126K pounds of marine debris removed, sea turtles rescued at Papahānaumokuākea | University of Hawaiʻi System News
Thirteen of the 16 team members who were involved have ties to UH.
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Thirteen of the 16 team members who were involved have ties to UH.
A team of freedivers from the Honolulu-based nonprofit organization Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project returned on Saturday from a 28 day cleanup expedition to the remote Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
The team successfully removed a total of 63 tons of marine debris over the course of this 4-week effort. This expedition was the Marine Debris Project’s second large-scale effort of 2023, with a previous expedition completed during the month of July. The total amount of debris collected by the Marine Debris Project in the last 90 days now stands at 106 tons.
Of the 86,100 pounds of marine debris removed, 69,330 pounds or more than 80% were ghost nets.
A team from the Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project, a Hawaiʻi-based nonprofit organization, returned to Honolulu on Wednesday, with 86,100 pounds of marine debris removed from shallow coral reefs and shorelines of the islands and atolls within Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.