Leleiwi Beach Park--Windward Hawai‘i Island

Let's interactively explore the coral reefs of Hawai‘i Island and search for differences between windward and leeward reefs.
​This work was generated through a collaboration with University of Hawai‘i at Hilo Spatial Data Analysis and Visualization Laboratories and Santa Monica College.  This project was funded through the Santa Monica College Faculty Sabbatical Fellowship.  Mahalo nui to John Burns and Hoku Cody for technical and field support, and University of Hawai‘i at Hilo undergraduates Kamala Anthony and Nahoku Kahana for panoramic assembly. 
Note to users:  How to navigate the digital transects and panoramic tours
(1) Pano-tours:    <click and 'drag'> to look in any direction
***Interactive modules require ADOBE FLASH or the Flash plug-in to be activated.***
Updates to Google Chrome and Safari no longer support Flash. To view the pano-tours you need to use Mozilla Firefox and have the Flash plug-in activated.
(2) See a video on installing and getting going.
(3) The hot-spot circles are in technical difficulty purgatory. Click here to download files to learn more about the reefs and their ecology.

Site 1: Leleiwi, shallow reef (5 m depth)

Picture
​                          Panoramic photos credit: J. Burns; panoramic assembly: K. Anthony, N. Kahana, UH Hilo SDAV
Click the image above to explore a 360-panoramic of this reef site.  Click on the "buttons" in the panoramic tour to learn more!
Shallow nearshore reefs are dominated by Pocillopora spp. (branching) and Porites spp. (mounding) corals.   Video credit: C. Wall

Site 2: Leleiwi, middle reef (10 m depth)

Picture
​                          Panoramic photos credit: J. Burns; panoramic assembly: K. Anthony, N. Kahana, UH Hilo SDAV
Click the image above to explore a 360-panoramic of this reef site.  Click on the "buttons" in the panoramic tour to learn more!
Visibility is reduced at 10m and the reef substrate shows colonization by algae and cyanobacteria (red). Video credit: C. Wall

Site 3: Leleiwi, deep reef (15 m depth)

Picture
​                          Panoramic photos credit: J. Burns; panoramic assembly: K. Anthony, N. Kahana, UH Hilo SDAV
Click the image above to explore a 360-panoramic of this reef site.  Click on the "buttons" in the panoramic tour to learn more!

​​Video credit: C. Wall
The reef at 15m has abundant rubble and poor water quality.
Image credit: J. Burns