Hanauma drownings soar
| • | Graphic: Drownings on O'ahu since 1995 |
By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer
Hanauma Bay is a snorkeling mecca that draws 1 million visitors annually to frolic in an underwater world and see scores of beautiful reef fish up close, but it also was the most dangerous beach on O'ahu last year with 12 drownings — more than the past seven years combined and half of all the island's drownings in 2002.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
Drownings were up around O'ahu — 24 last year according to preliminary figures from the state Department of Health and Advertiser records — compared with 17 in 2001. But it's Hanauma Bay, a closely guarded area where the drownings were a 500 percent increase over the year before — and where all the victims were tourists — that alarms officials the most.
Lifeguards Kevin Allen, foreground, and Ron Bregman keep a watchful eye on swimmers and snorkelers at Hanauma Bay, where 12 of O'ahu's 24 drownings in 2002 occurred. All 12 victims were tourists.
"We're really concerned about this," said Jim Howe, Honolulu city and county lifeguard chief of operations. "It's a situation no one wants. Ocean recreation and ecotourism are Hawai'i's mainstay. It's a big part of our economy."
Howe could offer no single explanation for the increase in drownings at Hanauma Bay, but lifeguards launched an ad hoc group to come up with solutions, he said.
Yesterday, city Managing Director Ben Lee ordered new safety measures to take effect this week:
- A sixth lifeguard will be added to stand watch on the beach, supplementing the two in each tower and one that roves and fills in where needed. Ten of Hanauma's 12 drownings last year occurred within 75 yards of shore.
- Meetings will be held with the on-site snorkeling concessionaire to discuss possible gear training to snorkeling customers.
- Work will begin on adding a one-minute video on snorkeling dangers, to be shown in the education center theater.
The city also plans to work with the Hawai'i Hotel Association to get an education video aired on in-room television programs, said Lee.
"Most tourists are so mesmerized by the bay that they're not really familiar with the equipment or the conditions and something happens and they panic," Lee said. "We want this one-minute video to inform people how to use snorkeling equipment. Since all these (drowning victims) were snorkeling, something is happening to make them panic.
Here is a breakdown on the 12 drownings at Hanauma Bay in 2002. All the victims were tourists, and all died while snorkeling.
"We need to do more outreach to the public."
Hanauma Bay drownings in 2002
The measures announced yesterday are in addition to steps put in place at Hanauma, including increasing the number of lifeguards from four to five, placing buoys around areas where the currents are strong and undertaking a study of all drownings since 1997 in an effort to see what else might be done.
"The guards say anecdotally that it has helped reduce the number of rescues already," Howe said of the measures taken before Lee's order yesterday. "We're doing everything that is available to us to address the situation. We don't know that one single solution will solve the problem; it may require a number of different approaches."
To that end, lifeguards are studying potential changes ranging from a floating guard tower in the bay itself to legislation requiring snorkel rental companies to provide rigorous safety training to customers.
While the number of drownings soared at Hanauma, there have been none in three years at nearby Sandy Beach, an area known for its dangerous surf and currents.
Lifeguarding at Hanauma Bay is a difficult task. Though the waters are not generally considered dangerous, monitoring hundreds of swimmers, many of them novices — face down and barely moving because most are snorkeling — is a challenge.
And it's a must-see place when visitors come to Hawai'i.
When Oliver Erwin of San Diego was making plans to attend the University of Hawai'i for a semester, all his friends told him to go to Hanauma Bay. No one mentioned that there were risks, just that it was a great place to snorkel.
Jon Orque • The Honolulu Advertiser
Source: Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Division, City and County of Honolulu.
After snorkeling at the bay for the first time, he was surprised to learn that there had been 12 drownings last year.
This graphic shows Hanauma Bay drownings and rescues since 1997.
"I stayed in front of the buoys because I thought that was as far as I was allowed to go," Erwin said last week following his visit to Hanauma. "Something more needs to be said when you get here about the conditions — especially since they're charging $3 admission."
The new ocean safety video ordered by Lee will be mandatory viewing along with the seven-minute reef and marine-life education video required to be shown to everyone who goes to the beach at Hanauma Bay.
Currently, the information about ocean conditions is brief and general, said Peter Rappa, a University of Hawai'i Sea Grant College marine science faculty member in charge of the education program at Hanauma.
The video could be more specific, Rappa said. Now it just tells people in seven languages — Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Hawaiian, Spanish, French and English — to stay off ledges, away from Toilet Bowl and Witches Brew and to heed warning signs and talk to lifeguards about ocean conditions.
In response to the drownings at Hanauma and the high number of rescues there — 351 in 2001 — the education program has teamed with lifeguards to give volunteers manning the beach kiosk — who offer directions, fish identification and other help — training on what to tell visitors about water safety.
In addition, Rappa said, the education department would be willing to give up one of its beach-side panels listing the kinds of fish found in the bay for safety information and current ocean conditions provided daily by the lifeguards.
"The lifeguards see the benefit of our volunteers having some ocean safety information," he said. "Everyone recognizes that more can be done in the video. It's only seven minutes and everyone wants their spiel in it."
Visitors to Hanauma Bay need to be told that there can be dangerous ocean conditions, Rappa said. Just because the ocean appears calm doesn't mean it's like swimming in a pool.
"Some people have no business renting snorkel equipment, and others could be snorkeling in a washing machine, they're so experienced," Rappa said. "It looks easy, but it's not always easy."
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
Howe said snorkel companies are key stakeholders in the ocean safety business and need to take an active role in educating visitors who rent snorkels.
In 2002, 12 people — all tourists — drowned at Hanauma Bay. That number is more than the past seven years combined and half of O'ahu's drownings last year. New safety measures ordered by the city are being put into effect this week, including addition of a sixth lifeguard.
Training on how to use snorkel gear is done upon request, said Ray Miyashiro, owner of Sure Shot, the company that operates the snorkel rental concession at Hanauma Bay. Workers do advise snorkel renters to stay within the reef, Miyashiro said.
The company, which pays the city a monthly rental fee, has 400 snorkel sets, and some days all of them are rented.
Miyashiro said he isn't at the bay every day and "wasn't aware there were so many drownings."
But, he said, "we are planning to offer a trained person to lead people who are not sure of themselves" on snorkeling tours. He said the company just received city approval for the service last week.
Hanauma Bay Snorkeling Excursions and Shuttle, a Koko Marina company whose core business involves Hanauma Bay, gives out detailed maps outlining water conditions and snorkeling spots, said owner Larry Joiner. The information is in English and Japanese, said Joiner, who purchased the company in October.
"We give them lessons on how to operate the snorkeling equipment and give them maps of the bay outlining the different conditions and tell them not to go beyond the reef. We offer life jackets, but not many people take us up on them," Joiner said. "We really want to caution them."
Victor Locano, owner and operator of Dolphin Excursions, which offers snorkeling from a boat off the Wai'anae Coast, said everyone who rents equipment gets a briefing on the boat and is encouraged to use the buddy system. At most reputable snorkel/diving companies, that's standard practice, he said.
The problem at Hanauma Bay is a great number of the snorkelers have never set foot in an ocean or may not have done so in a long time, said Howe. They may not be strong swimmers and don't understand currents and tides and how sharp the reefs can be.
"It's a great concern for us," Howe said. "The minute you go in the ocean, you're in a wilderness area, and like any wilderness area, whether it's the backwoods of the Rockies, the Ko'olaus or the ocean, you have to be prepared to deal with things that will come at you."
Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.
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