Maui’s algae bloom
creates a slimy,
murky mess again

Officials report that
columns of the green seaweed
extend for miles offshore

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By Gary T. Kubota
Maui correspondent

LAHAINA >> The green seaweed bloom that turned pristine dive areas into a green muck more than a decade ago is back again in parts of west and south Maui.

State and federal officials say columns of an algae species cladophora stretch for miles from Kapalua to Black Rock in Kaanapali in west Maui and some offshore waters at Makena and Wailea in south Maui and Lanai.

Wendy Wiltse, a scientist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said the seaweed is not harmful to people but can devastate the marine environment.

"When it gets dense, it can smother the coral head," Wiltse said.

As the algae rots on the beach, it also develops a foul odor.

Skippy Hau, a state marine biologist, said he has received at least one complaint about the odor already.

Hau said it's difficult to say if the bloom is larger than the one that happened between 1989 and 1991.

He said with hot summer days starting, the algae is "just beginning" to grow.

Beatrice Amaral, owner of the Maui Diving Scuba Center in Lahaina, said she was swimming near a place known as "Airport Beach" north of the Kaanapali Resort and encountered thick columns of algae as far as 100 feet offshore and 30 feet down.

Amaral said the day was sunny and pleasant but visitors did not go into the water because of the algae.

"You have a wall of that disgusting green slimy algae. You cannot even swim through it," Amaral said. "It's beyond what's acceptable. Something has to be done."

Federal and state officials conducted study to find the source of the algae bloom when it occurred more than 10 years.

Wiltse, who was involved in the study, said scientists thought the bloom might be caused by nutrient runoff from the land, because the bloom occurred during relatively rainy years.

But she said the recent bloom appears to discount that theory because it is happening during dry years.

"It's more likely now that it's some kind of natural events or change in ocean currents and ocean temperatures, rather than related to weather patterns on land," she said.