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| Chevron Butterflyfish at French Frigate Schoals, credit: James Watt |
Crews from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have cleared 57 tons of debris from northwest Hawaii's new Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Mounument.
{29.7.09} During the 33 day mission a team of divers focused on areas that collect marine debris mostly discarded fishing tackle and nets around Maro Reef, Pearl, Hermes and Midway atolls. At Pearl and Hermes the divers rescued three sea turtles entangled in nets. On Midway the clean-up effort netted over six tons of plastic. Midway albatross chicks are dying from eating plastic.
{29.10.09} Beaches in the monument are heavily littered with buoys, bottles, flip-flops, plastic toys and crates. Disused nets weighing thousands of pounds have destroyed coral. One collected net alone weighed 11.5 tons. NOAA's ship, the
Oscar Elton Sette was filled to the brim with collected debris; there is still more waiting to be removed.
The remote northwest Hawaii Islands are habitat for more than 7000 marine species. An estimated 52 metric tons of derelict fishing gear accumulates in these waters and beaches each year due to prevailing currents and winds. NOAA has led a clean-up mission each year since 1996. During that time the agency has removed a staggering 904 tons of derelict gear and debris. The debris poses a threat to endangered wildlife and coral reefs, which are the healthiest and least disturbed remaining in the United States. The collected junk will be burned as fuel to generate electricity.