By Oahu Volunteer Coordinator and Advisory Board Member Temple Liebmann

We had a smaller but determined ODA Hawaiʻi crew back to Hanauma Bay Marine Life Conservation District for a Saturday morning cleanup dive on August 29^th. With summer winding down and several regular divers still away on vacation, the turnout was modest, but the team made the most of it and got a lot done.

Trade winds stayed moderate to locally breezy that weekend, with the typical dry, stable pattern that brings summertime light showers to windward and upslope areas. It was a pretty morning overall Hanauma Bay, but while I was running topside support, it rained on the entire time the divers were underwater, safely out of reach of it.

Leading the dive was Gary Liebmann, joined by Chad Schmidt, Eduardo Abreau, and Morgan Abreau. I handled topside support and photography throughout.

The team entered from shore and used DPVs (dive propulsion vehicles) to scoot out to an area called Witches Brew, inside the bay's main basin beyond the snorkel channel markers on the right, an area known for its surge. Conditions were calm and pleasant heading out, but as the dive wore on and the modest east swell that had been building through the weekend made itself felt, the current picked up considerably. Getting back in took real effort against the pull, but everyone made it back to shore safely with their bags full of debris.

The haul reflected the site's reputation for collecting debris in its current: a heavy tangle of fishing net and rope, sheets and bags of degraded plastic, a cracked plastic strainer basket, assorted bottles and jugs, and a scattering of smaller plastic debris — all spread out on the grass at the park to sort through after the dive.

Getting debris like this out while it's still intact matters more at Hanauma Bay than almost anywhere else. Sun, surge, and sand keep grinding away at plastic left in the water, breaking it down into microplastics that are nearly impossible to remove once they're in the system. Perceiving it as food, reef fish, sea turtles, and other marine life can end up ingesting or absorbing the plastic bits.

Hanauma Bay is a Marine Life Conservation District, home to one of the healthiest reef ecosystems on Oʻahu, so every net, bottle, and bag pulled out before it breaks apart is one less source of microplastics for that reef to deal with for good.

Mahalo to Gary, Chad, Eduardo, and Morgan for pushing through the current to bring up another haul of debris, and to Temple for holding down topside support in the rain. Even with a small crew, days like this keep Hanauma Bay a little cleaner.

ODA is the only nonprofit organization with a permit to clean the underwater expanses of Hanaumu Bay. Please support our work so we can keep this incredible place free of debris!