By Oahu Co-Chapter Leader and Advisory Board Member Temple Liebmann
October 4th took the ODA Hawaiʻi crew somewhere brand new: Mākaha Beach on Oʻahu's west side.
This cleanup started with a chance connection. A scuba diver dropping off gear for repair at Oahu Scuba Repair, owned by our fearless leader Gary Liebmann, found out that Gary leads the Oʻahu chapter of Ocean Defenders Alliance and forwarded him a video of an area off Mākaha that was in desperate need of cleaning. One look at that footage was all it took. We assembled a team and went to work!
Gary led the operation with a dedicated team including Madeline Crouse, James Delecki, Walker Embrey, Robert Gates, Dan Okamura, and Cameron Yabsley. I handled topside support and photography throughout the cleanup.
Topside, it was a beautiful day by the sea. Stable conditions and moderate trade winds settled over the islands with no real showers to speak of, and the sun and ocean breezes were fantastic. The team set up camp at a picnic table in the shade of the beach trees, laid out the DPVs (dive propulsion vehicles) and tanks, and talked through the plan before heading for the water.
This photo shows the depth of the beach. It's sure beautiful, but when you're coming out of the water in a wet suit and carrying something heavy, it's a challenge to traverse!
Getting to the site was a workout all on its own. It was a long walk down the beach to get in, and the debris field sat about half-a-mile out. On top of that, one of the DPVs broke down, so some of the divers had to double up on the remaining scooters, with one diver holding on by the other's fins for the ride out and back. Visibility was terrible at about 6 to 10 inches when the team first entered the water, and it was only marginally better as they got out to depth, but they found the debris and got to work.
The first two divers back to shore were Gary and James Delecki, and they brought up a great amount of trash between them. With five more divers still to come up, the tarp we had brought filled up fast. The heaviest work of the day was the tires. Divers rigged them with lift bags to float them up off the bottom, swam them all the way back to shore, and then hauled them a couple hundred yards up the sand to the collection site. It was tough going, and every diver earned their lunch.
The team pulled in quite a haul: three car tires and a tarp piled high with aluminum cans, glass bottles, golf balls, lengths of PVC pipe, a tangle of fishing net, plastic bags and bottles, a large piece of fouled sheet metal, and even a dinosaur, as well as plenty of other debris that had settled onto the bottom off Mākaha. Afterward, the crew rinsed off, packed up the tarp, and headed to The Beach House by 604 to refuel and swap stories from the day.
Ocean Defenders crew with their "Catch of the Day"!
Every piece of that haul matters. Plastic doesn't disappear in the ocean. It breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces that end up in the water and in the animals that live there, and tires slowly shed rubber and chemicals into the surrounding reef. Getting this debris out while it's still whole keeps it from becoming a much bigger problem for Mākaha's reef down the road.
A huge mahalo to the diver who reached out and shared that video. Without that tip, this spot might have gone unnoticed for a long time.
If you know of an area that needs some attention, please let us know.
Mahalo to every volunteer who came out to make this cleanup happen. Days like this, new sites, tough conditions, and a team that refuses to quit, are exactly why we do this work.
If you live on O’ahu and want to be part of stewarding your coastal waters, please let us know!
