April’s Blue’Aina underwater reef cleanup took place on the very fitting date of April 22nd, Earth Day. The Corporate Sponsor Fairmont Kea Lani presented its non-profit recipient the Hawaii Wildlife Fund with a donation of $1000 and food was provided for volunteers and crew by Trilogy Excursions. After loading onto Trilogy IV from Ka’anapali Beach we headed north to clean up the reef at Namalu Bay. Also known as Cliff House, Namalu Bay hosts marine life such as Orangespine unicorn fish, convict tang, aʽama crab, Hawaiian green sea turtles, octopus, eels, and the occasional manta ray.

Every day is Earth Day in our book and the Fairmont Hotels and Resorts carry the same sentiment. They embrace environmentally sustainable business practices and continue to seek new ways to proactively green their operations. As one of the most environmentally friendly hotels on the island, they received the 2010 Hawaii Green Business Award. You can read the highlights of their 50 sustainability initiatives here. Additionally, the Fairmont Kea Lani has partnered with United States Fish and Wildlife Service as well as DLNR for the Endangered Hawksbill Sea Turtle Dawn Patrol Volunteer Program. They will ‘adopt’ neighboring White Rock beach as part of an effort to support the critically endangered Hawksbill sea turtle. The resort’s sustainability team will volunteer during the 2016 nesting season to walk the beach each morning to monitor and report any turtle nesting tracks.

Earth Day’s non-profit recipient The Hawaii Wildlife Fund leads research, monitoring and conservation efforts to help protect Hawaii’s fragile marine ecosystem. Some of their projects include: Hawksbill Sea Turtle Recovery Project, Honu Watch Project, and Hawai’i Island Marine Debris Removal Project. They play a large role here on Maui monitoring our sea turtles annually. We think the Fairmont Kea Lani’s support of the Hawaii Wildlife Fund was a perfect match and are happy to bring together like minded groups of people working towards a common goal.

Trilogy’s next Blue’Aina is on Sunday May 8th, out of Lahaina Harbor. Reservations can now be made online through the Trilogy website. Our corporate sponsor is still TBD, however we are thrilled to have Cool Cat Cafe as our food sponsor. Interested corporate sponsors may get involved by emailing magen.schifiliti@sailtrilogy.com.

By Magen Schifiliti, Conservation and Education Director.