Canoe regatta organizers damaged up to 60 coral colonies in Kailua Bay on Hawaiʻi Island last weekend while setting up for a race.
Dive teams from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources documented the damage this week.
The department paused the Founders Regatta last Saturday when it was discovered that 16 cinder block lane markers had been dropped on live coral. The race — organized by Keauhou Canoe Club — was allowed to continue after a preliminary inspection.
By Wednesday, all but three of the blocks had been relocated. DLNR stated that those three blocks are located on mostly "dead coral rubble."
Chris Teague of the DLNR’s Division of Aquatic Resources said that the canoe races have been using block moorings for 40 to 50 years, but it is the new blocks that caused the damage.
“Some of the reports that I’ve heard said that there’s actually been blocks that have been permanently affixed to the reef for a number of years. And then, for whatever reason, this season, the organization seemed to want to put new blocks in place," Teague said.
"These new ones that have been placed, those are the ones that have been causing the damage that we were concerned about," he continued.
The DLNR said it will compile the dive team’s findings into a written report for the Division of Aquatic Resources. They will then decide whether to submit an action to the Board of Land and Natural Resources.
"We’re confident that we will collectively come up with a plan that allows canoe racing to continue while simultaneously protecting our precious natural resources," said DLNR Chair Dawn Chang in a press release Wednesday.
