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News and Media

News and Media

Report by ODA Advisory Board Member Marjorie Zensen

Hālona Cove is one of those special spots on Oahu. Several movies have scenes that were shot in the cove and you can routinely see photo shoots going on. It’s just that beautiful and romantic.

Hālona Cove - courtesy WikipediaHālona Cove - courtesy Wikipedia

But once you hit the water, the story changes!  We can really only dive the cove during the “winter” months when the waves and currents die down a bit. But regardless, the surge is super strong at any time of the year! Heading out towards the ocean and once out of the cove, if you make a left you will get to Hālona blowhole. We don’t do that. We go to the right and dive along the cliff where fishermen congregate and drop in their lines (and they lose a lot of their lines and gear into the water).

ODA volunteer diver on scooter

In the pictures you’ll see bundles of fishing line like this one. Check out the photo gallery at the bottom of the page to see more!

Tangled ball of fishing line

That’s sometimes how we see it underwater– in one big glob! Other times the line crisscrosses the ocean floor from coral head to coral head.  It’s  work that takes a lot of time and so we go through our air pretty quickly. But with many hands, we can pick up a lot of stuff!

Ocean debris removed by ODA cleanup crew

On this day, we retrieved about 75 pounds worth of debris which included:

  • About 1000 yards of line
  • Fabrics
  • A folded-up canopy
  • Pieces of lawn furniture
  • Fishing weight
  • More than a dozen ulua hooks
  • Mask, snorkels

We were very happy to have ODAs DPVs (diver propulsion vehicles) to get out to the wall, but even happier that we had them to help us back in. The canopy actually required a lift bag to assist in reentry back into the cove and everyone had quite a bit of weight in their bags.

ODA marine debris removal equipment

We had some tough volunteers out for the day!

  • Adam Kordish
  • Alice Marionneaux
  • Chad Schmidt
  • Crystal Gray
  • Daniel Boyd
  • David Lewis
  • Glenn Roberts
  • Marjorie Zensen
  • Mark England 
  • Michael DalPra
  • Ray Goody
  • Rose Zhang

Advisory Board Member Glenn Roberts

Extra thanks to Glenn for setting this up, checking the ocean conditions, and coming out! The picture of him with his leg propped up is per doctor’s orders and I'm glad he still came out to aid in surface support. 

If you live in Oahu and would like to volunteer with the dive crew, please visit our Volunteer page to learn more!