Noise from above
Noise from above
What can be done about helicopter noise in Hilo? It’s completely out of control! I can’t have a conversation in my yard when they pass over, which is about every five to 10 minutes.
Right now, Dec. 26, it’s every two to three minutes. All day! No place in the USA would this level of noise from helicopters be tolerated, especially since tourism is the No. 1 industry; 99.9 percent of tourists will not take a helicopter flight, but they certainly will hear them all day.
Russ Underwood
Hilo
Oh, the irony!
I recently noted, in this paper as well as other news sources, that the voyaging canoe Hokule‘a is about to make a 4,000-mile passage across the Atlantic Ocean. This being a segment of an epic voyage equal in scope to those of Magellan and James Cook. It’s an effort to be guided by the same stars that those navigators relied on. Amazing!
Meanwhile, back home, a dedicated group of people of the same culture rejoices at the scuttling of a project that likely would bring us greater knowledge and intimacy with some of those same stars.
Can I be the only one who perceives the irony in the juxtaposition of these two events?
Rob Banashek
Hawaiian Paradise Park
Coqui vs. mosquitoes?
With the advent of dengue fever, we all are concerned with reducing the mosquito population. It is neither desirable nor possible to drench the entire island or even isolated neighborhoods with repeated applications of poisonous insecticides.
Furthermore, it is well known mosquitoes soon become resistant to modern insecticides.
Therefore, we would like to share an observation we made on our property here in Hilo that might be of interest.
There is a gully below our house containing a small stream. The few coqui frogs that appeared down there after a heavy rain have multiplied into a loud chorus, and the frogs spread up the hill and surround us on all sides.
I had to give up my efforts to control them. However, for about a year now, we have observed a steep decline in the mosquito population in our yard.
Since this phenomenon appears to be independent of temperature and rainfall, a logical explanation seems to be that the frogs are responsible.
I just learned from a very interesting letter by Matt Binder (Tribune-Herald, Dec. 6) that mosquitoes lay their eggs above the water line, which would make them very accessible to the frogs that might find them to be a tasty snack. This would fit in with my theory above.
It would be nice if some biologists would weigh in on this question. What we really need is a modified male GMO coqui that is quiet. Then, we all could love them, as well.
Adrienne S. Dey
Hilo