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News and Media

News and Media

By ODA Advisory Board Member Marjorie Zensen

Ocean Defenders Alliance (ODA) volunteers joined with The Nudi Wear team to once again tackle the man-made debris in Waiahole Park on Oahu. The park is located on the east side of the island in Kaneohe. It’s a beautiful little park but a lot of trash tends to gather on the beaches.

Waiahole beach with debris

The last time we were all out there was about a year ago, so we had a feeling we would be getting a good workout. And a workout it was: All 22 volunteers got dirty and sweaty by removing a total of 4,100 pounds of trash and debris!

Crew with catch of the Day

With buckets, trash pickers, and shovels in hand we all spread out on the beach. Some picked up the little stuff – like small ropes, fishing line, fishing gear, and single-use plastics – filling bag after bag.

Crew cleaning up Marjorie and Cindy

Others took on the challenge of the big stuff. There were tires (12!), a metal drum, a generator, boat parts, and large nets that had to be dug out of the sand (1,000 pounds worth). The big success of the day was digging out a 10-foot fiberglass skiff that was buried in the sand AND pulling it off of the beach! (There just may have been a few sore backs the next day!)

Crew cleaning up Mark and skiff

This was ODA’s third Waiahole clean up with Nudi Wear and a combined 10,000 pounds has been hauled away.  The Honolulu Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR) makes these huge endeavors possible as they remove and dispose of all the debris.

Crew w skiff and debris

Mahalo to all the volunteers and also to DPR and Nudi Wear! 

Mahalo,
Marjorie

A message from Captain Kurt:

While I wasn’t present for this cleanup, I know all the work that went into making this happen and want to give a shout out to everyone involved.

ODA's Oahu Dive Team Coordinator & U/W Photographer Ken Staples collaborated with Ryan Scalf and Christy Johnson (who own Nudi Wear) and made sure they had all the gear that they needed to remove all the debris.

Crew cleaning up

Ken also contacted the Parks Department in advance of the event to make sure everything was disposed of properly.

Ken, Cindy, and Marjorie passed the camera back and forth between them to come up with these pictures.

What great teamwork all around!
Kurt