LIHUE » Government scientists have wrapped up a visit to study Kauai’s diseased coral reefs.

The Garden Island reports that a four-person team from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration wrapped up its work on Tuesday after spending more than a week doing surveys along Kauai’s North Shore where cyanobacterial white coral disease has been documented.

Terry Lilley, a Hanalei biologist who first alerted coral experts to the unusual outbreak, escorted the NOAA team after its arrival on April 29. NOAA focused its study on a number of locations around Waipa, Hanalei, Wainiha Bay and Anini Bay.

Lilley said the NOAA scientists are expected to return to Kauai in a couple of months and see how much the disease has spread and how many corals it has killed.