As we are currently (Time of writing Mid-August) dealing with a second coronavirus outbreak and terrifyingly four times worse than our first outbreak, it only bounds me more to write and reflect on the overall experience with Covid in Hawai’i. While it’s a blessing to live amongst community and aloha, these islands are still as vulnerable to negativity, fear, and of course the horrible truth that people’s lives in Hawai’i are being torn apart from the outside in. People have lost their jobs, waiting for unemployment, dealing with the fear of getting sick and the news on COVID, children not being able to socialize and go back to school. I mean just think of our young generation and not enjoying the most important parts of their lives, education & friends. It’s bad enough that tourism is the prime source of revenue for Hawai’i and that has been striped down to nothing.
While this blog post may seem insensitive to the shitty realities this state has faced and is facing, sometimes we just have to look at some of the positive impacts this pandemic has had when lockdown was at its prime. And because it’s likely that we may end up on another lockdown, I anticipate a few things bound to happen just like the first outbreak that have actually been beneficial to life here.
Where’s the traffic?
While this may apply mostly to O’ahu, it’s not overselling to say that having zero traffic on the roads was a serious breath of fresh air. I’m not just talking about the ease of driving to work (for some of us who did continue working). I’m pointing out at how much better and cleaner the air quality seemed during that “stay at home” order. No local traffic for the 9-5’s, less buses, no rental cars, and definitely no trolleys and tour guides. Outer islands like Kaua’i, Maui, & Big Island, I’m sure had a break on the roads as well. Living in Honolulu during the pandemic has also been amazingly quiet as noise pollution has been to a bare minimal, reminiscent to what the outer islands are like. That includes far less noise emited from incoming and outgoing airplanes. One thing I had noticed also, was more interesting birds flying around and singing in my backyard and in the street. Honestly, it was pleasant.
A Hawaiians Hawai’i
Not trying to put myself in the light as a Hawaiian as I am not Kanaka nor was I born here. But looking from the outside in, not only did the ‘aina (land) need a break from tourism, but so did locals. Although so many had lost their jobs, local residents did have the once in a lifetime opportunity to enjoy their local beaches and sites to themselves. Not bashing tourism as I was once a tourist & tourism brings money to these islands. But it was truly amazing to see everyone here enjoying a bit of peace from the stress all to themselves. There are no tour buses, no tour guides with loud speakers, no rental cars and hoards of people racing for selfies. It was everyday people enjoying their beaches, their surfing, their hikes. Even just the knowing that there was no tourism allowed you the chance to realize this/these was our island/islands. The Hawaiian islands honest get pumped with tourism through overcommercialism and this unrealistic idealism that this is a paradise and a place to run away to. But Hawai’i already has it’s own problems and Covid just adds onto it. The people here needed a break from it and they sure got it!
Honu Can Breathe
Hawai’i is a sad and unfortunate example of over-tourism. If you look at Hanauma Bay as an example, the reef has been damaged due to the amount of visitors it gets daily and that’s not including coral bleaching. Hanauma Bay has also been an example at showing what zero tourism can do to help marine life flourish as shown here on Civil Beat.
In general, no tourism plus beach and park closures meant that marine life has had a chance to live freely. In Venice, one of the most congested travel destinations, had dolphins swimming in the canals. Hawaiian Monk Seals and Hawaiian Sea Turtles have finally had the chance to live freely undisturbed by any kind of human traffic. That goes the same for beaches in Hawai’i that is frequented by tourism like clockwork. Waikiki is by far one of the most manipulated and destroyed beaches in Hawai’i and often has sand replaces and fixed for tourists to enjoy. But marine and coral off of the beach has also had the chance to regrow and live freely as tourism central has been a ghost town.
Today, I went to the beach for a quick de-stressing swim now that beaches and parks are closed and just couldn’t help but take a panorama to compare what it was like during our stay-at-home order in April to our situation now.
The situation here is dire and 10 times worse than the original outbreak which seems to indicate that we might be going back to square one into lockdown. If there is anything more psychologically damaging and stressful, it’s living through this all over again. People are still without jobs and some of us like myself still working are taking a beating with hour cuts yet expenses remain high. So much aloha and a sense of community yet the fear is still high. We all miss a big sense of normalcy but normalcy right now means high risk while this pandemic is still ongoing.
But in the light of all the darkness surrounding us, I guess this allows for more opportunity for these island to have more of a break. Energy use may be up in quarantine but I read that there are opportunities to promote sustainable energy. Traffic will come down to a minimal promoting better air quality. Our beaches will go back to being clean and uncrowded. And our reef and marine life will have much more time to live a more natural quality life. God bless, stay safe, and ALOHA!
