We had another amazing turnout for our quarterly cleanup on September 7, 2019: 103 volunteers plus 6 Friends of Hanauma Bay members. The far end of the beach was surprisingly clear of debris, but students volunteered to focus on the micro-plastics washed up in the sand. Our cleanup was cut somewhat short, when one of the regular monk seals decided he wanted to rest on that side of the beach! Luckily we had a ranger with us who made sure people and monk seal were safe, nothing was left behind, and the barrier was put up. But of course, the volunteers immensely enjoyed
that visitor and took lots of photos!
We are so grateful to the groups who joined us from various branches of the military, including a large group from the USS Hopper and the USS Chafee, students from the Kaiser High School Wipeout Crew (who also helped to run the event), Damien Memorial School, Hawaii Baptist Academy, employees and ohana from Canon, HCBC, Sea Engineering, Inc, and several families & individuals.
The full data summary is shown below, but the top items this time were:
–1,144 cigarette butts
–864 food wrappers
–527 bottle caps & other lids
–289 take out containers
–263 plastic bags
–200 straws, stirrers & utensils
–145 beverage bottles & cans
–Lots of tiny trash
~300 foam pieces,
~360 glass pieces,
~1,600 plastic pieces
Crew members of the USS Chafee also removed invasive weeds and plant debris behind the beach kiosk and the showers, and learned about some of our native plants. These guys worked so hard, and would have kept going,
if we hadn’t stopped them!
We posted a few photos on Facebook. Please like our page to view the entire photo album by clicking HERE.
Our next cleanup is scheduled for December 7, 2019. If you would like to join us with a group, please email outreach@friendsofhanaumabay.org.
Click on images below for full-sized view.
Mahalo.
