“We hope that the International Olympic Committee, appropriate government officials and the broader international community can see the devastating impact this will have not only on the valuable coral reef habitat but also on the local community that relies on this reef for its survival and well-being,” scientists Drs. Haunani Kane, Cliff Kapono and John Burns of Hawaii’s MEGA Lab said in a statement, Sports Illustrated reported.

“The structure is proposed to be built directly on the reef of the lagoon, less than 500 meters from the land. We used 3D photogrammetry techniques to create high-resolution maps of the reef habitat where the current judging tower is and the area of ​​the lagoon where the reef will be dredged to transport the materials. The study indicated that in the 325 square meters that the project will impact there are more than 1000 corals of 20 different species,” he adds.

“Based on U.S. appraisals used by the Hawaiian Division of Aquatic Resources, our preliminary data show the value of just the corals and algae in this small portion of the reef is estimated at $170.000,” he said.

“The dredging carried out by the barge and the construction of the tower could potentially impact 232 square meters of the reef and it is still unknown how much marginal damage could affect the ecosystem surrounding the reef. If this occurs, it could impact 1,3 million dollars by damaging the reef habitat,” he concludes.

This was published last night, Monday, by the aforementioned media and also by Stab.

There was no response from Olympic authorities.

Paris 2024 is known to have its own ecological impact studies on the installation of the tower, which local Matahi Drollet himself asked to see.

Yesterday, Paris 2024 reported that after Polynesian authorities met with local authorities, the works that were halted after the barge broke part of the coral will be resumed.

They assured that they will use a smaller one.