Two Independent Federal Investigations For Keawakapu Z-Block Damage

[MauiScubaSteve]

If the blocks are at 45-50' depth there is a possibility they could be dived from shore. If they are 85-90' deep it is mostly a boat dive but some divers could get there from shore by scooters. That's part of the question right now; They were supposed to dump them in 70-120' deep water. I'm hoping they dumped them where they planned to dump them.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Today's Maui News has a Letter to the Editor where the letter writer says he dives the reef the blocks are on. Just wondered if any O'hana members know Roy?

Still wondering exactly where the reef damage is?

BLOCKS SHOULD NOT BE LEFT ON REEF

The artificial reefs that were dropped by the Aquatic Resources, a division of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, is overlooking the fact that they are killing the reef underneath each block.

The blocks have attachment points and could be lifted off the reef and put onto the sand. I'd advise to get the blocks off the reef as soon a possible to allow sunlight to get to what's left of the coral underneath the blocks. The remaining coral will be bleached and die if left in this unfortunate state.

This problem of investigating rather than solving the immediate problem seems to be usual protocol here on Maui. We still have a sailboat on the reef in Lahaina and it should have been removed instead of waiting for some derelict who ran it aground in the first place to come back and pay for it.

The tourists I've talked to think that the government here is too lazy to take care of eyesores, and I agree. Reefs will come back if they are allowed to regenerate the coral. Evidence is in the growth at Mala Wharf and its amazing what growth occurs in 10 years.

I dive the reef that the blocks are on. Shame on the state if it leaves them there.

Roy Bendell

Kihei

 

[Shaka Doug]

ProDiver has been out there collecting data on the blocks. I heard that they have counted more then 80 Z blocks on the coral. These blocks should be moved immediately so the corals underneath can get some sun! Then they can begin to heal. They (DLNR) are wasting too much time figuring out this and that and who's to blame, get the blocks off the damn reef!!!!!

 

[rgbmatt]

ProDiver has been out there collecting data on the blocks. I heard that they have counted more then 80 Z blocks on the coral. These blocks should be moved immediately so the corals underneath can get some sun! Then they can begin to heal. They (DLNR) are wasting too much time figuring out this and that and who's to blame, get the blocks off the damn reef!!!!!

I don't think that's a good idea. The problem is that the blocks have most likely crushed the coral to rubble, which isn't much good for new coral to grow on. Moving them might even be worse, because the broken stuff will roll around and damage live coral in the vicinity. Right now, it looks ugly but at least the misplaced blocks are solid concrete and are are in a good place for new growth to occur. Give it a few years and it'll look a lot better.

The general procedure for ship groundings is to remove some of the loose rubble and cover the area with cement so that the reef can grow back with little interference. That's what was done with the Port Royal & Cape Flattery groundings on Oahu, and it seems to be working. The damage from the z-block mistake is tragic, but over time it should recover on its own.

 

[Shaka Doug]

I beg to differ with you RGBMATT. Sorry but this whole artificial reef system is poorly designed from the get go. How does anyone expect coral and other micro organisms to attach to smooth concrete? The Z blocks and the cubes should be full of pock marks and pukas and be rough to the touch. This would promote quick growth. If they take the blocks off the reef now and actually build something with them (instead of just haphazardly tossing them randomly overboard) the reef can start fixing itself. Sure some corals are crushed but there are plenty underneath that are not but instead are blocked from the sun. Have you seen it? It's an eyesore!! If you don't believe me have a look at the artificial reef that's adjacent to this site. The concrete/tire formations have very little coral growing on the cement and thye've been down there for almost twenty years now! How long do we have to wait?? Maybe in 100 years you will see some significant growth but I think it's foolish to wait when something should be done now. Plus you and I won't be here in 100 years to see if it really works as planned. I dive near this area and I am still upset that they did what they did!! Anyone else would have been charged with a crime already!! Look how quickly they went after Maui Dive Shop when they damaged a much smaller amount of coral!!

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Is the location "outside" of the St. Anthony? How deep is this damaged reef? I will be able to personally check two weekends from now so I guess it doesn't really matter to me, but it seems odd that there has been no specific location information for the general public yet?

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

So, I finally have pictures of the z-blocks on the reef. I had to make 2 kayak snorkeling / freediving searches to find the damage. Previous depth reports of 40-50' led to me searching too close to shore the first time.

On my second attempt I kayaked straight West from the "Sidewalks" entrance to Keawakapu Beach until hitting the main deep reef. I then snorkeled towards Molokini, following the inside edge of the reef. This reef gets close to shore near the Mana Kai building with the top of the reef only 30' deep. It arcs out to parallel the Wailea coast twice as far from shore as the St. Anthony.

Photo from two winters ago; the three pairs of "main reef" blocks
are directly ahead of the scooter diver's path​

The blocks are located pretty close to straight West from the "Stairways" entrance to Keawakapu Beach, with the surrounding near shore sand bottom at ~90' deep and the large main reef rising to a 40-50' deep top. This is a big and wide reef, large enough to have numerous sand channels on top at 50' depth. It is not quite as wide as Center Reef at Molokini but it is much, much longer.

There are a few "islands" of reef which are only 20 or so feet tall off the sand bottom, along the near shore side of the deep reef. Most of the damaging errant blocks are on one of those smaller reef "islands." There are also a few blocks on the main reef, as shallow as ~45' depth.

Those "main reef" blocks are seriously off target. I would consider most of the entire 1000+ blocks to be significantly off target. There is most likely more damage to reef than in either of the two recent Maui County reef damage incidents that resulted in fines. I can not see how Maui Dive Shop will be very happy if the fine for this damage is NOT at least as high as the fine they paid.

The shallowest two, at ~45 feet deep


The next shallowest pair, at ~50 feet deep


Last of main reef damage I saw, at ~ 70 feet deep
The cube shaped object past the blocks is the cage from above stock photo


Looking down on the smaller "island" reef


Looking across the sand channel from the "island" reef to the main reef​

 

[Jackie6438]

Thanks for the pictures.... nice job .... Did you get a count as to the number of blocks that actually hit the reef?

While I'm at it - re: the remaining 1300 or so of these things were supposed to be deployed in big piles or stacks - with the piles separated one from another. If you had to pick between these two choices to characterize the pattern - which would choose: more spread out than stacked or more stacked than spread out? (One thing they are definitely not supposed to be is laying flat on the sand). Any theories as to how they got spread out as much as they appear to be? Barge is supposed to be stationary when they push these things over the side - so they can make sure that they are actually building these stacks in the right place. This whole thing seems like such a huge giant screw up ... hard to get your head around how it could have gone so wrong. DAR people were on the barge - right? Hard to jump to the conclusion that it was just the company that got it wrong. Gotta be a pretty good story behind this. Feds were supposed to have finished the first part of their investigation by now and DLNR should have their report. I wonder if we will ever find out what actually happened. If you like irony - take a look at this link:

w w w.reefexplorer.com/a662279-hawaii-protecting-coral-reefs-with-big.cfm

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I was freediving to max 70 feet for those pictures and thought others had done a count of blocks on reef. After the water clears up from todays surf swell I plan to make a long dive and take better pictures with strobe attached.

Hawaii Protecting Coral Reefs With Big Fines

Above is a link to the entire article; By AUDREY McAVOY | Associated Press | Story updated at 9:23 pm on 8/2/2009

“People are going to have to be more careful out here, because it if keeps getting damaged, we’re going to lose it,” said Laura Thielen, chairwoman of the state Board of Land and Natural Resources, which decides how much to fine. “We have to take some very strong action or else it’s going to be too late.”

An interesting tidbit from the story linked above is a picture (below) of part of the reason Makena Boat Charters is facing a fine for the Kai Kanani anchor chain damage. At the time of this story MBC had offered to pay $130,000 as a fine but "The state Board of Land and Natural Resources is still mulling how much to fine the tour operator" and "hasn't decided whether to accept this settlement."

​

 

[SCUBASailor]

One would think that any operation dropping massive concrete blocks would be held to an ultra-high standard regarding protecting the existing reefs. To say it was an accident and that they had good intentions is no defense.