Is it really holiday if you don't have unforeseen mishaps? I don't think so. Yesterday, Deb and I packed up the babe-mobile (pictured below) and drove back on over to Honolulu from the North Shore in order to go snorkeling at the famous Hanauma Bay! The only problem we encountered was: Hanauma Bay is apparently closed on Tuesdays... Not to be deterred from our adventure day, we continued along the coastline exploring the wonders that the southern coast of Oahu had to offer - we got to see blowholes, beautiful coastline, and most tragically, a beach absolutely covered in plastic. Though it was a sober reminder of why we ended up in Hawaii in the first place, it was hard to walk along the beach without feeling insignificant. After a small beach cleanup, we wanted to try to go for a hike at the famous Manoa Falls, but were deterred by the flash flood warnings in the area. The tropics are WILD y'all. We returned to Honolulu for lunch at a hole in the wall sandwich shop where we were both DELIGHTED to eat gigantic veggie sandwiches washed down with kombucha (a probiotic drink, for those unfamiliar). After lunch, we headed to Banan at the University of Hawaii so we could meet up with a friend and that's unfortunately when disaster struck - FOOD POISONING! Deb and I have since figured out that the kombucha is to blame, but the hour-long BUMPY and rainy car ride back to the North Shore was filled with groans of discomfort and laughter at the situation we found ourselves in. Followed by napping and some giving up on the day, we were invited by another Ocean Cleanup Crew member to watch the sunset on Sunset Beach and WOW the beach lives up to its name! Even despite the food poisoning and rainy day and random beach closure, we got to witness and appreciate one of the best sunsets I've seen in a long while. I feel the need to talk more about the plastic beach we saw. I think that it's important to remember that EVERYONE can help contribute to the plastic problem and that there are simple ways to help keep the ocean happy and healthy - bringing reusable bags to the store and refusing or minimizing plastic packaging are good starts! The problem of plastic is a global one, and the U.S. is a significant contributor to the plastic debris in the ocean. A favorite professor of mine taught us that from little things big things grow, and that's the stance I've taken on environmental change and conservation - even if it's one little change, every little bit counts. I don't want to have my legacy be the generation that shrugged its shoulders and said that plastic pollution was too big a problem to tackle - I want to be a part of the generation that learned from the mistakes of the generations before us and made changes to promote the stewardship of the environment and planet! Here's a scary picture of JUST SOME of the microplastics we found on the beach. This is what is scaring me this Halloween! Happy Halloween everyone!
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AuthorBree Gibbs, here. I'm a recent Master's Grad just trying to share what it's like to be a trash scientist (for those who aren't in the know, I'm a marine biologist). Categories
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