Ocean
Watch
Monday, August 25, 1997
Giving back to the ocean
can be hard but rewarding
Every once in a while, I get an urge to take things I
have collected from the ocean back to where they belong. My inspiration
for this comes from a local fisherman who once, years ago, shouted at a
public hearing, "Take, take, take! That's all we ever do in the
ocean. When are we going to start giving back?"
No time like the present, I thought, moved by the man's
speech. And so I found myself standing at the shoreline near my home,
tossing my seashells, one by one, into the water. Oh, it was hard. But I
kept throwing, imagining the joy a hermit crab might experience when
finding one of my lovely shells. It would surely be the home of its
dreams.
Last week, I gave something living back to the sea.
About five years ago, I received a unique and
thoughtful birthday present: a jar containing eight half-inch-long red
shrimp from one of the anchialine ponds on the Big Island.
Anchialine shrimp are true treasures of Hawaii, unique
in both lifestyle and habitat. The word anchialine (pronounced AN-key-a-lin)
means near the sea in Greek and refers to brackish pools close to the
ocean. Although the pools have no direct connection with the ocean, enough
seepage occurs through the porous ground that water in the ponds rises and
falls with the tides.
Tiny shrimp took advantage of this unique ecosystem
and, over the eons, evolved into nine or 10 species.
One fascinating feature of these shrimp is their
longevity: They can live for 10 years on very little food. Hawaii
researchers have kept sealed jars of these shrimp on their desks for years
without feeding them. The animals live on algae and bacteria that grow
naturally in the brackish water.
Such a cloistered lifestyle may seem odd, but it allows
the animals to survive volcanic eruptions. When their ponds fill with
lava, the shrimp retreat to underground water pockets, sometimes living
there for years with no light and little food. When new ponds form at the
surface, the shrimp emerge and start colonies.
Because of this remarkable adaptability, NASA is
interested in our shrimp. Perhaps someday these subterranean creatures
will boldly go where no shrimp has gone before.
Although Hawaii's anchialine shrimp are not listed as
endangered and are not protected by federal or state laws, they are in
danger of extinction. Not only are their ponds dwindling due to coastal
development, but people dump alien fish in the ponds, supposedly to eat
mosquito larvae. The fish also eat the shrimp.
Ironically, anchialine shrimp too eat mosquito larvae,
making the fish additions pointless.
When I first learned about these special shrimp, I
couldn't wait to get to the Big Island to see them. An easy place to visit
them is at the Waikoloa Resort. When the building of this resort destroyed
some of the natural ponds, developers made artificial ones. True to the
shrimps' nature, they moved right in and began reproducing like mad. Both
the natural and artificial ponds there are jam packed.
Years ago, I raved about these shrimp so much that my
partner went to a pond, scooped up eight of the beauties and presented
them to me as a gift.
What a treat these darting red creatures have been on
my countertop these past years. Some died, of course, but since the loss
was only about one per year, we figured the deaths were natural. When the
population recently got down to two, I decided it was time to let them go.
Last week, we returned to the Big Island and walked to
the pond, jar in hand. I opened the lid and dipped the edge into the
water. As our shrimp swam free, we said goodbye.
Giving back to the ocean can be hard, but it can also
be rewarding. Tossing those shells and lowering that jar will always
remain vivid memories.
