A ghost net is removed by Ocean Voyages Institute from the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii in June. The organization, along with local nonprofits and government agencies, are trying to locate a large ghost net reported in Maui County waters. Ocean Voyages Institute photo

Mariners and ocean users were advised to be on the lookout for a 50-foot-long and 70-foot-wide ghost net — which could entangle whales, ensnare other marine life and severely damage boats — floating in Maui County waters, marine officials said.

The ghost net, which also is dangling 50 feet deep, is likely made up of lost, abandoned or discarded nets and fishing gear. It was initially reported via social media Dec. 29 by Oriana Kalama, CEO and founder of Ocean Defender-Hawaii, according to a news release from the local nonprofit Love the Sea on Monday.

At the time, the net was a mile west of Molokini. It has a yellow floater bucket and was drifting through the Auau Channel, between Maui and Lanai.

The net could have been off the coast of central Kihei on Monday afternoon, said Ed Lyman, large whale entanglement response coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.

He and other NOAA officials had just gotten back to shore Monday, so it was too late for them to go back out that day to check out the report.

Lyman, who learned of the ghost net second hand, said he cannot be sure the Monday report was the same net, but its description resembled the December sighting. NOAA is keeping an eye out for the net, and if it is located, officials will place a tracker on it for retrieval by a large vessel. The tracker will be the type typically used for deceased whales.

Ocean advocates and agencies working on locating the net have put out a call for sightings of the net. Currently, there is a cargo cleanup ship, the sailing vessel Kwai, in the area that could retrieve the “monster net” this weekend or next week, before heading to Oahu, the news release said.

“The Coast Guard has been on the lookout, and we have a strong possibility of finding the net if weather improves,” said Mary Crowley, director of the Ocean Voyages Institute based in Sausalito, Calif. The institute has a specific project focusing on major ocean cleanups and raising awareness of the global problem of marine debris and ocean trash.

“Large gusts, pressure systems and big waves have made the mission difficult over the past week,” said Crowley, who notified the Kwai of the ghost net.

Crowley asks that anyone who sees the ghost net around Maui email her at mary@oceanvoyages

institute.org and include the latitude, longitude and size estimate. Photos would be helpful as well.

The Coast Guard also asks that people notify them of sightings by phone at (808) 842-2600 or on radio Channel 16.

Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Matthew West could not find a report of the initial sighting of the net, but said that if notified, the Coast Guard would put out a notice so mariners could avoid the net.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources and state harbor masters were advised of the net. AJ McWhorter, a communications specialist with the DLNR, said Maui boaters should remain diligent, keeping an eye out for the net.

In the meantime, environmental groups Parley for the Oceans and Love the Sea have been working on recovering the net locally. Matt Lane, founder of Maui-based Love the Sea, said that he and other nonprofits were planning to have a helicopter up in the air today to search for the net.

Lane said this ghost net is one of several identified recently around Maui.

Lyman said the ghost net is “one of the bigger ones” he’s heard about around the islands. It cannot be easily pulled from the sea; a crane needs to be used, he said.

“Because it’s right here, there is a feeling we can do something about it,” Lyman said, adding that there are ghost nets in the wider ocean that are not easily retrieved.

The net’s impact on whales is a concern. The humpback whale season has not peaked yet, with more whales typically seen around Maui in late February and into March, but whales could be entangled, especially young calves who are curious and may play with the net or use it to rub off the barnacles, Lyman said.

Other marine life may ingest parts of the net and become ill and the nets could be carrying invasive species from other environments, Lyman said. The large nets also are navigational hazards and may be difficult for boats to see.

Nikolai Maximenko of the International Pacific Research Center believes the net is more likely to have moved west. He cited a large cyclonic eddy southwest of Maui “that made currents more organized.” The net is more likely somewhere between Maui, Kahoolawe, Lanai and Molokai.

“Possibly, it’s already stuck on one of these islands,” he said.

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.