The Maui Goodness

Like most of the nation, our economy in Hawaii is taking a hit. Real estate prices have steadied, but not fallen like those on the mainland. Thanks to the bankruptcies of both ATA and Aloha, the cost of flying to Hawaii has dramatically risen. This, combined with the rest of the nation’s belt-tightening, has had a major effect on our level of tourism. Hotel and resort capacity is down and projected to stay down through the summer. Concerning Hawaii and Maui in particular, there are definite good and bad factors involved in our present economy.

THE BAD
Hawaii is the most oil dependant State in the most oil dependant Country in the World. The rising fuel costs affect everything in our lives. With everything being shipped from overseas, Hawaii’s economy is a slave to the oil industry. Signs of this changing are slim to none. With the rising costs, Hawaii is becoming ever more expensive to live and visit.

THE GOOD
Hawaii seems to get hit by a slumping economy a little later than the rest of our Country. Real estate is still highly valued because the people that can afford to buy here are of a different breed. Wealthy people tend to weather storms better than the masses, and the wealthy are the ones buying second homes in Hawaii, especially when the economy is struggling. Decreasing value in the dollar can only help Hawaii tourism and industry. A huge portion of visitors to Hawaii come from Canada and Japan. With the dollar becoming worth less, tourism will rise with international visitors. These visitors will help us grow and stay afloat through the rough times.

WHAT WE CAN DO
American visitors and residents of Hawaii both need to concentrate on buying American, and traveling in America. Keeping money in this country will ensure our prosperity. As the dollar falls, local production is more attractive and will help our economy. Signs of this are already present. The film industry rushed to Canada to save money in the last 5 years. Just in the last year, we’re seeing filming move back to the USA. With major tax incentives, the state of Hawaii has enjoyed industry revenue with recent filming on Kauai, Oahu, and Molokai.

With concentration on continued spending within Hawaii, this rough spot in our economy will be lessened, and we’ll be better prepared for the next wave of prosperity.

The island of Maui, and all of the Hawaiian Islands, have a major cat problem. With no natural predators, and near-ideal conditions to live, feral cats are breeding rampantly all over. Without control over breeding, these kitty populations are growing exponentially. With rapid growth comes more collisions with vehicles, starvation, and disease.  The problem is becoming increasingly evident with regular feline casualties littering our roads.  (Driving in paradise can quickly become depressing.)  Though it’s a difficult task, the only possible solution is to spay and neuter all Maui feral cats. The bulk of the cats live primarily in inaccessible areas making any action by the Maui Humane Society extremely difficult.

The Axis deer population is also exploding on Maui. Originally, a handful of deer were brought to the island over 20 years ago. Now Herd populations are estimated at around 10,000 on Maui. Deer predators consist of hunters, cars, and feral dogs. Hunters are given the right to kill as many deer as they’d like, everyday of the year, except for Christmas. Though Axis deer are naturally resistant to most disease and parasites, they do carry risk of contaminating Maui’s watershed area by possibly passing livestock and human diseases. Crop damage has become a more regular problem as well as substantial damage to golf courses used as grazing areas at night. Endangered plants are also becoming more rare with the abundance of deer foraging.

Efforts are being made on many levels to control the deer population, but the kitty problem is being widely ignored. Contact the Maui Humane Society to see how you can help.  Call to volunteer at (808) 877-3680 Ext. 37 or Make a Donation.

Your chances are near to none. You’re more likely to win the lottery than be attacked by a shark. The following statistics come from over 125 years of reports. Over this long period of time, there have only been 15 unprovoked shark attacks resulting in fatalities in the Hawaiian Islands. 113 attacks total occured in this time frame, of which 98 were not fatal. The last fatal attack occured on Maui in 2004.

Maui has seen 36 unprovoked shark attacks in the last 125 years, of which only 3 were fatal. Of the billions of people to visit our islands in the last century, the number of attacks becomes dwarfed leaving your chances of being attacked by a shark near to nothing.

Still, if you’re eager to not be the one in a million attacked by a shark, here are a few things to remember when in the ocean.

Sharks are more likely to attack:

• At night or when the sun is setting or coming up. (Sharks feed primarily at night.)

• Snorkelers and Surfers (Sharks like to attack objects at the surface.)

• Near stream and river outlets. (The murky water attracts smaller fish that they like.)

• Near a shoreline after or during heavy rains.

• Around heavy fishing areas. (Stay out of the water when fisherman are chumming.)

• People with open-wounds. (If you’re bleeding, don’t go swimming.)

• Further out in the ocean in deeper waters.

• People with little respect for the ocean.

Even if you do everything possible to attract sharks, you’re still not likely to be bit. Sharks don’t like to eat humans, and they usually only attack by mistake.

For more statistical information on shark attacks in Hawaii, visit the Hawaii Shark Map.

Is there actually a place where turtles congregate in large groups?

Yes, but there is a bit of misleading going on.
Is there one single place that is known as turtle town?
No. Tour operators refer to Turtle Town to help sell tours. Do they go to places with lots of turtles?
Yes.
The bottomline: Green sea turtles are everywhere in the waters of Maui and Hawaii in general. Some areas more than others. Captains of tour boats generally know areas that have more than others, and will take you there. Commonly, some of these spots are turtle cleaning stations. Sea turtles know where to go where certain fish live that will eat the algae off of their shells, cleaning them. These cleaning stations are wonderful spots to view turtles. Also, areas with less people often have more turtles. Turtles generally don’t like a lot of human attention.The next time someone mentions a magical place called Turtle Town, keep in mind that there might be another turtle town even closer to where you are staying. The best thing to do is to ask a local, or someone who works at a snorkeling/scuba shop where to find the largest concentration of turtles. Most likely, you’ll find a couple right in front of your hotel.

Important: Sea turtles are protected and it is illegal to touch them!
This law was not put into place to just keep from bothering them. humans touching sealife can often cause harm due to the oils and bacteria in our skin. Also, when people come into contact with turtles, they can become quickly exhausted leaving them in stress with less defensive strength. The main reason it can be detrimental to their health is because of all the movies people see of riding on sea turtles backs. With the over-exertion, turtles can drown. They need to breath at the surface just like us. Respect all sealife, and don’t touch anything. When we touch things in the ocean, we put ourselves at risk of being hurt as well as possibly harming what we touch.

A question we’re often asked stems from the stigma attached to the islands about local tension and racism. Stories regularly float around about local Hawaiians beating up haoles and tourists. Is this True?

Yes and no. In any community, you’re bound to find bad seeds and racism. We don’t live in a perfect world. On the other hand, Hawaii sees polar opposites in this subject, along with everything in between. One person may display anger and prejudice while the next may exude the spirit of aloha with smiles and bring you into their ohana. It’s a very strange thing in the islands. At the same time, the same person can have both of these characteristics only in different situations. In general, you most likely will not experience any of this tension.

Who is most likely to display these negative feelings and where does this all come from?

Localism and tension is mostly expressed from the local youth. Through history, teenagers have proven their need to express their angst through rebellious behavior. What better way to fit in than to join those against? Most of this stems from the recent history of the islands and it’s transformation into a global economy. Most of the people living on Maui and all the islands survive because of the tourist industry. The influx of disrespectful tourists and the increasing dependency of the local population to their dollars further give tourism an ugly face. The slow death of industry on the islands has increased this fact. The Pineapple isle no longer grows pineapples due to the low cost of fruit production in central and South America. This is just one of many examples where the Hawaiian Islands are becoming solely dependant on tourism. The other major source of income on our islands is from Real Estate. Living in paradise is an attractive thing. Prices for land have skyrocketed due to the outside interest of developers and vacation dwellers. The strength of our real estate market is another reason for the interest and value in our land. When the rest of the world crashes, our land is still worth almost as much. The local people are hurt by the inflated prices created by the wealthy looking for a home on the ocean, most of which will only spend a week out of the year there.

All of these factors have stretched the spirit of aloha to its extent. One of the biggest problems faced in tourist acceptance is their general ignorance of the land and people. Our local people hate to see our land treated like garbage, but ironically we’re noticeably the worst when it comes to littering.

The bottom-line: Stereotypes exist in all cultures because a small group from their population acts collectively in a certain way. This shouldn’t reflect the whole culture, but it often does because it makes a bigger noise than that of the happy, helpful, and quiet. These stereotypes create more stereotypes in the way people treat the effected people. The cycle continues until everybody hates everybody for some reason or another whether or not it’s specifically true in that instance.

How to avoid localism and racism?

Respect the land and it’s people. Learn by doing research before you go. If you understand each situation before you get involved, you’re less likely to do something that will harm the fragile and slipping culture of Hawaii. This goes for local customs (ex. Taking your shoes off when entering a residence), the environment (ex. Don’t stand on the reef or take coral or sand home), boundaries (ex. Get permission before trespassing on private property to access natural features and attractions), and ignorance (ex. Expect some stereotyping of yourself by others and blow off any negative vibes.)If you are confronted with racism and local tension, ignore it and walk away. As in any situation, unprovoked antagonistic behavior cannot be reasoned with. Just because the thoughts behind these situations are irrational doesn’t mean that that person could possibly see the light. They don’t want to.

For the most part, the people of Hawaii are wonderful, caring people that will bend over backwards for anyone. Don’t let the very few bad apples ruin your good times.