A cruise ship tender with a wet exhaust left swimmers at Kailua Pier scrubbing soot-like residue off their bodies Thursday morning, according to bystanders.
A cruise ship tender with a wet exhaust left swimmers at Kailua Pier scrubbing soot-like residue off their bodies Thursday morning, according to bystanders.
Swimmer Karlyn Pipes photographed and took video of the ten-foot wide cloud of exhaust waste as it circulated in the bay around 9:15 a.m. The substance smell like diesel, Pipes said.
“That waste was being pushed right into the start and end point of our race, where hundreds of people swim,” Pipes said. “People were complaining they’d get out and towel off, and it would be sticking to their skin.”
An employee with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources directed the tender to change position so that its exhaust and wash went in another direction, Pipe said. An inquiry to DLNR was not immediately responded to on Thursday.