A Preliminary Quantitative Survey of the Echinoid Fauna of Kealakekua and Honaunau Bays, Hawaii'

DURING 8 DAYS in early August and October, 1968, the members of an expedition from the University of Hawaii examined the distribution and abundance of sea urchins in two bays along the Kona (leeward) Coast of the Island of Hawaii (Fig. 1) : Kealakekua Bay (19 0 28' N; 155 0 55' W) and Honaunau Bay (19 0 25' N ; 155 0 55' W). The major sampling effort was expended in Kealakekua, the larger of the two bays. The expedition was part of a program to survey the biota of Kealakekua. Information gathered from this survey will form a baseline for assessing changes that may be brought about by the activities of tourists and shoreline residents. At the present time, there is a small village on Kealakekua (Napoopoo) plus a small number of homes at the middle and south ends of the bay. The north end, by Captain Cook Monument, is uninhabited. At Honaunau Bay there is a small village, Honaunau, and the City of Refuge National Historical Park. Bayrelated activities of people resident along the shorelines are fishing, principally with nets and handlines, and domestic-waste pollution. Some sea urchins are taken for food, but not in great numbers. Tourist activities include the collection of slate-pencil sea urchins (Heterocentrotus mamm illattls) for their spines and the removal of snails and small coral heads. Tourists appear to be concentrated in Kealakekua Bay at Kaawaloa Cove by Captain Cook Monument. Boats bring visitors from Kailua-Kona and, during the summer months, make two trips per day carrying up to 120 passengers per trip. Honaunau has no tourist boats and so possibly is not used as extensively. The area near Cook's Monument was selected for intensive sampling because of the high tourist density. The August survey party consisted of Dr. J. Branham, E. Brecknock, J. McVey, and the