Three types of invasive octocorals have been found in Pearl Harbor.
The most recent species were discovered during an environmental assessment conducted for the planned shipyard modernization plan at the military base.
Kim Fuller, a biologist with the Aquatics Division of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, is working on the project.
She said invasive species like the ones found in Pearl Harbor can pose a threat to Hawaiʻi's native soft corals.
"Anything bigger than a couple of centimeters long, or bigger than a penny, would be of concern to us," she explained.
Fuller said it is difficult to tell whether the corals hitchhiked on incoming ships or someone illegally dumped them into the water, but she suspects the latter. The practice is not uncommon, especially for people who have their own aquariums.
"If you do have an aquarium, regardless of the status of how legal it was to obtain the species within it, please do not dump them into our natural waterways," she said. "This is very risky, as it could endanger our native habitats."
The soft corals are said to be spread out over 90 acres, but it is away from where the bulk of the shipyard construction is to take place. Now officials are trying to decide the best way to remove them, which has proven to be a demanding task.
"Once something gets established, particularly in a marine habitat, it's extremely difficult, time consuming and expensive to be able to deal with," Fuller said.
Methods of eliminating the coral include using heat or chemicals. Fuller anticipates officials will manually remove the coral or use tarps and sandbags to smother it.
However they decide to remove the corals, officials will have to be careful.
"These invasive octocorals can reproduce via fragmentation," Fuller said. "So if they break apart into multiple pieces, that's actually creating multiple organisms that could continue to live."
Fuller emphasized that threats to Hawaiʻi's ecosystem put the environment and "our way of life" at risk.
This interview aired on The Conversation on August 7, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1. This interview was adapted for the web by Emily Tom.
