Clean-Up Tons of Debris from the Ocean & Beaches

I hope you get as excited as I do when you hear that 4 tons of toxic debris has been hauled out of the ocean!

With your help, we've been really busy this year. I want to share a real highlight with you!

Several weeks ago, our ODA crew on the Island of Hawai'i, set out to do a first-of-its-kind marine debris cleanup. One of our volunteers had discovered a myriad of vehicle tires discarded in beautiful Kailua Bay and we were determined to get them out of there!

It took a lot of ingenuity and planning to pull off this cleanup! With assistance from a barge with a crane and one of our dive boat partners Body Glove, our 39 volunteers were able to remove 61 toxic tires! In addition to automobile tires there were giant truck and small aircraft tires.

Tires on the ocean floor present several problems to the wildlife and their habitat:

• They're made up of over 200 chemicals that leach into the water.
• 78% of our world's microplastics come from car tires.
• As the motion of the water pushes tires around, they damage the corals and other benthic life.

Please go on a journey with us in this three-part story:

Part One - the discovery, the expedition, and photos on the ocean floor and drone shots.
Part Two - more details, photos just below the surfact and on the barge.
Part Three - amazing video!

This is just one of many stellar cleanups done by your ocean-cleaning crews. In 2024 so far, Ocean Defenders have removed tens-of-thousands of feet of fishing line, hundreds of pounds of net, and dozens of bags of plastic trash.

I can't thank you enough for making this life-saving work happen! You're a vital part of our Alliance!

For clean and healthy oceans,
Kurt

Kurt Lieber
Founder & President