Coral Reefs Cloaked In Moss

Snorkeling, Travel, and their Contradictions

When I first got into the water in Honokeana Bay, surrounded by resorts on the northwest side of Maui, I was nervous. The previous two times I snorkeled I couldn’t quite get the hang of the tube in my mouth. I kept breathing in salt water, momentarily convincing myself I was dying, only to take off the mask and feel completely fine. My mom was there to lead me, something I knew she would be happy to help with, and something I was excited to have her show me. I floated there, trying to remain calm as the goggles either filled with water from my mustache stopping it from completely sealing, or I started to inhale the ocean. Eventually, I got the hang of it, floating away from my mom as I watched little schools of needlefish hide in plain sight at the water's surface, unicornfish determinedly swimming against the currents, and, my favorite to watch that first time, brilliant colored wrasses as they scavenged for food beneath me and the rocks, algae, along with dead and dying coral. 

Swimming along the bay there were pockets of bright blue, red, and yellow corals, but to reach them we had to swim through rocks and dead coral, coated in thick algae, suffocated by the deep forest green. The coral, slowly, is becoming covered in it. As water temperatures increase and corals lose their color, which is created by microscopic species of other algae which give the coral necessary nutrients to survive, the corals grow weak, and large green algal blooms, along with macro-algae (or bigger algae), suffocate the reef, degrading the nooks and crannies the reefs make as homes for countless other animals in the warm waters. This is coral bleaching, something you could see plenty of in Honokeana Bay.

There are simple reasons why these corals die or weaken and turn white, and yet it seems the tourism industry, which brought me to Maui, seems to hold healing back for these reefs. The first and most blaring is the climate crisis: as the water warms, along with ocean acidification, the reefs begin to weaken due to their sensitivity to temperature change (read more here). The solution is to stop using fossil fuels. And we all already know this. And then there is overfishing, which usually means we are intruding too heavily on the delicate systems of the food webs that make up these ecosystems (or we just trawl and destroy them). We already get that. Then, there is also coastal development, which adds sediment to the reefs, along with damaging nest sights by building piers, fishing, or physically touching the reef as we snorkel through the coral. And yes, we all know this. 

My family was here, in a resort along with everyone else. These resorts are tucked closely to the shore for vacationers to enjoy the beauty of the sea as easily as possible. This access is integral to the understanding that we have broadly of the beauty of tropical shallow seas. And yet, these resorts and easy access to the oceans, planes, boats, toxic sunscreens and the like only bring us closer to watching these reefs die out, and with them the tourism and fisheries that economically sustain, not only Maui and Hawai’i at large, but countless other islands across the tropics and subtropics. 

None of this means I am without my joy and pleasure and gratitude in the experiences I had snorkeling and learning about these truly breathtaking reefs, but all this quietly lingered in the background as I swam, watching moray eels scurry into their dens and yellowtail wrasses flip rocks so easily on the seafloor. Unlike the waters of West Maui, my mind was clouded, distracted by my wondering if I should be here at all. The answer is likely no.

But what are we to do? People still want and will travel to some other hotter place to escape the cold. People will want to enjoy the bright beaches that culture has taught us, in a superficial way, what natural beauty is. We will still fly to far off places—justified for business, family, or leisure. We will continue to travel. And that travel is a large factor in hurting many of the beautiful places we go to visit.

Sometimes this world just feels like we’re sawing off our arms while admiring the beauty of our bones. The simple answer is to stop traveling. And yet for those of us with even a little extra cash, to revoke movement seems to revoke the seemingly very human urge to explore. But who knows, maybe that’s just good marketing stuck in my head.

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If you want to travel and do it a bit more sustainably, go ahead and give Ketti (@tiltedmap) a follow! She writes and gives travel tips for more thoughtful and sustainable travel.

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