The debris from Lahaina's fire contains toxic chemicals and sits right next to a coral reef. So the community is collaborating with scientists to track water quality.
Concerns have been high in Lahaina that the devastating wildfire would also harm the ocean. Here, members of a community-led group head out to collect water samples.
"There's so much that we don't see," says Andrea Kealoha, assistant professor of oceanography at the University of Hawaii at Manoa."You don't really understand the impacts of anything in one year."Downtown Lahaina's waterfront was once the site of busy shops and residential homes. Every so often, the charred shell of a refrigerator is visible in the debris that remains, hinting at what once was there.
Every few weeks, a team from Hui O Ka Wai Ola, arrives in the burn zone to take water samples. Yannell and Keyhani put on masks and waders and head to where the waves are crashing. They collect water by dipping a long pole with a cup at the end into the ocean. The samples are then analyzed for the key indicators of water quality, like the pH, clarity, and oxygen levels.
"There's so much to figure out and it takes all of us coming together to answer all of these questions," Yannell says. So far, water sampling shows higher levels of copper were found at the boat harbor, especially right after the fire. Copper is used in boat paint to prevent marine life from attaching and many boats burned during Lahaina's fire. Still,Hawaii's Department of Health recently determined that the water is safe for recreation. But scientists warn that the effects on a complex marine ecosystem like a coral reef will take years to figure out.
Another research team at the University of Hawaii at Manoa is testing for more than 100 organic contaminants, since little is understood about how they could affect marine life at all levels, from tiny microbes to large fish.
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