Clean-Up Tons of Debris from the Ocean & Beaches

I hope this year is shaping up to be a better one for you and hope you're doing well! :-)

Thanks to your support, we've been able to ramp up our activities here at ODA! We've had 25 ocean-cleaning outings so far in 2021 and have lots of plans for a busy summer of debris removal.

In Hawai'i, our teams have performed multiple types of cleanups in mulitple locations! Here area few highlights:

Oahu:

• Monthly debris-removal outings at sea have resumed on our partner Island Divers Hawaii's vessel.
• We're making plans for regular cleanups at Kaneohe and Hanauma Bays. Can't wait to start!
• We had 74 volunteers help clean the beach and underwater at Magic Island. It was a great team effort wth our partners Waikiki Rotary Club, Nudi Wear, Deco Divers, and US Army's 24th Divarty.

Big Island:

• With our partners Kohala Divers, we had 17 volunteers help clean Kawaihae Harbor (our 3rd time here).
• Our Honokohau Harbor cleanup with partner Jack's Diving Locker was a huge success with 30 volunteers hauling out almost two tons of debris including 16 toxic rubber tires!

In California, in between wildlife refuge cleaning and lobster trap removals, we were able to purchase an important piece of equipment called an ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) which will help save us precious time locating underwater debris. The crew has been conducting training so that we'll be able to use it this summer.

We moved our flagship vessel Mr. Barker's LegaSea north to Ventura County so we can work in the Channel Islands. ODA is fortunate to have the blessing of local officials to be allowed to help clean the precious waters of the California Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary which consists of thirteen Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) around the five islands of the Channel Islands National Park. Stay tuned for reports of ghost gear removal and safe habitats restored. With your support, we can make the oceans safer for marine wildlife like whales, turtles, sea birds, and many more.

I know you're busy, so I'll wrap up here and say on behalf of all of the crews and the ocean wildlife you help: THANK YOU for your super support! The oceans are fortunate to have a defender like you on their side and we're glad you're on our team.

For clean and healthy oceans,
Kurt Lieber
Founder & President

P.S. Here are links to two pages where you can check out articles on all the ocean-saving work that's been happening: California news articles and Hawaii news articles.

Links:

• Check out our cleanup where we hauled almost 2 tons out!