We have had a bout with unusually bad weather on Kauai which has resulted in some poor ocean conditions. After two whole weeks out of the water we decided to take the boat out and survey water conditions ourselves. I was hoping for the best but was devestated by what I witnessed.
We headed our from Kukui'ula Small Boat Harbor, which is absolutely brown. There is negative visibility in the harbor. Some attribute the poor conditions to the huge housing development near by that has come to a stand still. I don't know whose to blame but I can;t imagine most marine life can live with so much silt in the water. It's a tragedy.
We decided to head east toward the Caverns. Stopped and the Caverns and jumped in. Viz was about 20 feet which is poor and that was the best we were to find. So we head further east towards Kipu. We were astonished to find green water and abundant debris in the water. Huge logs and grasses starting to form there own little islands abounded. We did clear some fishing net from one of the debris fields and spotted a juvenile monk seal. Not all was a total loss. It was my first time at Kipu and I was duly impressed. It was like a mini Napali Coast. I wish conditions would have allowed us to jump in but due to extremely poor viz and abundant debris we decided against it.
I'm not looking forward to diving in such horrible conditions. I think I will be most devistated by seeing how the runoff may have adversely affected marine life.
We headed our from Kukui'ula Small Boat Harbor, which is absolutely brown. There is negative visibility in the harbor. Some attribute the poor conditions to the huge housing development near by that has come to a stand still. I don't know whose to blame but I can;t imagine most marine life can live with so much silt in the water. It's a tragedy.
We decided to head east toward the Caverns. Stopped and the Caverns and jumped in. Viz was about 20 feet which is poor and that was the best we were to find. So we head further east towards Kipu. We were astonished to find green water and abundant debris in the water. Huge logs and grasses starting to form there own little islands abounded. We did clear some fishing net from one of the debris fields and spotted a juvenile monk seal. Not all was a total loss. It was my first time at Kipu and I was duly impressed. It was like a mini Napali Coast. I wish conditions would have allowed us to jump in but due to extremely poor viz and abundant debris we decided against it.
I'm not looking forward to diving in such horrible conditions. I think I will be most devistated by seeing how the runoff may have adversely affected marine life.
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