Research Seminar Series Celebrates Year of the Coral Reef
May 8 Lecture Features Dr. Charles Birkeland, UH Manoa
Dr. Charles Birkeland of the University of Hawaii at Manoa will discuss Leaving the Big Fish: The Importance to Coral Reefs and the Fishery on May 8 at 6 p.m. in Atherton Halau at Bishop Museum. Parking and admission are free.
Bishop Museum has joined the world in the celebration of the International Year of the Coral Reef with this special Research Seminar Series Lecture focused on coral reef ecology featuring noted researchers and experts in the field. The program is sponsored in part by Outrigger Reef on the Beach and the Kohala Center.
On May 8, Dr. Charles Birkeland will discuss why it is a part of mainland fishing tradition to selectively take the larger individual fishes, leaving the smaller ones to grow. According to Dr. Birkeland, the few larger individuals of a species often have a different role in the coral reef ecosystem than do the smaller individuals and this role can be important for the reef community. For some fish populations, the larger individuals have the reproductive potential of over 200 medium-sized individuals, and for some species, the older individuals produce more healthy and faster growing offspring. By selectively taking the larger individuals, some mainland fisheries have driven the evolution of certain species to smaller sizes. Dr. Birkeland will discuss how leaving the larger individuals may contribute to the maintenance of the coral reef ecosystem and to the stability of the fish population.
The final lecture in the Coral Reef Series will be presented on June 12 at 6 p.m. in Atherton Halau. Bishop Museum’s intrepid underwater explorer Dr. Richard Pyle will present, Into the Twilight Zone: Exploring the Deep Coral Reefs. Coral reef habitat extends from the surface of tropical seas down to a depth of approximately 500 feet (150 meters), but only the upper one-third of this habitat has been adequately explored. The remaining two-thirds of coral-reef habitat, which lies at depths beyond what can be safely accessed with conventional scuba gear, remains almost completely unknown. Using advanced, high-tech diving gear and special gas mixtures, a team of marine biologists has begun to investigate the deep coral reefs, and have discovered more than a hundred new species of fishes. Dr. Pyle will describe how a multi-institutional team of scientists in Hawai‘i—with funding from NOAA—are collaborating to document the deep coral reefs off Maui using state-of-the-art technologies.
The Research Seminar Series is a monthly forum held on the second Thursday of each month. The free lecture programs are coordinated by Bishop Museum’s Dr. Steve Coles, who may be reached at slcoles@bishopmuseum.org or (808) 847-8256. For more information about Bishop Museum’s Research Seminar Series on Coral Reefs, call (808) 847-3511 or visit www.bishopmuseum.org.
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