Mapping

We used Google Maps to pinpoint important spots at our study sites. These two maps are of our Ahihi Reserve Study Site.

This first map is by Emily Lazo.

This second map is by Corey Harrison.

Results and Conclusions of Ahihi Reserve Opihi survey

I think the Ahihi Reserve should not be opened. Think about and look at the results. Compare to the research we did with the Opihi then you will see that the Ahihi Bay site near the edge of the reserve has a lot less Opihi compared to the site further in Ahihi Reserve. We should not open up the reserve. People poach and break the rules with fishing. They say they won’t poach, but look at the results.
Evidence and research points out that we should not open the reserve at all. See the Excel graph below to prove my point. We found twenty eight Opihi a the Ahihi Bay site. When we went to the deep inside Ahihi Reserve site we found one hundred and five opihi in the research area. This is some of the evidence we need to keep the reserve closed.

We also found evidence on the shells of Opihi being poached at the Ahihi Reserve sites. The shell has a couple of broken pieces on the sides of the shell. This shows a person with a knife slaughtering the Opihi and eating them. This means people are coming in to the reserve to poach and eat Opihi. There aren’t enough rangers to cover the whole reserve and not enough money to hire more rangers.

As I said before, I think we should close the reserve area and let the Opihi grow for a bit and have some rest. There are four endemic species of Opihi in Hawaii and the reserve is one of the homes to one of these endemic species called Black Foot Opihi. So I rest my case and say the Opihi should be left alone and the reserve stay shut down for now.




Writing by Kaleb Wilstead
Graph by Tehilla Ben Gershom and Tara Servis

Overview of Opihi data collection

Here at Kihei Charter School we got grant money from the people at the B-WET program. So this last quarter we have been collecting data on opihi and sending it to the great people at the B-WET program (NOAA and DLNR).

Opihi are animals that live on the rocks. The scientific name for opihi is Cellana exarata. They live by the splash zone with mid high wave exposure. Opihi are small creatures that live in their shell. Most of the Opihi found in Hawai’i have black shells. But some Opihi in some other areas have different colored shells. Opihi grow their shell by using nutrients in the water. Their shell grows from the top down.

We collect the data on the Opihi by using these tools called calipers. Calipers tell us the size of the opihi. It is important to get this data because if we see that the opihi population is going down drastically we know somebody is illegally taking them from their environment.

Writing by Remy deRochemont
Image by KCS Science Class

Measuring Sample Area Size

When we collected data on the opihi mollusks we had to measure the area. This is how we could know how many opihi were in the area per square meter. Our tape measures have feet and meters on them. The salt water makes them get sticky and sometimes they are hard to roll up. It is hard to know the exact area because the shore line is very rocky and jagged. We can't follow the shore exactly because of the waves too.

Image and writing by KCS Science Class

Gathering Water Samples

Even though our digital probes are water resistant, we wanted to keep them away from the waves and open ocean. We sent one of our group members down to the water to get water samples to test. When you test the water you have to be careful to measure temperature and dissolved oxygen quickly because they will change if the water sits in a cup too long.

Image and writing by KCS Science Class

GPS

We used GPS units to pinpoint our research areas. We found the longitude and latitude at each sample site at each study area. Each study area had at least three sample sites for testing water quality and gathering data on weather. We also made accurate maps of our areas and included GPS coordinates for important places like parking lots or where we found interesting animals. The next picture shows you that Hawai'i is pretty far south.



Image and writing by KCS Science Class

Digital Probes

 

This is one of the probes we use to collect data in the field. Although these computers can do many jobs, we used them to measure air and water temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, humidity, UVB radiation, and pH.

Image and writing by KCS Science Class