Ocean Safety

Already this year there have been eleven deaths in the oceans around Kaua'i, an alarming rate, and there is controversy brewing as to what to do about it. Everyone appreciates that tourists come here to have a fun-filled vacation and don't want to be lectured to; on the other hand, to save some lives there is a good argument that they just might need to be educated.

A recent AP article - not local investigative journalism - explains the conflict of interest between better educating people about ocean safety and not quashing tourism business.

Arriving into Lihue airport recently I saw the new educational video and thought it was not very effective. The content is very abstract, grade school level stuff, and it completely avoids the topic of what bad things can happen if you aren't careful.

The video is not getting a lot of visibility in any case. The airlines are not anxious to show the video, and it doesn't seem to be available online (or I can't find it if it is somewhere, which is about the same as not being there).

My impression is that the tourist industry wants to brush all this under the rug and hope the problem goes away, or at least remains quiet and unknown to prospective visitors. The quotes in the AP piece seem to demonstrate a lack of understanding by using examples like sharks and drunken cliff falls which have not been part of the problem. The problem being people too close to ocean or fast-running streams at the wrong time and place.

Nobody has to fear Kaua'i but you do need to use good judgment. "Don't go if you don't know" is good advice but it can spoil the fun of exploring a remote beach you just discovered.

• play it safe
• go in the water where lifeguards are
• watch the weather report 
• don't attempt to cross running water more than a few inches high
• anywhere near the ocean, keep an eye on it