LETTER: Near-Shore Kona Boats Likely to Kill Someone

Aloha, my name is Joe Holt. I swim at Magic Sands Beach in Kona every day.

Almost every day a group of the same 3-6 boats chases the spinner dolphins down the coast with complete disregard for the dolphins’ safety, or any swimmers and paddle boarders. The boats today are the Kona Ocean Adventures, CABO Ocean Adventures, two zodiacs, and a catamaran.

The other day I actually saw swimmers have to go outside of the boats to get around, because they were in so close. A few minutes later two paddle boarders had to paddle right through them because the boats were making laps in circles with complete disregard for anyone in the water.

I am a medically retired Marine sergeant and I can tell you that every rule in the military is written in blood. Someone has to die, and then there is a new rule that says you can’t do that thing any more. Is it going to take a person being run over here and killed before anyone takes notice? Should I even mention the fact that the spinner dolphins themselves are in a dramatic decline since this “dolphin chasing” has been allowed for so long?

This is the animals’ home and we are the visitors. And we are doing a pretty crappy job of protecting our hosts.

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