Honolulu police believe an 18- to 24-inch, torpedo-shaped object discovered this morning off the Kahe Power Plant in Waianae is harmless but are waiting for a Navy ordnance team to arrive later today.

Hawaiian Electric Co. divers spotted the object in 3 feet of water just a step from shore while cleaning an intake valve at the Kahe Power Plant near “Electric Beach” at 9:45 a.m. today.

“My people went down there and took a look at it,” said Sgt. Thomas Carreiro, the Honolulu Police Department’s bomb squad and SWAT team leader. “It’s not something we’re too concerned about.”

The device could be a sonar buoy that at one time had a propellor, Carreiro said. 

It’s covered with coral and barnacles and “probably bounced around a lot on the ocean floor,” Carreiro said. “That’s why we’re not too concerned that it’s explosive because it did bounce around a lot before it came in.”

However, police are keeping journalists and bystanders away from the scene, Carreiro said.

“We’ve got to make sure all precautions are taken,” he said.