Paul Allen’s yacht destroys Caribbean reef

Billionaire Paul Allen is being blamed for wrecking a protected reef in the Cayman Islands, thanks to his 300-foot super yacht.

Officials with the islands' Department of Environment say the chain of the Microsoft co-founder's yacht, the MV Tatoosh, destroyed 14,000-square-feet of reef in the West Bay replenishment zone  - roughly 80 per cent of the coral that's vital to marine life.

Local divers conducted a survey of the damage last week and officials plan to release the findings of the dive next week.

'In addition to assessing the damage and determining the cause of this incident, we are also paying close attention to lessons learned so that we can more effectively prevent these accidents while still hosting visiting yachts,' a spokesman for the department told Cayman News Service.

It's unclear when the damage to the reef was done, but pictures on social media show that Allen's yacht was in the islands last week. The Tatoosh is also based there.

An investigation is ongoing into what caused the Tatoosh to destroy such a large part of the reef.

Officials say the boat was anchored close to the Doc Poulson shipwreck and The Knife dive site when it did the damage. 

 Spokesmen for Allen pitted the blame on the Port Authority, saying the crew were simply following officials' instructions on where to place the vessel. When the winds changed direction and pushed the yacht closer to the reserve, they say they moved it.

Technically, any vessel that damages protected reef in the islands is subject to a fine, but the government has reportedly failed time and time again to collect on these sanctions, according to CNS.

It's unclear if Allen was on the boat at the time of the incident.

The billionaire celebrated his 63rd birthday last week, on January 21, and was recently in the news for reportedly purchasing a $5.4million bungalow on Seattle's exclusive Mercer Island.  Allen owns a 10,000-square-foot home on the island, and has been known to buy up smaller properties around it for house guests. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates also has his main home on the island.