Hawaii Sea Level Rise: September 2013

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Honolulu Ocean Businesses Take Financial Hit From Matson Molasses Spill Fish Kill

Honolulu Ocean Businesses Take Financial Hit From Big

Matson Harbor Molasses Spill Fish Kill

By Tannya Joaquin HONOLULU HawaiiNewsNow

http://www.staradvertiser.com/multimedia/photo_galleries/viewer/?galID=223743031&photo=

Four days and counting since 233-thousand gallons of molasses leaked into Honolulu Harbor from a faulty Matson pipe.

A picture's worth a thousand words, or dollars in this case for businesses racking up losses, with images of the fish kill top of mind.

The dead fish continue to float to the surface at La Mariana. The devastating environmental effects of the molasses spill are clear from underwater video showing marine life wiped out on the ocean floor and from the air.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mbvd/tragic-images-of-the-massive-molasses-spill-in-Hawaii

Four days after Hawaii News Now caught a dark plume of molasses in Honolulu Harbor, you could say it's 'dissipating' as slow as molasses.

That's taking a bite out of business for companies like Ruckus Sport Fishing and Diving at Kewalo Basin.

According to owner Ray Collier, "In the long run We're talking quite a few thousand dollars. They have concerns with the sharks and the area and all the dead fish, environmental effects. So they're canceling."

Collier has called Matson's claims hotline to report his losses. He said it's tragic to see reef fish only found in Hawaii, dying from the spill.

"It was a sad sight to see all the dead fish come up and those are guys that we want to take people out to go and let experience."

The sight and stench of rotting fish are also bad for business at La Mariana's waterfront restaurant. According to waitress Billie Lefton,

"The smell has affected business and then they said it's sad when they walk up through here and see all the dead fish."

The Environmental Protection Agency has sent in crews from San Francisco to help the State Department of Health come up with a game plan.

EPA Hawaii Office's Dean Higuchi said, "Molasses presents an interesting problem because it again is a different kind of substance and it reacts differently in the water."

Honolulu Cave Adventure: Punynari Explores Moiliili (Honolulu, Hawaii) Karst

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Fantastic Must See Oahu Karst Cave Videos And Photos

http://ewa-hawaii-karst.blogspot.com/2013/06/fantastic-must-see-oahu-karst-cave.html

Bio Diversity: The Moiliili Karst Formation

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Mōʻiliʻili Karst Water Cave

http://ewa-hawaii-karst.blogspot.com/2013/06/Massive-Honolulu-Cavein.html

Hiking Hawaii: Moiliili (Honolulu, Hawaii) Karst Cave

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Video and Links: Mo'ili'ili Underground Caverns Video

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Karst Cave Hiking Adventure: Moili'ili Karst Exploration

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Thursday, September 12, 2013

Many Thousands Fish Killed By Massive 1,400 Ton Matson Hawaii Molasses Spill

Many Thousands Fish Killed By Massive 1,400 Ton Matson Hawaii Molasses Harbor Spill

http://www.kitv.com/news/hawaii/thousands-of-fish-dead-after-1400-ton-matson-molasses-spill/-/8905354/21877938/-/130ygyo/-/index.html

HONOLULU —Reef fish, eel, predators and prey were are all swimming to shore, gasping for any oxygen they can get. The Department of Health said thousands have already suffocated and died. The molasses spill was caused by Matson's faulty pipe under Pier 52 at Honolulu Harbor.

"There are two large reservoirs that contain molasses and during the loading of molasses into a ship early Monday morning an amount of molasses was spilled into the harbor," said Gary Gill deputy director for DOH.

The DOH said that amount was 1,400 tons that's more than 200,000 gallons of thick sugar water. Biologists say the molasses is sinking to the ocean floor causing deep water fish to swim up the surface.

"They are trying to get away from the deeper water where they normally live because there's an environmental change down there. It's either low in oxygen or something is affecting their ability to breathe and it's causing them to come up to the surface and into our shore," said aquatic biologist Dave Gulko.

The DLNR said those severe environmental impacts are going to be long term. Nutrient rich molasses could cause an unusual increase in harmful bacteria and algae. But, the DOH said it doesn't know how to clean up the mess, so it'll let nature take its course. Instead, waiting for the thick sugar water to dissolve.

"It's not like an oil spill where the oil will rise to the surface and it can be skimmed out mechanically. There's no way that we've identified to reduce the molasses that's already in the water," said Gill.

Matson released a statement today saying: "Matson regrets that the incident impacted many harbor users, as well as wildlife. We take our role as an environmental steward very seriously..."

DOH officials are warning everyone to stay out of the water near the Honolulu Harbor and Keehi Lagoon because as the fish die it can cause an increase in sharks and barracudas.

Honolulu Cave Adventure: Punynari Explores Moiliili (Honolulu, Hawaii) Karst

http://ewa-hawaii-karst.blogspot.com/2013/06/Honolulu-Cave-Adventure.html

Fantastic Must See Oahu Karst Cave Videos And Photos

http://ewa-hawaii-karst.blogspot.com/2013/06/fantastic-must-see-oahu-karst-cave.html

Bio Diversity: The Moiliili Karst Formation

http://ewa-hawaii-karst.blogspot.com/2013/06/Oahu-Karst-Caving.html

Mōʻiliʻili Karst Water Cave

http://ewa-hawaii-karst.blogspot.com/2013/06/Massive-Honolulu-Cavein.html

Hiking Hawaii: Moiliili (Honolulu, Hawaii) Karst Cave

http://ewa-hawaii-karst.blogspot.com/2013/06/Spooky-Oahu-Karst-Cave.html

Video and Links: Mo'ili'ili Underground Caverns Video

http://ewa-hawaii-karst.blogspot.com/2013/06/Oahu-Underground-Cave-Video.html

Karst Cave Hiking Adventure: Moili'ili Karst Exploration

http://ewa-hawaii-karst.blogspot.com/2013/06/Oahu-Karst-Cave-Adventure.html

Mass Fish Kill, Environmental Disaster From Matson Honolulu Harbor Spill

By Tannya Joaquin - Ben Gutierrez Sep 11, 2013 HONOLULU HawaiiNewsNow

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/23409767/underwater-video-uncovers-mass-kill-from-matson-molasses-spill

The molasses fish kill is even worse than expected, according to the state Health Department and marine biologists.

"This is the worst environmental damage to sea life that I have come across, and its fair to say this is a biggie, if not the biggest that we've had to confront in the state of Hawaii," said Gary Gill, deputy director for the Environmental Health Division of the Health Department.

We went underwater off Sand Island to capture the devastation on camera.

The Health Department has added crews to haul away the dead marine life, but that's still not enough.

At La Mariana, we found boater Russ Singer scooping out dead fish on his own with a rake.

"it's really sad to see" said Singer, as he filled an entire bucket in mere minutes. He collected dozens of mature puffer fish, eel, and reef fish, all killed by Monday's molasses spill into Honolulu Harbor.

"I can't stand looking at it" exclaimed Singer. "I think it's great if your cameras look at it too so people can really see what the real deal is."

With 233,000 gallons of thick molasses sinking to the bottom like a rock, we asked Roger White of Cool Blue Scuba to dive in with his camera and document the damage.

He surfaced with a bombshell: "There's nothing alive down there at all. Everything down there is dead."

White captured an underwater wasteland. Seven shocking minutes -- with no signs of life anywhere.

"It was shocking because the entire bottom is covered with dead fish" explained White. "Small fish, crabs, mole crabs, eels. Every type of fish that you don't usually see, but now they're dead. Now they're just laying there. Every single thing is dead. We're talking in the hundreds, thousands. I didn't see one single living thing underwater."

We were floored to see marine life wiped out on the ocean floor at La Mariana. That's close to 3 miles away from Pier 52, where the faulty pipe dumped the molasses into the water during loading onto a Matson ship on Monday.

We also found distressed fish suffocating, struggling to survive as far inland as Kapalama Stream.

Marine biologists said the effects in the harbor area will be long-lasting.

"This is in a bay so there's not a lot of circulation, so you're not going to have flushing of this water out," said Dr. David Field, a visiting assistant professor of marine sciences at Hawaii Pacific University. "So in this area where the spill occurred we're probably going to see the effects for a long time."

Field also has fears about what will happen when the water finally leaves the harbor area.

"As water does leave this bay area and goes out into the neighboring ocean, we can expect the effects in the long term, in days, weeks, months and probably years, to spread out over some of the South Shore reefs," he said.

The Department of Health has added crews to collect the dead fish and monitor water quality. Gary Gill said, "Unfortunately, the environmental impact will get worse before it gets better as we've seen with the fish kill."

Diver Roger White added, "Everything is dead. We have to start from zero because there's nothing alive."

"I think there's going to be a lot more effects that aren't so obvious and don't make as much of an impression as the fish in the video do," said Field.

Matson could be fined $25,000 a day, but has refused our repeated requests for an interview.

Today, a spokesman said "they'll do what they can," but can't clean up the molasses because it sinks, and they're only equipped to do 'surface spills.'

Our thanks to Roger White for taking the dramatic underwater video. You can contact him at coolbluescuba.com.