By Oahu Divemaster & ODA Advisory Board Member Gary Liebmann
Our last outing was no ordinary clean up dive for Ocean Defenders Alliance (ODA)! This past Sunday April 7th, we were fortunate enough to be accompanied by a French-Canadian film crew, who are filming the second season for their show, Espèces d'ordures (Talking Trash).
This documentary series focuses on how different cities around the world deal with their trash and recycling issues and will be aired in all French Speaking countries. We’re honored that the producers asked ODA if we would be interested in being part of their second season: Of course!
The members of this film crew who joined us were the:
- Frédéric Choinière, Host
- Arnaud Bouquet, Director
- Louis-Charles Pilon, Director of Photography
The French-Canadian film crew from left to right: Arnaud Bouquet, Louis-Charles Pilon, and Frédéric Choinière
Arnaud reached out to ODA Founder and President Kurt Lieber a couple of months in advance and let him know they would be on Island for a few days during the second week of April. We settled on Sunday the 7th as the day to do the cleanup.
Unfortunately, we are now heading into the season where the weather can be very unpredictable, and the Southeast side of Oahu can become hazardous for diving. As luck would have it this weekend was shaping up to be a doozy! On Friday the 5th, the weather reports were calling for 39 MPH sustained winds with waves up to 8 feet high.
As Sunday drew closer, things weren’t improving, and I thought we would have to call it off. After speaking to the boat captain and calling my divers, we decided to all meet at the boat launch regardless and play it by ear.
One hour before the dive, Temple and I hiked down the trail to our destination site, Spitting Caves, to get a visual on the conditions. Even though the winds were strong, the dive location didn’t look as bad as we thought it would. Luckily the winds were coming from the Northeast and the Point at Portlock was shielding the site we were hoping to hit.
As it turned out, we were able to successfully depart the boat launch at 2pm and made our way out to the dive site.
This was an interesting experience as we not only had to contend with high winds and big surf, but we had nine divers on the boat and all of our gear, we had three camera men, Temple Liebmann as crew, and Sarah Milisen from the Big Island Chapter of ODA, to answer questions and help facilitate the videographers.
When we got to the site, Captain Garrett Prinslow expertly positioned our vessel the Na Makana for the divers’ drop and we made our way down with buckets and bags. While the surface conditions were not for the faint of heart (at about 4–6-foot waves), the conditions below were even worse!!! This was the strongest current I can remember being in for a cleanup.
We literally had to use one hand to anchor ourselves while we were clipping line with the other hand. Of course, our team of experts were able to persevere regardless of the conditions and we managed to fill two buckets and raise them to the surface. These stellar ocean cleanup divers include Micheal Dal Pra, Ed Sisino, Ray Goodrich, Crystal Gray, Gary Liebmann, Dan Okamura, Bill Mettzler, Bailey Young, and Rose Zhang.
The film crew was very enthusiastic as our bags breached the surface and the boat came around for the pickup. As if on cue, when the captain made his way around for the second group of divers, a pod of spinner dolphins swam through, and their ariels made for some great photo opportunities!!
Once safely back on the boat, the film crew filmed us as we celebrated a successful dive. Shortly after, we debarked, and began setting up for trash sorting.
Luis captures footage of the ODA crew sorting debris.
We had two buckets; one came in weighing 67 pounds and the other weighed 52 pounds. We have had heavier buckets in the past but what really impressed me was the majority of the rubbish was fishing line. We estimate that we removed anywhere from 3,000 to 4,000 yards of line! I had briefed our team to focus on the line more so than the weight this time out, as this is what’s most important to the preservation of the reef!
After sorting and disposing of the rubbish, the film crew wanted to do some interviews for the show. During the interview there was one observation that was made by Frédéric during the interview which really stood out to me; he said that they were very impressed with the comradery and light-heartedness we all demonstrated, especially on the way back. They said that most of the documentaries that they have been filming for this show are all doom and gloom, but we had a way of taking an unfortunate situation and making the best of it. They said it was refreshing to see a group work in such harmony and have fun while providing a service to the environment.
Frédéric Choinière the host of "Talking Trash" poses with the ODA Crew with the "Catch of the Day."
At the end of the day, the entire group, including the film crew, headed over to Kona Brewing Company for some pupus and drinks while we reflected on the day and celebrated Arnaud 48th birthday with a Lave Flow ice cream desert!
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