By ODA Advisory Board Member & Oahu Dive Team Leader Glenn Roberts
It was a beautiful blue-sky day when us Oahu Ocean Defenders gathered aboard the vessel Sea Fox.
We had a small crew of volunteers for this charter with Island Divers Hawaii (IDH) on September 14th, 2022. Everyone was in especially good spirits – we were glad to be heading out on an expedition after the rough seas had forced previous outings to be cancelled.
Divers this day included Samantha Cataldo, Chris Denton, Andrea Fiegle, Dan Okamura, Glenn Roberts, Ed Sisino, and Kay Smullen.
Glenn gives the dive briefing
Anna Sorrentino, IDH Instructor, did the water current check and kept us safe during the 30-minute dive. Captain Matt Negaard was at the wheel, and as usual, dropped us off right against the wall at Spitting Cave…despite the big seas. I have done a lot of these commando-style entries in the past six years, and it's still the most exhilarating dive experience.
The current was the real challenge pushing us west toward Maunalua Bay. Good thing we had the underwater scooters to keep us from getting swept away! Here you can see one diver (with the scooter) "towing" the other one!
During this short dive everyone gave it their all and we collected 160 pounds of lead, a couple of dozen large hooks, some lures, a few spark plugs, 2 "D” batteries, and about 800 yards of fishing line.
When we were ready to ascend, Anna deployed her surface marker buoy, while Ed and I deployed the 150-pound lift bags to haul the two buckets to the surface.
It felt great to get out to this site after three months (big south swells have been keeping us away). To clear so much junk off the reef with a small crew was really rewarding.
If you’re as glad as Glenn and the crew to see all that debris removed that is seriously dangerous to sea turtles and all ocean wildlife, please consider making a donation to keep our crews at sea doing what they do best! Please give a gift for clean oceans today!
