By ODA Hawai’i Island Chapter Leader Sarah Milisen
Editor's note: Be sure to check out the entire photo gallery after you read the article. Lots of great photos of all the hardworking volunteers both on topside and underwater!
In the aftermath of Ironman races, that begin with their triathlon swim at the Kailua Pier in Kona, Hawai’i, I can't help but wonder if we should have cleaned up AFTER Ironman, rather than before, yet I know that any amount of cleanup, as soon as possible, is still the best option.
So, despite a looming Ironman, Ocean Defenders Alliance (ODA), along with our partners Body Glove, Jack's Diving Locker. and Kona Honu Divers all gathered our efforts for our twice-annual Kailua Pier cleanup on September 21. It usually coincides with International Coastal Cleanup Day in mid-September, and we get volunteers from all types of affiliations—the canoe club, swimmers that regularly swim the ironman course, passersby hoping to help, and of course, in true ODA fashion, lots and lots of our regular ocean cleanup divers.
It was another great turnout! We had over 50 volunteers at this turnout, with roughly 30 divers underwater, collecting as much line and lead and debris as they possibly could in 80 underwater minutes. Our last cleanup here in March was unbelievably productive, but the total feedback from the divers I got was, "There's still so much more down there I couldn't get!" so we set them to work for an extra-long dive—and man, they got some good stuff!
A shopping cart was the first big item to be pulled by our amazing father-son Defender Duo John and Henry! I was sure glad I brought a few lift bags, as you never know what the water at the end of the Pier will have in it.
Years past were bicycles, shopping carts, massive tires, and everything else that might roll off the end in one way or another. A team of divers were deployed to haul in a huge tire at the end, using all available lift bags and rolling it up the ramp with several volunteers’ help.
Topside volunteers got busy, filling our little ODA underwater bags 5-6 times with shoreline debris. Cups, cigarette butts, food packaging, cans, and the like all removed BEFORE it had its chance to blow from the land into the ocean! Hurray!
Here’s a rundown of all the volunteers: Presley Alonso, Juan Chacin, Erin Clement, Bruce Collins, Ana D Quevedo, Mirrissa Ellis, Jeremy Evans, John Gallagher, Henry Gallagher, Sharlene Gee, Camilo Giorgio, Donna Goodale, Maile Goss, Maura Hennessy, Oscar Hennig, Kapua Holar, Tina Jensen, Elisa Junqueira, Marty Kay, Martin Kennedy, Joe Little, Evan Lum, Casey McKay, Luca McKay, Shawn McKay, Jeff Milisen, Sarah Milisen (as the ring leader) John Moore, Meghan Murray, Larry O’Brien, Bo Pardau (UW photographer extraordinaire!), Jamie Pardau, James Redshaw, Kim Robinson, Ron Robinson, Laura Rogers, Heidi Ruckhaus, Reiko Sekine, Alli Shapiro, Mikena Shay, Tim Strickland, Laura Trammel, Don Tremel, Taylor Wells, and Mindy Sue Werth!
Lots and lots of fishing lines were removed, 7,000 feet estimated. Divers recovered 7 sunglasses, some hand nets, 20 lures, a whole paddle (!!), several vape pens, 2 Apple Watches, a few cell phones, and several clothing items. What I noticed LESS of, was bottles, cans, and lead! We have sure removed a lot of those in the past. Could our team be slowly catching up to all the debris that's along Kailua Pier? It appears to be that way!
Editor's Note: You can't say our crew doesn't have a sense of humor - check it out! This is for longtime amazing volunteer Jeff Milisen :-D
We will be scheduling another Pier cleanup in March next year—be on the lookout for our next one! If you love what we do, check out our volunteer calendar, as we typically host 3 or more ODA events per month—come on out to help if you can!