KITV
The COVID-19-related travel restrictions and stay-at-home order could be causing an environmental proliferation on Hawaii's offshore islands.
David Smith, Administrator of the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources' Department of Forestry and Wildlife told KITV4 they are seeing significantly more native species, such as Opihi and Hawaiian Monk Seals on and around Hawaii's offshore islands in recent weeks.
"Your'e just going to get a lot of trampling and a lot of activity that we just take for normal but when you remove that impact of people walking on the rocks constantly you get a lot more Limu, a lot more pieces of the ecosystem coming back," said Smith.