By Founder and President Kurt Lieber
Not wanting to waste any time on my trip to Maui, Lloyd Johnson and I arranged to charter a dive boat out to a site that sees heavy accumulation of fishing tackle that gets caught on the reefs and rocks of this deep-water site. This was on November 3rd, the day after we’d done an underwater cleanup off the coast of Kihei!
Map of Maui
The area is known as La Perouse Bay and is a very remote site. The area is frequented by fishermen due to the steep drop-off that transitions from about 40 feet above the waterline and continues down to 60 feet deep within a short distance from the volcanic outcropping.
This creates an ideal spot to catch deep water fish that come in from the even deeper waters and try their luck at catching some of the smaller fish that congregate around the coral reef.
Boat route from Ma'alea Harbor to LaParousse Bay
ODA has been chartering boats on Maui for a little over 2 years now, specifically to get our volunteer divers to areas like this. Remote, but heavily fished.
The volunteers for this trip were: Mark Deakos, Bobby John, Lloyd Johnson, Travis Mattheson, Cassie Pali, Brian Seifert, and Mikail Torgurson.
I didn’t join the crew on the boat due to limited space, but I hiked out to get close to the dive site.
The boat took off from Ma’alea Harbor, which is pretty much in the middle of the island, at 8am. They made the 19-mile trip in about 90 minutes. By the time I arrived at the site, they had just arrived.
Bobby John took most of this video so you can see exactly what they encountered underwater. Check it out:
The team took 2 dives over the course of two-and-a-half hours and then made the long trek back to Ma’alea.
I can’t tell you how impressed I am with these people’s dedication and dive skills. This was about 40-mile round trip, in a small boat, with no canopy to protect them from the sun and the wind.
As you can see from this picture, they were all smiles. So was I, knowing that we removed 200 pounds of lead weights and about 1,500 feet of fishing lines, including 40 hooks.
A huge Mahalo to Maui Pacific Divers for giving us a discounted charter rate and getting all the volunteers to and from the site!
Special shout out to Mark, Bobby, Lloyd, Travis, Cassie, Brian and Mikail. You guys and gals are amazing!
