Hanauma Bay: Hawaii's Coastal Treasure

Author Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi certainly did her homework with this spiral-bound book, Hanauma Bay: Hawaii's Coastal Treasure. If you want to know about Hawaii's first marine conservation district, this book rivals the others on Hanauma Bay for quality information. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what to do with it. The reason I say that is because there are better books on fish identification. Hoover's book on Hanauma Bay (and on Hawaiian fish and invertebrates) is the one for snorkelers and divers. Susan Scott has a nice natural history book based on "zones" for the visitor. But Hanauma Bay: Hawaii's Coastal Treasure has a niche. It should be in all Oahu libraries, and a required textbook for those going through volunteer training for the Bay's education programs. It also is a great book in the home of Oahu residents, so that their visitors can prepare themselves for a worthwhile trip. This book does a really nice job reviewing the history of Hanauma Bay (pre and post human settlement), the management changes over the past 50 years, and the various programs, policies, and, yes, politics involved in the management of the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve. It doesn't discuss that important lawsuit about charging non-residents a fee for access while residents get in free. Perhaps the case wasn't resolved at the time of publication (it was resolved by ruling that it was legal as long as all fees collected stayed in the park's budget). I wish it covered more of the "disturbed" period. I realize that beautiful pictures of fish, coral, and scenery sells. But it is difficult to conceptualize the impacts of 10,000 visitors in a day, hundreds of cigarette butts in every square meter of sand, the swirls of fish being fed, and the folk who lugged out chucks of coral. Notice that none of this stopped me from getting my own copy! And I got Tsutsumi and two of the photographers to sign it! This is a required book for the Hanauma Bay aficionado.