Dive teams right coral damaged by plane in Kaneohe Bay
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM
Navy personnel and a private contracting firm worked to remove the P8-A Poseidon from Kaneohe Bay on Dec. 2.
State and federal dive teams up righted 180 coral colonies and finished field assessments on the scope of impacts to coral in Kaneohe Bay this week, after a U.S. Navy aircraft overshot the runway at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, resulting in coral damage. The Nov. 20 accident resulted in the nearly 70-ton aircraft on top of the bay’s reef.
Divers from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Aquatic Resources, Navy, and other federal agencies began emergency restoration efforts last week.
“The Navy divers were key in up righting the heavy, larger colonies. If the colonies had remained overturned, they likely would have died,” Kim Fuller, the DAR aquatic biologist leading survey and restoration dives, said in a DLNR press release. “This collaborative, emergency work gives them a chance to survive.”
DAR divers, along with federal natural resource agencies, will be conducting further data analysis in the coming weeks to “delineate the main impact footprint from the geo-referenced data they’ve gathered,” according to the release.
