Newswatch
By Star-Bulletin Staff
Monday, September 16, 1996
An array of tropical reef fish parades by in the surge tank display at the Waikiki Aquarium, a facility which is co-hosting a major gathering of experts on coral reefs this week in Honolulu.
Photo by Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
Experts say 10 percent of the 234,370 square miles of coral reefs worldwide are already destroyed and 30 percent will be lost in the next 20 years.
The Philippines is a microcosm of the universal threat to coral reefs: Severe population pressures along the coast have resulted in denuding of forests, which smothers the coral with silt. Raw sewage and agricultural fertilizers and pesticides create deadly algae blooms. Dynamite and cyanide are used to catch fish. And coral is overharvested.
"The tragedy is made greater because these are some of the most fertile and most biologically diverse coral reefs in the world," said Stephen Colwell, executive director of the Coral Reef Alliance. "Anywhere that people don't think what they do on land affects coral reefs, it's a problem."
More than 1,000 experts are converging on Oahu this week for the American Zoo and Aquarium conference, hosted by the Waikiki Aquarium, Honolulu Zoo and Sea Life Park.
They will focus on saving the endangered reefs by kicking off the International Year of the Reef, which will last until late next year.
To spotlight the Year of the Reef, the Waikiki Aquarium will unveil an exhibition of coral photos by the world's top underwater photographers, which next will go to Sea Life Park and then to aquariums and zoos across the nation.
The Waikiki Aquarium also will display its new coral surge zone gallery, made with coral grown at the aquarium. The aquarium is leading the world in growing coral, which it has sent to aquariums in 12 states, Norway and France.
But it may be several months before drug-induced abortions are available here, said executive director Cheryl Vasconcellos.
Mainland affiliates are starting later this month to demonstrate the use of drugs to end pregnancies safely without surgery.
The Hawaii affiliate is slower to start because it's been unable to find a landlord willing to lease space for a Honolulu clinic, Vasconcellos said.
"It's a mess, and it's ridiculous," she said. "We just made our 30-year anniversary in August and this is no way to celebrate 30 successful years in our state."
She said Planned Parenthood estimates it has served about 25 percent of females of child-bearing age in Hawaii. "Those are pretty significant numbers."
But the agency lost a sublease for its Honolulu Clinic at 1441 Kapiolani Blvd. in mid-July. The sublessor chose not to renew the lease, Vasconcellos said, "and the building owner decided not to let us stay because we're Planned Parenthood."
Activities were relocated to the Kaneohe Clinic, at 45-1151 Kamehameha Highway. However, it has about one-third the space of the Honolulu clinic and is "just bursting at the seams," Vasconcellos said.
The suspect, a known gang member with nine prior arrests, allegedly threatened two people with a butterfly knife early Saturday morning at a bus stop.
Following his arrest, the boy was sent to the state's Alder Street detention facility while police worked on the case.
The move gave police 24 hours to seek charges as compared to six hours had the youth been detained at the police cellblock.
The new interpretation of the juvenile law has been in effect for about two months, police said.
The boy allegedly confronted a 19-year-old Moiliili man he had argued with the day before on a city bus at midnight while the victim and an acquaintance were at a bus stop at Kamehameha IV Road and N. School St.
During the confrontation, the boy allegedly threatened the couple with a butterfly knife.
Jeng Song Wang, 54, was snorkeling with his wife and daughter near the resort at about 12:15 p.m., police said. The cause of death is unknown, pending autopsy.
- Suspect arrested in reported rape
- 500 acres of cane near Haleiwa burn
- Two are charged in Oahu burglaries