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(CNN) — Human activity and climate change have left about 75% of the world’s coral reefs threatened, putting the livelihoods of many countries that depend on the ocean ecosystems at risk, according to a report released this week. Local threats … Continue reading
This morning I went for a walk down to the ocean in Waikiki.
I was headed towards Queen’s beach between the wall and Lifeguard tower 2F. It’s a good place to check out the surf conditions, look for whales and swim.
As I got closer I started seeing what looked like dozens and dozens of about 4″ long white plastic cylindrical shaped pieces floating in the ocean and washing onto the sand, the closer I got, the more I saw.
I took this picture when I got home, I wanted to document some of the literally 100′s of pieces of plastic we found. The inside reef area was covered in these plastic pieces and what looks like firework detonators, which also have plastic rings on them.
I remembered last night, Thursday 02/10/2011, we saw and heard fireworks going off near Waikiki. I am not sure who or why, and didn’t see anything in the paper about it today. Could this be firework debris?
Such a sad sight, and I couldn’t stop thinking about the birds, monk seals, whales, dolphins, and honu dying from eating them!
What kind of chemicals are on the detonator ends floating in the sea and in fireworks and do they always end up in the ocean like this?
As I started collecting these pieces, a few wonderful people joined in, everyone wondering the same thing, are these from last nights fireworks and is anyone ever responsible for cleaning up after them?
If anyone knows more, especially about the Hilton Hawaiian fireworks on Friday night, we would really appreciate more information.
This was an eye opener for me. I will sadly never watch aerial fireworks again without thinking about the plastic debris and chemicals falling into the ocean and the potentially deadly consequences for all sea creatures that are a direct result of plastic in the sea.
1. Stephanie Gilmore (AUS)
2. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS)
3. Carissa Moore (HAW)
4. Silvana Lima (BRA)
5. Sofia Mulanovich (PER)
6. Chelsea Hedges (AUS)
7. Coco Ho (HAW)
8. Melanie Bartels (HAW)
9. Paige Hareb (NZL)
10. Rebecca Woods (AUS)
11. Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) * ASP Wildcard
12. Laura Enever (AUS)
13. Tyler Wright (AUS)
14. Courtney Conlogue (USA)
15. Jacqueline Silva (BRA)
16. Pauline Ado (FRA)
17. Alana Blanchard (HAW)
Posted in girls surf camps, Ocean Girl Project, ocean safety, surf events Hawaii, surf news, surfergirls share, women on waves
Tagged 2010 ASP World Tour, Alana Blanchard, Association of Surfing Professionals, Jessi Miley-Dyer, Paige Hareb, pro surfers, Sally Fitzgibbons, Stephanie Gilmore, Surf women, Tyler Wright
Image via Wikipedia
This is so sad, the dolphin would rather die then live in captivity in a tank. (video below)
I am humbled and totally mesmerized by the look of the other dolphins watching from inside the tank, wonder what they are thinking, what would they ask us??
I ask myself, how did this happen? For entertainment or important research? Sadly, the reality is most certainly greed.
We hope you remember this video when going or taking kids to be entertained by captive wild creatures whether cages, tanks or in tourist boats. The risk for dolphins and other creatures are broken spirits and dwindling populations.
I would suggest watching the movie The Cove also. With its graphic and dire scenes of slaughter, you can see and hear the real life consequences for dolphins who have become a commodity.
There are positive alternatives, you can give a donation in your family, friends or kids name!
What if you take the cost of admission to a water park or boat trip and donate to organizations that are protecting these magnificent creatures? What a great holiday gift!
So much positive can come from teaching and learning to do our part to save not enslave the earth’s and ocean’s vulnerable creatures.
All of us at Ocean Girl Project sustainable surf camp are doing all that we can to inspire, educate and uplift in the spirit of honoring sustainable life in Hawaii and in our ocean. We offer this all children, regardless of ability to pay.
There is a great organization in Hawaii that is working to save the wild dolphins…
Up until 1995, spinner dolphins were found in particular areas on a daily basis in pods of 65-70 animals. Today, in these same areas, they are present only a few days out of the month and the pod has shrunk to an average of 35 animals. This disruption appears to be caused by intense and unregulated visitation by dolphin tour boats.
The Wild Dolphin Foundation needs help in protecting these majestic creatures. click link to read more
Where ever and however you choose to give this holiday, please consider helping to save ocean creatures from harm and doing all that you can in keeping our oceans plastic free. Mahalo!
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“Molokai 2010, we didn’t care if we were in the race we just wanted to cross the channel”
To me paddling is my life. It’s what I do and what I’ve always done. The Molokai channel race (Na Wahine O Ke Kai) is somewhat of a championship of distance season paddling. Last year a group of us girls all wanted to cross this channel. So we did, we were the 2nd crew in the race history to have a crew of girls that were all age 18 (the minimum age to race is 18). Once we crossed the channel I knew I was hooked and I wanted to do this race every year till it was no longer physically possible.
Before we knew it, it was distance season again. Only thing was none of us had enough money to do all the races. We were trying to get together a young crew again to cross the channel. On the weekend of the Queen Liliuokalani race or Labor Day weekend our hopeful crew got some good news. The owner of Kamanu Composites asked us if we would like to paddle their green canoe the Kawainui back from Molokai. We all jumped at the chance to be the first female crew to paddle in this unbelievable canoe. One problem though we are not allowed to race this canoe in the Na Wahine O Ke Kai. Our canoe is about 200lbs too light and a Tahitian design instead of a Hawaiian design. But we all decided that we didn’t care if we were in the race we just wanted to cross the channel. So we decided that we would cross the day before on September 25, instead of September 26.
We were able to recruit 8 girls, although the requirement is to race with 10, it was better than doing the whole thing iron. We all get to Molokai by Friday night and we were so thankful for one of our girls Court who lives on Molokai, we were able to stay with her. 4:30am wake up, we trailer our canoe about an hour down to Hale O Lono harbor where we will be starting the race. We get the boat rigged, canvas on, and all duct taped. 1st crew in is Chelsea, Britty, Court, Kel, Pam, and Bobbie. Kehau, Jullian (our coach), and I go to the escort boat. 30 minutes in and it’s time for the first change. Were all a little nervous about these changes because we have never paddled in this canoe before and its different then the regular canoes. The escort drops Kehau and I off in line with the canoe, were changing out seats 2 and 3. Here comes the canoe I hear Bobbie tell the girls “paddles in, out!” we grab the canoe and were in before we know it. That wasn’t as bad as we thought it was going to be. Now just zip up the canvas and start paddling. Because we only have 8 girls, the amount of time that we’re in the boat for is longer than usual. Every 15 minutes we change out 2 girls, but some of us have to stay in for 3, 4, or even 5 pieces. My first change I was in for an hour, then got out for 15 minutes then back in for about another hour. It’s all good though because I’m doing what I love.
The conditions were less than ideal it was pretty flat, and the little wind and waves we had weren’t really going in the right direction for us to be able to surf. It was a sticky channel and some of the girls were getting tired about ¾ of the way through. Water changes were getting harder and slower, the boat would eventually come to a complete stop when we did them. About half way through we also experienced some equipment malfunctions. The i’akos were only quick strapped so our ama kept getting pushed in, in the back causing us to nearly flip. 2 of the girls were able to re-rig the boat and make it secure enough so we didn’t flip. I guess there’s a first for everything. We made it across though!
We got to O’ahu at Portlock and were debating on just taking the boat in to Moanalua Bay. But we remembered last year that the best most fun part of the race was our run from Hawaii Kai to Magic Island, about 10 miles. We decided to go all the way to the finish, but we were wrong. This section of the race this year was worse than the channel. The little swells we had were too close together to really surf and out girls were too tired to push hard to get them. We ended up having to put our coach Jullian in to the boat to paddle and put one of the strongest crews we could put in. We finally started catching some swells, our coach was in there for about 45 min before we got to Diamond Head where we made another change. Then finally about 1mile off the finish we did our last change with everyone who had not finished the channel before. We were happy to be done it took us about 7 hours, and most of us had paddled 30 – 35 of the 42 mile course.
Though it wasn’t the best channel we all had so much fun and would do it all over again in a heartbeat. We got to paddle in an amazing boat, with our friends, and we accomplished something that not many people even think about doing.
When our beautiful Alanna is not paddling, or rescuing plastic beach balls from the ocean, we are blessed to have her volunteer for Ocean Girl Project. With her warm smile and giving style, she shares her passion for the ocean, surfing & paddling, what an awesome example for all ocean girls!! Mahalo sweet girl for doing what’s right and not always easy.
This online album has 5 photos and will be available on SkyDrive until 01/13/2011.
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Aloha! Thank you for checking us out! In case you didn’t already know, Ocean Girl Project (OGP) is a totally unique sustainable, kids, educational, and surf organization here in Hawaii.
Why is this? Primarily because our mission is to offer financial assistance to all families of girls who are in need. How? This is accomplished year round by hard-working community volunteers, business supporters, fund-raising and donations.
Another outstanding reason? Ocean Girl Project sustainable surf camps are single use plastic free, we do this by implementing three goals:
1. Exclude the use of single-use plastics
2. Promote the human and environmental health benefits of going plastic free
3. Provide alternatives to single-use plastics including re-usable bags and bottles, re-usable lunch and snack ware.
Now, we’d like to offer a way for you to save money, help support a worthy cause and save the environment. Every time you purchase from Kids Konserve pick Ocean Girl Project which you will find set up under a drop down menu on the checkout page under “Select School or Representative*: Fundraiser Schools”, scroll down, add Ocean Girl Project and 20% from your sale will be given back to help support sustainable education and camps for needy kids.
Ocean Girl Project is a big fan of Kids Konserve waste-free products. They have many terrific products that are meant to be reused – no more waste-no more single use plastic!
Here are just a few of their items:
Why You Will Love Kids Konserve
Their products aren’t just reusable, they are safe and non-toxic! Their complete line of reusable waste-free lunch packing products are made from the safest, non-leaching, non-toxic, BPA, PVC, phthalate, and lead-free materials.
Party Pak
Next up on our list of favorites is the Party Pak. Reusable party paks are perfect for school classrooms, family picnics, surf camps & birthday parties. Each kit contains 12 each: 7″ plates, 16 oz. tumblers, and forks, knives & spoons. Materials: 100% recycled plastic yogurt containers. All in 2 cotton drawstring bags.BPA, Lead & Phthalate Free!
And if you weren’t sure who would be thrilled to receive this, we suggest donating to your favorite sustainable surf camp for girls…hint, hint, hint.
MOSS INSULATED LUNCH SACK
A perfect reusable, insulated lunch sack, made from 8 RECYCLED PLASTIC BOTTLES! Outside: 100% RECYCLED Plastic Bottles/Petspun. Inside: eco-friendly, BPA and Lead-free Insulation. Lunch Sack is 12″ x 7.5″ x 5″.
Ocean Girl Fundraiser
Kids Konserve has generously set up a drop down menu on the checkout page under “Select School or Representative: Fundraiser Schools ..and added Ocean Girl Project. Each time someone orders and selects Ocean Girl Project 20% from that sales will be given back to help girls in Hawaii attend sustainable surf camps and fund our sustainable ocean outreach to girls and families all over Oahu. Remember, you have to choose Ocean Girl Project from the drop down menu for sales to benefit Ocean Girls. (this is right above/before your shipping options)
You’ve heard us talk and read about how sadly wasteful one-time use plastic water bottles and wasteful packaging of food and other items are. Most of you have heard about what plastic is doing to our oceans and in Hawaii especially how devastating this is to our people and economy.
In order to avoid these wasteful items and further harm to the oceans from plastic, we invite and urge parents, families and individuals to invest in a few reusable items, like a water bottle, food containers, cloth napkins, plates, lunch bags, etc.
Waste Free solutions from Kids Konserve make great gift items and they even offer gift certificates, with the holiday season less than 3 months away, save fuel and save stress, avoid limited stock-order early!
Mahalo Kids Konserve, we are so grateful to your wonderful company for supporting sustainability and Ocean Girl Project!
