Massive Molasses Spill Devastates Honolulu Harbor Marine Life

A massive molasses spill in Hawaii has killed thousands of sea-dwelling creatures, and despite the marine life carnage, experts say nature will rectify the imbalance eventually.

The massive molasses spill in Honolulu Harbor involved 233,000 gallons of the sticky substance accidentally released into the waters Monday, creating a situation Gary Gill, deputy director of Hawaii’s Environmental Health Division of the Health Department, said was the “worst environmental damage to sea life that [he has] come across.”

After the massive molasses spill permeated Hawaiian waters, fish were suffocated by the newly polluted harbor and died in the thousands. NPR quotes diver Roger White, who was sent down into the spill to survey and film the damage.

White said:

“It was shocking because the entire bottom is covered with dead fish. Small fish, crabs, mole crabs, eels. Every type of fish that you don’t usually see, but now they’re dead. Now they’re just laying there. Every single thing is dead. We’re talking in the hundreds, thousands. I didn’t see one single living thing underwater.”

That’s not all the bad news — while the molasses is meant to naturally dissipate, it could take months or even years for that to happen.

Matson Navigation Co., the shipping company pegged in the massive molasses spill, says they “[regret] that the incident impacted many harbor users as well as wildlife,” adding that they’re “taking steps to ensure this situation does not happen again.”

Vic Angoco is SVP for Matson’s Pacific operations, and he said of the molasses spill:

”We take pride in being good stewards of the land, good stewards of the ocean, and in this case, we didn’t live up to our standards. And we are truly sorry for that, we’re truly sorry for that.”

In addition to the initial loss of marine life, the massive molasses spill may also “lead to an increase in predator species” in its wake.