By Volunteer and ODA Advisory Board Member Marjorie Zensen

We made another trip to Pololū Beach to do a little more work on the massive pile of line, net, and ropes that we’ve been picking away at!

My daughter, Logan, was visiting and we wanted to take her on the hike down to the Pololū Valley. It’s so, so beautiful and one of my favorite spots here on the Island of Hawai’i. We’ve gone on plenty of “easy” hikes in the past, so I had to use outright honesty with Logan: “We’re going on a beautiful hike…and we’ll be hiking back up around 600 feet of elevation with a load of trash. A heavy load.” 

And that is what we did, and she was all in! She loves this kind of thing! My husband Mark, Logan, and I were once again given VIP parking as the rangers now know us. They were happy that we were back, even if we were just after a “small” load.

We walked the distance down the hill and to the far end of the beach. Yep! The pile was still there, partially buried under layers of large, rounded rocks. We made  quick work of getting a massive mound of ropes and nets freed from the rocks and realized we would need to stop because we were just three people! 

Mark’s bag was awkwardly stuffed and weighed in at about 50 pounds. Logan’s backpack was full at 35 pounds and my much smaller backpack reached its limit at 15 pounds. Since Mark had such a bulky load, he decided to get a head start up the trail.

By the time Logan and I caught up to him, climbing the hill, he was in the process of handing his bag off to a visitor who had asked if he could help! Wow! Mike and Leah were visiting from Washington State and Mike was happy to relieve Mark of his burden. Thanks so much, Mike and Leah, for taking time out of your vacation to help us! 

At the top of the trail, we dropped our packs that carried 100 pounds of abandoned fishing nets and lines off the beach. The rangers took photos and thanked us profusely. We, of course, assured them we would be back with a larger group. We WILL get this beach cleared of this pile of debris!

If you happen to be at the beach or on a boat and see an accumulation of manmade ocean debris, please jump onto our Debris Report Page and let us know what it is and where to find it!