KAILUA-KONA —For the second time in a month, a manta ray was found injured in West Hawaii waters.
The animal’s left cephalic fin, a kind of funnel that increases food intake, was nearly severed off when the injured manta was first observed in Garden Eel Cove off North Kona.
The second injury, which likely occurred over the weekend, follows the Department of Land and Resources’ release of drafted rules to help protect the animals. Regulations, however, will not be implemented for one to two of years.
Keller Laros, founder of the Manta Research Foundation and owner of Laros Diving Inc., which owns a 50 percent share of Jack’s Diving Locker, said the injury likely occurred Friday or Saturday.
“His injury looked fresh,” Laros said.
Laros estimates that the male manta, named Ralph, is around 10 years old.
While the cause of injury cannot be confirmed, Laros said that judging from the fin’s appearance, the event probably occurred when the manta ran into a propeller or possibly a rudder.
“It looked sliced and diced,” he explained.
Less than a month prior, another male manta, 8-year-old Eli, suffered injuries to the back part of his pectoral fin. The particular markings also suggested that Eli collided with a boat propeller.
Had DLNR’s manta regulations already been in place, the likelihood of the latest manta injury would have been reduced, Laros said.
DLNR’s Division of Boating and Recreation (DOBOR) began the manta rule project in 2014 with informal stakeholder engagement. The proposed regulations were publicly released on March 26.
Rules were formulated with the Big Island in mind, as manta ray excursions are a multi-million dollar industry in West Hawaii.
DOBOR’s draft of regulations prohibits the attaching of subsurface of lights to individual manta ray viewing vessels — a major threat to mantas.
The lights fixed onto the boats attract plankton and ultimately feed mantas, all while the boat’s propellers are still running.
The draft rules also address other risks to manta rays, including dangerous ratios of guides to snorkelers and operators driving too fast without a lookout.
What the formulated rules do not include is the use of propeller guards.
“The metal cage covers the spinning prop so nothing but water can go in there,” said Laros.
Propeller guards offer a possible solution to the potential mangling of mantas by tour boats.
“I think it’s worth discussing,” House Rep. Nicole Lowen (D-North Kona) said of potential legislation on propeller guards for manta viewing activity.
“We haven’t had the public weigh their concerns in,” she continued, expressing an interest to hear the community’s feedback on the issue for the 2019 legislative session.
The rules also propose to reduce the number of permits to 48 total, with 24 each at Keauhou Bay and Makako Bay, allowing one boat per mooring. Each site will be equipped with 12 commercial moorings and one non-commercial.
Once enforced, the rule will likely have an impact on the manta tour business, with the DOBOR identifying 51 eligible manta tour operators.
The decrease in permits will be achieved by attrition, said DLNR spokesperson Deborah Ward in a March interview with West Hawaii Today.
“The intended way to address permit reduction is for operators to leave the business or for repeat violators to lose their permits either through revocation or denying renewal of their permit,” Ward said.
A year after the rules are made effective, DOBOR plans not to issue additional permits unless there are less than 24.
The manta tour companies are asked to submit testimony on the proposed regulations this week, after which there will be a public hearing.
The DLNR did not respond to West Hawaii Today’s request for comment by press time on Monday.