Lawsuit: Protect Threatened Cauliflower Coral In Hawaii

The Trump administration is accused of failing to protect the species known as Ko’a in Hawaii.

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The Center for Biological Diversity on Wednesday filed a notice of intent to sue the Trump administration for what the center alleges is failure to protect cauliflower coral — called Ko’a in Hawaiian — around the Hawaiian Islands.

“The bushy, shallow-water coral species has been devastated by ocean warming triggered by human-caused climate change,” according to a press release from the center, an Arizona-based nonprofit.

Cauliflower coral, French Frigate Shoals, Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Flickr: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarter

The National Marine Fisheries Service last year said that the coral’s listing as an endangered species “may be warranted” and opened a 90-day review.

But, the center alleges, “Officials have failed to follow up on the listing decision.”

Cauliflower coral coverage around Hawaii is estimated to have declined by 36 percent from 1999 to 2012.

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