared in-depth information on the latest application trends on coral survey mechanisms. The seminar focused on practical applications and technology. Adriana's MNA presentation included discussion of our coral reef surveying operations as well as our planned coral nursery and outplanting facility.

Working with a group of 15 students at Island School, MNA is helping to create an aquaculture nursery for Limu. This nursery is another step towards an approved coral nursery where broken coral can be used to produce new, larger coral formations. These will eventually be planted in locations in the ocean that are coral deficient. The structure of this Limu facility is very similar to what a coral nursery would look like. The tanks or "raceways" are set up for constant turnover of seawater so that the creatures in the tank experience something similar to being in the ocean.

MNA's summer inter this year, Jaden De Souza, helped with coral surveys and the data-crunching that comes afterwards. She was a great addition to our team. Her own mini-CV (below) eloquently describes her background and goals. Mahalo Jaden and we all hope to work with you again! Aloha, my name is Jaden De Souza, I was born and raised on Kaua‘i and am currently earning my Masters Degree in Communication from Saint Mary’s College after completing Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Science (2025).  I eventually want to work in coral restoration and help regrow our damaged reefs. My goal…

A team from MNA performed surveys on four permanent transects at Kōloa Landing Monday. Two long-term temperature monitors were also retrieved and the data downloaded. This was our final in-water event with our summer intern Jaden -- mahalo Jaden!

On June 20 a group of MNA volunteers surveyed several sections of the reef at Hale O Honu, a site on the south shore of Kaua'i. This image shows the reef areas and the GPS track of the dive float that was towed by one of the divers. The actual locations of the surveys were driven by the reef structure under water.

Read the complete article here, starting on page 44.

Kauai VOAD (Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters) is holding a community Emergency Preparedness Fair on Saturday April 27th in Lihue from 9am to 12 noon. (see the attached flyer for details. Feel free to share and post the flyer on social media and anywhere else.) There will be many organizations at the event that will be presenting topics on what you can do to prepare for emergencies so that you are more resilient and can possibly help others in times of emergencies and disasters. Everyone is invited!!  There will be free lunch for all attendees so invite your friends and family…

Malama Na Apapa will be having a Krispy Kreme and Molokai Hotbread fundraising event on Saturday April 13th 2024.  This will be held at the Kapaa Sports Park near the skate park from 8am until we sell out.  Krispy Kreme's are $15 for a dozen and Molokai Bread is $15 per loaf, donations are also welcome.  If you would like to pre-order anything you can email us at malamaapapa@gmail.com. The purpose of this fundraiser is to support our Youth Scuba Club.  As part of our educational outreach, we have a Youth Scuba club, which includes youth ages 10 and up from all…