The same level of human-caused stress will have varying levels of impact on different habitat types due to differences in their vulnerability. For this study we used 3 broad categories of benthic habitat to map cumulative impacts. Nearshore reef habitats were mapped for all MHI by the NOAA National Center for Coastal and Ocean Science in 2007 using high resolution satellite (IKONOS) and aerial imagery. This was the primary data source for the three nearshore habitats mapped in this project. All non-land areas with known habitat properties were classified into one of the following three major habitat types: coral dominated hardbottom, other hardbottom, and softbottom. These classes were converted to raster at 100 m resolution with priority given to coral dominant hard bottom such that all cells with any portion covered by coral dominant hard bottom were classified as such, next priority was given to other types of hard bottom for the remaining cells, and finally soft bottom areas. Holes in the habitat maps, resulting from clouds, water clarity issues, white water, or missing imagery were filled using nearest neighbor nibbling and a 30 m depth contour line for the offshore extent.