Two Independent Federal Investigations For Keawakapu Z-Block Damage

[MauiScubaSteve]

From today's Maui News

Federal agencies to probe reef damage - Mauinews.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Visitor's Information - The Maui News

 

[The Chairman]

It seems the damage was caused while trying to do good to the reef system. It's hard to penalize peeps for that and encourage them to keep trying to make a difference.

 

[Jax]

DOTS -- depends on the situation.

In today's world of GPS, there is no reason to have hit the reef. If the contract was well-written, the operators will face a stiff fine.

 

[pickens_46929]

DOTS -- depends on the situation.

In today's world of GPS, there is no reason to have hit the reef. If the contract was well-written, the operators will face a stiff fine.

Even without GPS there's no reason to have dumped the stuff on the reef.

A quick shallow dive would have confirmed that they were near but not on top of the reef. Heck a good captain could have figured it out by the colour of the water and the depth finder... jeesh.

 

[DiveWestOahu]

if you ever watch them dropping the blocks you would no longer wonder why this happened, they basically get to the "area" and usually two fork/finger lifts just start pushing the blocks into the water, while a tug trys to maintain the position, and they drift around to get a good dispersal of the blocks, no rocket science here, just a matter of where they fall. In the long run it will be a good thing as the reef and critters replenish the area. (and no i don't work for the dlnr nor endorse them, i've just watched them do this several times)

 

[Shaka Doug]

They were careless. Now many thousands of dollars will be spent assessing the damage, figuring out who's to blame, decicidng on what to do, etc., etc.. What a travesty!

 

[carrielsal]

WOW...wasn't there any planning involved that included GPS coordinates?

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Wish I had been able to dive the site before leaving for my first extended holiday vacation in 20 years. Kind of amazing we still have not heard exactly where this reef damage is. At least three different divers have been down to take a look and still no definite location has been released. I have worked for one and done quite a few dives with another (at least one is even a member of SB) and yet no one with intimate knowledge seems to be willing to do anything more than lip dance like a politico. I would be pretty ecstatic just to hear a definite depth, and here we are a day or so away from 3 weeks after the incident!

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Yesterday, in response to a question on the Ocean Conservation thread regarding this incident, I posted some pictures of the surrounding bottom topography, as well as my usual banter!

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ocean-conservation/314958-maui-hi-artificial-reef-disaster-2.html

 

[ccredifo]

Will these blocks be accessible for a shore dive or is it strictly a boat dive?