By ODA Hawai’i Island Chapter Leader Sarah Milisen
ODA volunteers are incredible. Willing to take off work, use PTO, and dedicate their days to cleaning the ocean, over and over again, and another Kona Honu Divers boat charter September 9th was no exception.
We were told Hurricane Kiko would show up on Tuesday, creating potential horrendous ocean conditions but our islands protected our lee side, and Kiko dissipated and veered north, so we were left with GLASSY conditions and calm waters—perfect for getting up shallow along the shoreline and looking for abandoned fishing line and lead weights!
Our dedicated divers suited up and jumped in at our first site, the south side of NELHA, or Keahole Point. We all found the dive productive, as our boat hasn't been able to visit there in the last few months due to swirling and intense currents or heavy swell.
Divers filled their bags with lots of lead, plenty of line, and many fishhooks, and lures. After an hour, we all came up, feeling accomplished and sharing our favorite finds of the dive.
Dive Two brought us further south along Keahole point, an area with a lot of huge underwater construction debris.
It is definitely beyond our capabilities to recover the massive, heavy pipes and concrete blocks down there, but we were able to gather up lots of ghost gear like fishing line, hooks, and lead, as well as smaller construction debris. I even found a big pile of Billfish lures?! Not sure what they were doing down there!
Divers completed their second 60-minute dive together, complete with group photo by our lovely and talented photographer Bo Pardau.
All in all, we collected over 20 fishhooks, more than a dozen lures (and hooks on those too, of course), over 30 pounds of lead weights, several pounds of fishing line, and a vape. With so many return visits under our belts, we are at a point of maintaining these sites and keeping these areas clean and free of debris for the marine life that inhabits these waters.
Volunteers and staff aboard for this charter: John Coladonato, captain; Jeremy Evans; Milo Giorgio, boat crew; Donna Goodale; Mo Hennessy; James Kregness; Steve Mann; Kristal McGrath; Jeff Milisen; Amy Montanaro; Meghan Murray; Dot Norris; Bo Pardau, volunteer photographer; Carolina Piel; James Redshaw; Jim Ridgway; and John Woodward.
If you know of any dive sites on Big Island in need of cleaning, ODA would love to know! Please email Sarah@oceandefenders.org to help coordinate a cleanup in a new area of need!
