Coral Colonies Severely Damaged Off Kewalo Basin, Divers Say
Dive tour operators were warned to stay away from the area by commercial divers working there. They feared the worst.
Local conservationists and scuba divers say they found coral colonies off Kewalo Basin 鈥渙bliterated鈥 last week after commercial divers warned them to stay away because diving there would be dangerous during their work.
The work crew was aboard a large gray boat anchored above the reef off Kakaako Waterfront Park and the workers did not identify themselves, according to Kate Heffner, a divemaster at Waikiki Dive Center. Soon after the crew left, Heffner and other divers encountered severe, extensive damage to the coral where they had been.聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 not a little destruction. You swim up to it and it鈥檚 quite distinct,鈥 Heffner said Wednesday. 鈥淐oral heads toppled over. Large masses of coral that are very unnaturally positioned upside down. It was pretty upsetting to see.鈥
Some of the damage also appeared to have been caused by an anchor, based on the tracks on the seafloor, Heffner added.
State aquatic resource officials are aware of the situation but as of Tuesday they still had not done a site inspection, according to Department of Land and Natural Resources spokesman Dan Dennison.
Meanwhile, volunteers with the nonprofit group have been surveying the damage at two main coral areas, gathering film and video footage that they hope might be used in a state investigation.
The group also hopes to obtain an emergency permit from DLNR to restore as much of the viable coral as it can before the animals die, Ocean Alliance Executive Director Dylan Brown said. Often coral only have a few days to live after they鈥檝e been severed from a reef, he said.
Brown shared underwater footage he shot Tuesday showing healthy coral heads, then a patch that had been damaged and reduced to rubble:
The group hopes that anyone with information on the vessel, which was 80 to 90 feet long and had a crane aboard, might come forward, Brown said.
An Ominous Warning
Heffner said that she first encountered the boat and its crew on June 25 when she arrived at the reef with customers for a night dive.
A smaller pontoon-style boat approached her group, she said.
鈥淭hey came over and radioed our boat and said, ‘Hey, make sure you stay on the east side of the pipe because we鈥檙e working on the west side of the pipe,鈥欌 Heffner said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what they were doing. We were just told it was dangerous and to not come over there.鈥
She said that she immediately feared for how the work might impact the fragile marine ecosystem.
鈥淚f it鈥檚 dangerous for recreational divers, it鈥檚 got to be dangerous for coral and marine life,鈥 she said.
Brown said the damage occurred at two separate areas approximately 60 feet long by 15 feet wide.
鈥淵ou just see obliteration of fairly large sections of reef. You have coral ripped off and smothering other corals that have been growing for hundreds of years,” he said.
