NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Fishing boat from Japan washes ashore

High surf from Tropical Storm Iselle pushed a drifting Japanese fishing boat ashore on Kauai.

Carl Berg of the Surfrider Foundation Kauai Chapter said the 18- to 20-foot Sunfish No. 5 washed ashore Friday morning near Waikaea Canal in Kapaa.

"The rear end is buried, but I don’t see any propeller on it," Berg told the Garden Island.

Barnacles on the boat’s bottom indicate it had been floating right side up — presumably since the March 2011 tsunami — and managed to flip over on the reef before coming ashore, according to Berg.

Surfrider reported the boat to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The boat’s serial number will allow officials to determine the city from which it originated.

In addition to bringing in the boat and smaller debris, Friday’s high surf washed out to sea a large fishing net that was hung up on rocks near Kealia, Berg said. The nonprofit had been planning to remove it.

Research on coral disease to be shared

The latest information about Kauai’s coral disease outbreak will be presented during a public lecture Wednesday in Princeville.

University of Hawaii doctoral student Christina Runyon is looking into the distribution, prevalence and virulence of the cyanobacterial disease, as well as identifying the key pathogenic bacteria associated with it.

Her recent findings will be presented during a lecture from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Princeville Public Library.