Category Archives: Uncategorized

An odd smell permeated our vehicle while driving down the road to one of our field sites…what is that?  We’ve smelled trash, sewage, yard waste, burning cane; but never this.  What could it be?  No idea. It turns out, that corals around the entire island of Maui were making love. Rice coral spawning is anContinue reading “Disgustingly Awesome”

One of my favorite sites to dive/snorkel in Maui is Ukumehame.  Despite the 300m swim to get out there, the reef rewards divers & swimmers with large fish, numerous turtles, beautiful & complex coral formations, clear water, and manta rays.    In addition, it’s proven to be a great surf spot & now hosts an arrayContinue reading “[de] Construction @ Ukumehame”

We’re back in Maui, attacking science like tuna on tangs.  This trip my field assistant/dive buddy is Niko Kaplanis–undergrad researcher & surfing grom guru.  We’ve been having a great time…working long days, sometimes under water for 6 hrs/day.  We’ve traveled 60 km of Maui’s coastline three times now, sampling around our CAUs (calcification/accretion units), collectingContinue reading “Another Day in the Office”

On July 28, 2012 we celebrated the 3rd birthday of the Kahekili Herbivore Fisheries Management Area (KHFMA) in Maui, Hawaii.  The KHFMA is the first protected area of its kind — promoting fishing in general, while protecting specific species (herbivores) that are critical to the health and long-term persistence of the region’s beautiful coral reefs.Continue reading “Geekiest Dish & Happy Birthday KHFMA”

Im all about angles recently. I’ve been trying to design an economical flow meter that can be deployed in shallow reefs around Maui.  One method is to create an apparatus that tilts over as a function of flow.   This has been done before using spring-vane and float-line deployment mechanisms, combined with an accelerometer that measuresContinue reading “A New Angle On Flow”

This is an old post from another website re: my first dive on a remote atoll: “Getting it at Kingman Reef” By Levi Lewis “Okay, I get it.”  Dr. Sandin (fish team) was wondering what I thought of my first dive on Kingman Reef, one of the most remote and pristine coral reef ecosystems inContinue reading “Getting it at Kingman Reef”

I grew up angling with da hook n line kine & will always love bobbing around on the ocean, trying to convince a fish to accept my presentation.  It’s a beautiful art, wonderful adventure, and a keen way to be a part of nature. However, I recently had the opportunity to do a little spearContinue reading “A New Angle on Angling”

Sometimes you owe it to yourself  to “TREAT YO SELF.” I’ve recently realized that you also owe it to yourself to “GOOGLE YO SELF.”  Aside from all the cool people out there that share your name, you might find some interesting (hopefully not worse) information, pictures, even lectures of/by/for you that have been made publicContinue reading ““Google Yo Self””

Over the last year, I’ve grown to love bocce ball. How could you not like bocce ball? It is a simple game based on “one of the most primitive concepts in sports history: throwing an item at an inactive target.”   I love throwing, shooting & hitting things at other inactive things:  darts, pool, target practice,Continue reading “Veni Vidi GlowBocce”

“Dude, didn’t you leave your sediments drying in the oven?” These were the (not so) soothing words from Clint as we approached an inferno bellowing black mushroom clouds of smoke directly from the vicinity of our Lahaina residence (aka Mark’s house).  The next 4 traffic lights took an eternity, but in the end, we learnedContinue reading “The Day I Thought I Burned Down Lahaina”