To celebrate Earth Day in April, a passionate group of local scuba divers and dock volunteers with Ocean Defenders Alliance are spearheading an underwater cleanup from 9.a.m. to noon Saturday at Honokohau Harbor.
There will be roughly 30 scuba divers locating the debris underwater and sending it up to volunteers helping out on the docks to lift and remove these items.
This will be ODA’s 11th cleanup dive at this site, usually removing roughly 6,000 pounds of debris, including 50 or more tires at each event.
The group will spend the morning removing hundreds of pounds of marine debris and rubbish that litters the harbor floor.
ODA utilizes volunteer scuba divers and has been removing marine debris since 2000. This is important work to do because this debris not only can kill the denizens of the reefs and harbor, but this debris (like batteries and tires) are toxic to the water and corals.
Pictures taken of past cleanups show a real need to remove this gear because so many animals inhabit this area. Green sea turtles, monk seals, tiger sharks and dolphins have been seen in and around this spot.
Ocean Defenders Alliance is a nonprofit marine conservation organization founded in 2002 to work for a debris-free sea.