This week, state and federal dive teams completed field assessments in Kāne’ohe Bay to assess coral damage after a U.S. Navy P8A Poseidan twin-engine jet aircraft overshot the runway at Marine Corps Base Hawai‘i.

Divers from the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR), and 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.

Last week, emergency restoration efforts were enacted by the DAR and Navy divers,  along with other divers from federal agency partners.

In a press release, Kim Fuller, the aquatic biologist leading survey and restoration dives from DAR said, “Divers have up righted 180 coral colonies and documented the size and species of each of them. The Navy divers were key in up righting the heavy, larger colonies. If the colonies had remained overturned, they likely would have died. This collaborative, emergency work gives them a chance to survive.”

DLNR Photo