ANINI — Terry Lilley didn’t know he’d been declared a missing person on Tuesday after his green kayak was found floating face-down off the north coast of Kauai.
While the Coast Guard, Kauai Fire Department, Ocean Safety and Lifeguards and community members launched a full-scale search, the experienced waterman was busy diving and doing underwater research at Anini Beach.
He even called into Kauai’s local radio station KKCR to talk about endangered species act (ESA) enforcement with host Felicia Cowden after he got out of the water, with no idea of the ongoing search.
“The last half hour has been one of the strangest half hours of my life,” he said in a phone interview Tuesday evening, minutes after the search had been called off.
The kayak was discovered at 3:40 p.m. and the search was called off at 6 p.m., but Lilley only caught the last few minutes of it all.
Press releases about the search and the empty kayak reached The Garden Island just before 5 p.m.
“The kayak was found offshore and determined to be Lilley’s,” said Sam Gardner, a search and rescue controller with Coast Guard Sector Honolulu in the release. “The fire department is treating this as a missing person case, and no one has been able to reach Lilley.”
After getting out of the water and phoning into KKCR, Lilley made himself a pau hana drink and was getting ready to watch the sunset from the popular east side beach when police found him.
“A bunch of police cars showed up and at the same time there’s a Coast Guard helicopter flying overhead and the policeman said, ‘I’m so happy to see you Mr. Lilley’,” Lilley said. “I was thinking, ‘oh no, what did I do now?’”
Lilley even shot footage of the Coast Guard cutter that was looking for him, wondering “who the heck they were looking for!”
During the nearly four hour search, community members took to social media, posting words of encouragement and prayers for Lilley’s safety.
“Please return safe and sound, Terry!” one post said, complete with a headshot of Lilley.
Some didn’t believe it, saying: “He’s an experienced waterman, his kayak just floated away.”
Hanalei’s Makaala Kaaumoana voiced the same sentiment in a phone interview during the search.
“He uses the kayak to go diving, but that fact doesn’t mean anything,” she said at about 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. “He’s a good swimmer and a good diver. It’s a big question mark right now.”
After reports of his safety started circulating, people again took to social media voicing thankfullness and relief.
“So grateful for the update that he’s safe,” one comment said. That was echoed in dozens of posts.
Lilley shoots underwater footage for National Geographic, makes his own independent films, and has been advocating the enforcement of the ESA on Kauai for years.
He is also vocal against military presence in Hawaii and is known as an activist and an educator.
Lately, he’s been shooting underwater footage of the kelp forest off the coast of California.
“I was gone for three weeks and when I got back, I found out someone stole my dive kayak,” Lilley said. “It was down at the pavilion with the outriggers. I didn’t think two things about it, though, I just went down to snorkel at Anini.”
Whoever stole the kayak paddled it out to sea, Lilley assumes — though what happened after that is a mystery.
“Somehow it ended up upside-down,” he said. “The kayak has my name and phone number across it.”
Now, he has to get a permit to go through the convoy to Kauai’s North Shore, where he can retrieve the kayak and start using it for diving again.
“Once I get it, yeah, I’ll be using it for diving again,” he said.
At the end of the day, Lilley said it’s “heartwarming” to know people were concerned about his safety.
“I wish I didn’t cause the Coast Guard to spend a bunch of money that it didn’t need to, but to have people concerned about what I do in the water is very endearing,” he said. “All I can say is thank you folks, I’m fine. I’m safe and I’m just hanging out at Anini.”
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Jessica Else, environment reporter, can be reached at 245-0452 or at jelse@thegardenisland.com
Anini is an EAST side beach. Who knew?
A good diver; an experience waterman…who just let’s his kayak float away? Give me a break! Typical of a person who makes up fake environmental reports for personal glory. “Navy sonar is killing the reefs!!!”
Or like the crazy thing he made up ‘turtle AIDs’
AUWE
Aloha Kakou,
As was said in the other Terry Lilley article…
I’m curious why you say Terry Lilley is not a Marine Biologist?
Is it because he does not have graduate degrees after his name? I would not know if he does or not. Considering the service he is providing our communities does it really matter.
The point I’m making is that whether a person is school “degree’d” or not, if they spend as much time as Terry in, on, around, about, the study of and the sharing and teaching us about the the ocean and so many of its creatures whether plant or animal, then that person is a Marine Biologist, whether self appointed or not.
For all to know, the word “Physician” means TEACHER. And while Physicians have degrees that indicate they are physicians, most are not Physicians, and do not spend their careers as Physicians..
Most “Physicians” have ignored the path of a Physician as Teacher, and instead have gone down the road of one who deals out drugs by prescription or recommendation all day, notable of which is the Opioid Crisis that doctors, holding themselves out as Physicians, have single handedy as a profession, have created this addiction crisis across America. Not only destroying the health of individuals but eventually and figuratively dropping their patients off at the gutter of street corners of Heroin Dealers of America, and from what we hear even in tiny Hanalei Town.
And for many their doctor induced addiction leads to crime and prison…thank you Doctor…!
All the while these Disease Doctors who are degreed as M.D.’s, and not practicing as Health Doctors at all, and have jealously or ignorantly kept patients who are in pain from seeing alternative Health Practitoners, of which there are many fields of, who are able naturally to reduce or eliminate pain without Opiate Addiction.
Further these licensed physicians as a group worldwide have allowed themselves to be taken over by the Petrochemical (oil) Industry and instead of teaching Health, now deal unnatural chemical drugs plaguing our individual and nation’s health into more complicated diseases by side effects, all the while making huge massive profits out of converting oil molecules into toxic medicines. The profits are so vast that the drug, hospital, medical doctor industry makes $4 Trillion dollars a year, almost 12 times as much as the defense of our nation.
And while this exorbitant amount of profit goes on, our nation’s disease statistics per person gets dramatically worse in numbers and in the amount of diseases and new diseases that people have. It is also mandatory to note here that America is #1: in the cost of Health Care, but #37 in the quality of Health Care on a worldwide basis.
America and Americans deserve better than this. And our Physicins instead of teaching us to get well and stay well, instead allow all of us, whether a Marine Biologist or an Engineerr, or lawyer, or tourist industry worker, allow us, no, indeed, keep us all ignorant about our bodies, and suck us into the realm of Blind Faith in the Medical Industry, accepting their toxic drugs like the Holy Communion at some churches. Stick your tongue out for another dose.
The American public, in spite of our nation wide educational system, is absolutely ignorant of our bodies and our health. And over time some few generations, the doctors and drug industry and TV AND MEDIA advertising have falsely led us down the path to think that petrochemical drugs have anything to do with health when they only serve to perpetuate disease and gain massive profits. The medical system is bankrupting the health of our nation, and not just by dollars but by the loss of,our health as individuals and weakening our nation.
The majority of Americans are on drug medications whether by prescirption or over the counter drugs. That’s not good, that’s a loser weak nation. Who and what got us into this? Re-read this comment and you’ll maybe figure it out or get a hint.
Terry Lilley is a practicing Marine Biologist by his life’s efforts, and he is a Marine Biologist Physician by teaching us about the Oceans that God has given us to nurture ourselves and to enjoy, to provide transport of goods, services, and sharing of discovery and of knowledge and ideas, and share the wonders of thousands of years or others cultures, and mixing our species in evolution. Ask the Hawaiians how they got here.
Thank you Terry for standing up and teaching us what we would otherwise not know.
We think what Terry is saying is that Global Warming is an Effect, and Man Made Pollution is the Cause. Always look to the Cause, we know what the Cause of the Opioid Crisis is, as well as so many of the diseases, but it is more profitable to keep the diseases.
Let’s not shoot,ourselves in the foot, Terry please teach us more.
We need more teachers in every field where there are problems, especially teachers of children and youth.
Mahalo,
Charles
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First off Charlie, in Graduate School you have to stand and deliver your facts before panels with Ph.D’s on the subject you are presenting! Oh baby, do you ever acquire critical thinking skills in a big hurry. One thing you would never encounter in Graduate School is you spouting long debunked and thoroughly debunked baloney on milk causing cancer or Terry Lilly’s reports on Navy P-3s attacking Kapaa Elementary with Chemtrails or any of the other half baked stuff the two of you throw at the wall because it “sounds good” to you. I don’t consider any of that to be “serving the community!”
thank you, Charles. Your posts are a breath of fresh air to many, in this fetid swamp we are currently navigating.
Aloha Charlie,
You should check out Terry’s online post. He is not a marine biologist because a marine biologist is a scientist, someone who formulates ideas based on observations, then tests those ideas and lets the test results lead them to conclusions on those ideas. Terry is an activist, someone who already has hardened ideas he is emotionally vested in and fits the evidence to those ideas, ignoring anything contrary. He’s done some good, like bringing attention to Kauai’s coral reef diseases and sharing cool pics, but he has also promoted a lot of ignorance with his ideas such as microwaves from the military somehow behind coral reef decline and chemtrails. Unfortunately TGI keeps propping him up as a marine science expert. That said, glad he’s OK.
This man is not a marine biologist, this is simply not true, not fact based. Just because a person spends an enormous amount of time in the ocean, taking videos, does not make him a marine biologist.
If I were to, let’s say spend a lot of my time looking at clouds and watching the weather, am I then a meteorologist? The answer is no.
Or what if I take lots of photos of plants. I have more photos of plants than any private citizen in the country. Am I then a botanist? No. The answer is no.
This author seems to write many articles about this man who is leading everyone to believe he has credentials that he simply does not hold. Making the community see him at a marine biologist, which he is not. This is misleading the community and doing a disservice to Kauai as a whole. Why does she write about him so often? Seriously, why? I’m quite curious.
By calling yourself something you are not, it undercuts the work and effort those who have actually worked to hold such titles. Titles are given for a reason, they indicate time, education AND experience. Which qualify you to hold such a title.
If I have a question about reptiles (which is what he has a degree in), or snorkeling, or underwater videography, i will contact terry. When I have a marine biology question, I contact a REAL marine biologists, a real scientist.
This garden island thing with terry the marine biologist has to end.
Sincerely,
A concerned Kauai resident