S1E5: Hannah Bernard

If you’re fortunate enough to be on the island of Maui on a Sunday morning and you just happen to have booked a tour to Molokini with Kai Kanani Sailing, you’ll be greeted at check-in by a woman who knows more about Maui’s reefs than possibly anyone on Earth. And it doesn’t cost you anything extra. How cool is that? But there’s more to it.

Hannah Bernard is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Hawaii Wildlife Fund and one of the more prominent environmental activists in Hawaii. Founded in 1996, the HWF works in conservation and protection of wildlife and marine habitats and is a leader in legal activism in the Pacific. Hannah is the beating heart of that activism. And there she is, on a Sunday morning, talking with tourists, educating them on what they’re about to see and how we can respectfully experience the reef and its inhabitants. And that’s the point of her being here. She is a teacher at heart and knows that every conversation she has with a visitor is a chance to make the reef a safer, healthier home for the wildlife.

Hannah and I sat down recently to talk about how the reef in Maui is doing and what the future might look like. We discussed at length the case that her coalition litigated against Maui County in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and where that might be heading. And she tells one amazing story about nearly being run over by a hoard of bull humpback whales.

It’s hard to listen to this episode and not want to get involved. If that’s you, start here.

Mahalo for listening, friends.

-DGT