Initial hand images show that the island is being attacked by the Navy for further mock bombings

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Kona native Mike Nakachi and Moana Ohana took a boat tour with his son Kaikea and others last year to the crescent-shaped island called Ka’ula, 23 miles southwest of Ni’ihau.

“We were all completely overwhelmed. It was just spectacular,” said Nakachi.

Nakachi says it took about two and a half hours from Port Allen, Kauai.

From the shore they saw thriving wildlife, monk seals, birds, turtles and more.

“Hundreds of spinner dolphins greeted our boat as we approached,” Nakachi said.

“A bit like a trip to the Galapagos Islands,” he added.

In 1980, Honolulu magazine highlighted shooting exercises in Ka’ula that had even started fires.

Today, as tensions with China rise and the military becomes more focused on the Pacific, the Navy wants to increase the dropping of inert bombs, or non-exploding ordnance, on the southern end of the island from 12 per year to 31 per year.

“The Navy has done enough damage in the Pae ʻĀina. “The Navy doesn’t need to drop inert bombs, especially in a wild place,” Nakachi said.

He said he had not seen previous ordnance.

“The ability to conduct training and testing at Barking Sands and Kaula Island is critical to military readiness,” the Navy said in its draft environmental impact assessment.

“No cultural resources have been identified”

“…the impact on wildlife and species with special status would not be significant,” the draft document states.

“I was surprised, amazed, stunned and shocked that after everything we’ve been through, a Hawaiian island is still being bombed,” said Hob Osterlund, founder of the Kauai Albatross Network

Hob Osterlund, founder of the Kauai Albatross Network, is learning about Ka’ula and has photographed the protected bird species found on the island; Mōlī (Laysan Albatross), Ka’upu (Black-footed Albatross) and Red-footed Booby.

“The Navy claims that the birds fly away when startled and come back harmless, but the babies cannot fly,” Osterlund said.

She wants to know if there are any endangered birds there before it’s too late.

The public comment period ended Monday.

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