Posted on: Tuesday, May 13, 2003
Hanauma Bay safety video previewed
By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer
A new ocean safety video ordered in January as part of precautions following a record 12 drownings at Hanauma Bay last year has been completed and should be in use by the end of the month, officials said yesterday.
The new safety portion will be incorporated into the seven-minute video about Hanauma's geology, terrain and fish species that visitors are required to watch before going down to the beach. All that's left is for the safety video to be translated into seven languages, said Jim Howe, city lifeguard chief of operations.
City lifeguards unveiled the video yesterday at their annual Drowning Prevention and Safety Conference at the Ala Moana Hotel, Howe said.
"I think it will add to our arsenal, our tools of helping to make all our visitors and residents who use the area safer," Howe said. "In combo with everything else, we hope that the changes will increase visitor safety there."
There have been no drownings at the nature preserve this year, Howe said.
"We're anxious to get the safety video out to the public," said Peter Rappa, a University of Hawai'i Sea Grant College marine science faculty member in charge of the education program at Hanauma. "We've stepped up our drowning education."
A lifeguard has been giving presentations on ocean safety to visitor groups and has been stationing himself at the information kiosk on the beach, Rappa said. A sixth lifeguard, up from the four assigned to the bay for much of 2002, remains on duty. And the equipment rental concessionaire has made snorkel training available for visitors who rent equipment, though it's not mandatory.
The message of the safety video, "Know Before You Go," was drafted with the help of the Hawaiian Lifeguard Association.
A rough cut of the video was shown at the bay in late April, and it received the approval of the ad hoc ocean safety group made up of city agencies, members of the university and representatives of the Waikiki Aquarium, Howe said.
