By Oahu Volunteer Coordinator and Advisory Board Member Temple Liebmann
On the sunny morning of June 28th, our Ocean Defenders Alliance (ODA) team convened at Hanauma Bay under brilliant blue skies, ready for another round of marine debris removal.
The day began warm and calm at the surface, but once we slipped beneath the waves, the story changed. Rip currents tugged at our legs, and visibility hovered around 10–15 feet—lower than usual, but we were determined.
Gary Liebmann led our dive team with his usual calm confidence. Alongside him were volunteers Chris Ashmore, Chandler Bosch, James Delecki, Ray Goodrich, Jerritt Larson, Temple Liebmann, Ed Sisino, and Rose Zhang. All were armed with gloves, mesh bags, and a commitment to restoring these precious waters. Chris documented every moment with his underwater camera: from tangled nets drifting in the surge to stray plastic bottles caught in coral nooks. Up above, I—Temple Liebmann—served as topside support.
Despite the challenging conditions, the divers kept at it until their collection bags were bursting. We hauled in several sections of fishing net whipping through the current, countless plastic bottles and snack wrappers, fragments of black tarp, and even someone’s lost fin—an eerie reminder of how easily debris becomes part of the reef landscape.
By mid-morning, we realized our haul was too large for the park’s trash cans. Our hearts sank for a moment at the thought of leaving anything behind, but the wonderful Hanauma Bay maintenance crew arrived swiftly, loading our haul onto their maintenance truck and ensuring every last piece of trash would be properly disposed of.
As we emerged from the water, sun-warmed and triumphant, the contrast between the bay’s natural beauty and the debris we’d removed was stark.
Yet it was also uplifting: every bag we filled was a victory—for the fish, the corals, and the countless visitors who will now snorkel through clearer waters.
Days like this remind me why I volunteer with ODA. It’s more than cleanup; it’s community, stewardship, and a bold statement that these reefs matter.
Thanks to the dedication of our divers, the support of the maintenance crew, and the unrelenting spirit of everyone involved, Hanauma Bay shines a little brighter today. Until next time, we’ll be ready to dive back in—rain or shine, calm or current—to defend our ocean home.
Check out all the sites that ODA cleans in the Hawaiian Islands! We continually add locations as we learn of debris needing to be removed.
