By Kay Cooper, ODA North Hawai’i Island Volunteer Coordinator
Working Together to Protect a Delicate Marine Ecosystem
Ocean Defenders Alliance (ODA) recently joined forces with the Mauna Kea Resort for a comprehensive site survey and underwater cleanup effort. Divers Kay Cooper and Brian Sward led the underwater assessment, while onshore coordination was expertly managed by the resort’s Director of Beach Experience Greg Silva. This collaboration reflects a growing commitment across the community to safeguard one of Hawai’i’s most treasured coastal environments.
Conditions on this day (Wednesday, November 19th) were far from ideal. With rough seas and poor visibility, the team had to navigate carefully and adapt their approach in real time. Despite these challenges, Kay and Brian made substantial progress—conducting a meaningful site assessment while removing more than 650 golf balls and a range of other marine debris from the seafloor. This number represents a significant improvement over earlier reports, which documented far larger accumulations throughout the bay.
The decrease in debris highlights the dedication and proactive efforts of the Mauna Kea Resort team, who have been steadily removing golf balls and other waste from the shoreline and nearshore waters. Their ongoing stewardship is making a noticeable difference.
During the dive, Kay and Brian found that most of the remaining golf balls were older items lodged beneath rocks or settled into crevices, the kind of debris that often goes unnoticed without close inspection. Many were in areas where local residents and resort guests have already done an excellent job collecting the more accessible debris, allowing the dive team to focus on challenging, more concealed pockets of them. Beyond the immediate cleanup, this project reflects something even more meaningful: a shared commitment to protecting our delicate marine ecosystem.
The waters surrounding Mauna Kea support coral communities, schooling fish, sea turtles, and countless other species that depend on healthy, debris-free habitats. Even seemingly small items like golf balls can degrade over time, releasing harmful materials, damaging coral, and disrupting natural processes. By working together—resort staff, volunteers, ocean advocates, and community members—we can help to reduce these impacts and help restore balance to the coastal environment. This effort marks only the beginning of what promises to be a powerful and productive partnership. We are inspired, energized, and deeply grateful for the collaboration with the Mauna Kea Resort team.
Moving forward, ODA looks forward to continuing joint surveys, cleanups, and community education initiatives that support our shared mission: a thriving ocean and a debris-free sea.
See where else our Hawai'i crew does their ocean cleanups!
