This past Saturday March 12th, we held our monthly dive against debris at our adopted dive site, Point Panic, in Honolulu, Hawaii. We had 12 volunteers show up ready to dive and see what debris they could remove from the ocean. We had instructors from Trident Adventures and members of the Scuba Sirens, a women’s dive group based on Oahu, join us for the event! The Surf was great and there were plenty of surfers and body boarders to watch while we geared up for the dive. Once we entered the water, the divers headed into the harbor instead of out towards the ocean due to the waves. Conditions in the harbor were pretty good for Point Panic making for a great dive.
After every cleanup, the volunteers separate the trash recovered from the ocean into groups based on its composition. Nudi Wear then logs each item removed as well as the total weight with PADI Aware, the largest global underwater database in the world. The information collected is used by marine researchers and policymakers for conservation efforts. During this process, the waste is carefully inspected and any living organisms are returned to the ocean. We then recycle any items possible and appropriately discard the rest. From this cleanup, we were able to recycle 4 glass bottles, 6 aluminum cans, and 17 pounds of fishing weights.
Thanks to this group of divers, 147 pounds of trash was removed from the reef and ocean floor! Items removed include a large fishing net, a tire, hats, gloves, sunglasses, snorkeling gear, glass bottles, aluminum cans, face masks, and a lot of fishing line, hooks, lures, and lead weights.
A big mahalo to all of the volunteers who came out and volunteered their time to help out our ocean and island. We would like to congratulate Austin for winning a 2-tank dive with Ruckus Sportfishing & Diving. Ruckus works closely with us at Nudi Wear to recycle the fishing weights. We hope to see you at our next cleanup for Earth Day on Saturday, April 23rd. We are teaming up with our friends at Aarons Dive Shop and Hawaii Marine Animal Response (HMAR) for a park and underwater cleanup at this same location. It’s going to be a great time!
