The vessel IMUA is scheduled to pull into Honolulu Harbor on Friday, August 28th.
It will be returning from a mission out in Papahānaumokuākea, or the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
The Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project sent a 16-member crew out on their latest expedition — where they had a close call with Hurricane Lala, whose winds intensified after passing west of the main Hawaiian Islands.
HPR spoke with Kevin O’Brien, head of the project, to learn more about their experience out on the open ocean.
“We were, you know, we're obviously keeping an eye on the storm for, oh, I would say 10 days before it even came into our vicinity, as we do out here,” he told HPR.
Even with their preparation, however, weather models were too varied to tell them their best course of action — it wasn’t until the day before their voyage that they were able to chart a viable course.
“We ended up just steaming due south out into the open ocean, sort of the no man's land out there south of Hawaii and west of Johnston Atoll. So we just headed down there and then just jogged back and forth, just waiting for the storm to cross to the northeast of us.”
It was the right call, O’Brien said, as Lala ended up passing north. “We don't want to be in that position very often, but you know we felt good about keeping our crew safe,” he reflected.
As a result of the storm, the PMDP voyage lost about four operational days out in Papahānaumokuākea. “Better to keep the team safe than make any kind of stupid decision,” O’Brien said about the sacrifice.
Even with the lost time, the crew was still able to clear 49,000 pounds of marine debris.
In addition to furthering their conservation efforts, the expedition also afforded PMDP the unique opportunity to see how the hurricane impacted the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
O’Brien and his crew spent several hours assessing the state of the wildlife and habitats on Kamole, or Laysan Island.
Vegetation around the island had been stripped of its leaves, while seabird burrows were left covered in sand. Several dead seabirds were found around the perimeter of the island as well, O’Brien told HPR.
Despite these losses, the island had managed to weather the storm fairly well, he said.
“I like to be an optimist, and we left Kamole Island feeling pretty good because actually there was still just a lot of life. … We felt good that most of everything made it through, and then it would bounce back, and everything would be all right.”
PMDP has been able to clear more than 1.2 million pounds of trash off the reefs and coastlines in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands over the past six years. More information about their conservation efforts can be found here.
This story aired on The Conversation on Aug. 26, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
