Other Views

Saturday, May 20, 1998

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Star-Bulletin file photo
Continuous noise from jet ski and parasail operations
is damaging Hawaii's fragile marine ecosystem, critics say.

Jet skis are destroying
Hawaii’s ocean environment

Steps are being taken elsewhere to protect
marine life from thrill-craft noise and pollution

By Richard Roshon

Since the early 1980s, I have strongly advocated against the effects that continuous noise from jet ski and parasail operations have upon a very fragile marine ecosystem.

It was truly a disgrace that it took 10 long years to pass a mere five-month ban upon these so-called thrill-craft operations, implemented only during the winter migration of the North Pacific Humpback Whale to the surrounding waters of Hawaii. During that decade, fragile reef ecosystems and offshore waters became polluted.

For more than 20 years, I have dedicated my life to the preservation of the world's oceans, primarily the waters that surround Hawaii. I truly believe that the most important part of beachfront property is the one you call your home.

This past May, I left my Maui home to put on a five-month lecture tour to the northeastern part of the U.S. and Pacific Northwest. My lecture, slide and video presentation, "Man, Kayak and the Whale," represents my life with the sea, and primarily with the humpback whale.

All my observations are made peacefully from an ocean kayak. From a kayak, one sees and hears all. I speak about the importance of living in balance with our natural surroundings, and the effects that noise has upon ourselves and the fragile marine environment.

After speaking at the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C., I met with some very influential people. They lobby against the use of thrill craft, primarily jet skis and their use in national parks, lakes and other estuaries.

They, along with Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of the Interior, have introduced me to some very interesting facts:

Jet skis have been banned in the Florida Everglades, Glacier National Parks and throughout Switzerland.

Running a jet ski for one hour releases the same amount of smog-generating pollutants as driving a car 800 miles.

Jet skis discharge up to 30 percent of their fuel, unburned, into the water. Studies show that the toxicity of such discharges, made 50,000 times worse by ultraviolet light, damages ecologically essential plankton.

Every year, jet skis spill the equivalent of four Exxon Valdez tankers worth of raw petrochemicals into U.S. waters.

It makes very little sense to implement a Hawaiian Humpback Whale Sanctuary and to allow thrill craft like jet skis and parasailing operations to operate at all. The ocean does not die when whales depart the surrounding waters of Hawaii.

During my mainland travels thus far, it is sometimes embarrassing to hear the thoughts and comments that I have been receiving from people about Hawaii.

Noise pollution and the lack of open space are vital concerns to many people. They are probably why the economy of Hawaii is doing so poorly.

In the visitor industry, however, money talks. But then, so do I. I've got nothing to lose, as so much of Hawaii has been lost already.

I truly miss my home on Maui, but feel that being on the road is the only way I can represent the fragile and sensitive environment of Hawaii. Too many residents take Hawaii for granted.

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Richard Roshon is a nature photographer
and lecturer who lives on Maui.