Save the Coral (and other adventures)

This morning we had a behind the scenes tour of the Maui Ocean Center. We've been to this aquarium before -- it's a sweet little spot that features only local Hawaiian animals. The behind the scenes tour was amazing. First we started out in their lab, where, among other things, they work at re-growing coral.

Coral are facing a lot of challenges in the waters off Maui. Run-off from agriculture, warming ocean temperatures, and chemicals from sunscreen are just a few. Our guide, Mackenzie, was encouraging us to wear leggings and shirts in the water instead of sunscreen.  We did a little silent fist bump -- so cool to have a ridiculous-feeling outfit vindicated! There is a bill right now in Hawaiian legislature to ban all sunscreens that have oxybenzone.  If you're coming to Hawaii, ABC Stores carry safe sunscreens, and we also found that the Honest brand that we got at the Costco back home was safe.

The Maui Ocean Center is working with the state to preserve, and help re-grow some of the coral that died off a few years ago when ocean temperatures rose. Sometimes Hawaii feels...too laid back, but we were so impressed with how aggressively these biologists were working to save and protect the animals in their waters. Things are uncertain with climate and science, but only out of DC. There are good people, out there on the front lines, that are still protecting all of what we love.

From coral we went to my favorite...turtles! Honestly, I could not love these little guys more.  Maui Ocean Center has a unique situation where they release animals back in to the ocean. Keeping them at the Ocean Center while they are hatchlings gives them a greater chance of survival when they are so small, and learning how to survive. When they are a few years old, they are released back in to the waters around Maui.  We were able to watch these little hatchlings for a while, and feed them!

After feeding the hatchlings and the yearlings, we went over to feed the ray, the shark and a variety of fish. The turtle food was little shrimps and lettuce. This was chunky, bloody, fish. You all know how much I HATE to have my hands dirty, so I took a pass on this one. 

After the Ocean Center, we headed in to Lahaina for lunch. We found a cute little spot called Frida's Mexican Beach House that had a nice ocean view, complete with sailboats and turtles. :)

Then, we headed to Maui Escape Rooms, to participate in the Bank Heist. Have you heard of these? You have an hour to solve the puzzle and find your way out of the room. Dad, don't freak. You aren't actually locked in.  Of course you can't take your phone in (although that would NOT have helped!), but I found these pics on their website which shows the entry to the room (and their strange gorilla logo...).  

This was an hour of puzzles -- numbers, letters, logic... it was so fun! The hour goes by SO FAST! You can ask for as many as three hints, but you barely need them because there are some tips that appear on the screen when you are either way off track, or closing in on something. We did use one hint when we had like 2 minutes left and were basically freaking out! We finished the puzzle with 18 seconds to go.  I think these are all over the US right now -- we definitely recommend the experience!

Afterwards, we had every intention of going back to the hotel to snorkel, but the weather kicked up, and ocean swimming didn't seem like a great idea. We really were craving some more shave ice, so we headed back to Lahaina to Ululant's, and picked up some pizza at Lahaina Pizza Company. Double yum.

I love the picture below because it is so quintessentially Hawaiian -- lush greens, an art stand, and a stray cat. This is the Hawaii that we know. :)

And then we were treated to a beautiful sunset. Happy sigh.

Aloha!