HANALEI, Hawaii — When compiling a list of places that may be
described as paradise, Hanalei Bay on the rugged north shore of
the island of Kauai surely qualifies. The perfect crescent bay,
rimmed by palm trees, emerald cliffs and stretches of white
sand, has always had a dreamy kind of appeal. The problem is
what lies below the surface of the area’s shimmering blue
waters. Since June, a mysterious milky growth has been spreading
rapidly across the coral reefs in Hanalei and the surrounding
bays of the north shore — so rapidly that biologist Terry
Lilley, who has been documenting the phenomenon, says it now
affects 5 percent of all the coral in Hanalei Bay and up to 40
percent of the coral in nearby Anini Bay. Other areas are “just
as bad, if not worse," he said. The growth, identified by
scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey as both a
cyanobacterial pathogen — a bacteria that grows through
photosynthesis — and a fungus, is killing all the coral it
strikes. What’s more, it’s spreading at the rate of 1 to 3