From March 30 through April 21, a team of scientists carried out a 24-day expedition to Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. The expedition returned to Honolulu late Tuesday, April 20 with 47.2 tons of marine debris.
The field team included 12 participants led by the local Honolulu nonprofit Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project (PMDP), and included staff from NOAA Fisheries, Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Hawaii Pacific University – Center for Marine Debris Research.
The collaborative project cleaned and restored approximately 10 linear miles of shoreline habitat at the remote islands and atolls of Kamole (Laysan Island), Kapou (Lisianski Island), Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll), Hōlanikū (Kure Atoll), and Lalo (French Frigate Shoals). Hōlanikū, at the very end of the Hawaiian chain, is over 1,300 miles from Honolulu.
The effort resulted in the removal of 94,472 pounds (47.2 tons) of marine debris, of which 79,832 pounds was derelict fishing gear (ghost nets) and 14,640 pounds were ocean plastics (fishing buoys, baskets, plastic bottles and bottle caps, jugs, tires, cigarette lighters, foam and plastic fragments and many more).