April 23, 2021 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Wednesday that a team of scientists hauled 47.2 tons of marine debris out of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the North Pacific Ocean.
A crew of 12, which completed their expedition over 24 days, included staff from NOAA Fisheries, the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Hawaii Pacific University’s Center for Marine Debris Research.
Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument is the largest contiguous fully protected conservation area in the U.S., encompassing an area larger than all the country’s national parks combined, according to the national monument’s website.
The monument is in the northern Pacific Ocean and surrounded by what is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch — a huge gyre of floating plastic and other debris that circulates in ocean currents. The islands act like a comb that gather debris on its otherwise pristine beaches.