Lexi Justus

Ms. Lindsey

Junior Seminar, Period 8

15 September 2018

Project Proposal

Underwater Beach Clean-Up

Preface

Ever since I was little I’ve always loved the ocean. There was this special connection to

the underwater world that was so pure. Because it truly was, beautifully peaceful and untouched

by man. When you live in an amazing place such as Maui, you see things many people only

dream of seeing. I got to wake up and see beautiful oceans and bright blue skies. But as time

went on I started seeing a dreary side to the paradise oceans.

I first heard the term ‘marine debris’ when I was in fifth grade. That year we were

studying our islands ecosystems, specifically in our oceans and underwater. I remember hearing

about millions of pounds of trash and plastic drifting in seas around the world and thinking,

​ ut this problem was just getting started.

“That can’t possibly be happening here.. can it?” B

Now, six years later, the problem only continued to grow at a steady and fast pace.

Hearing about the problem has opened my eyes to the problem we are facing first hand. Being

on an island we are being affected first; many places along the coast have yet to see such

dramatic effects. Now you understand my issue, this is my plan.

Many beach cleanups do a brilliant job of cleaning up the beaches but almost no one

focuses underneath the waves. My proposal is to film and document my journey as I try and

clean up some of my favorite underwater ecosystems. Me, along with my partner Reese, are

planning on traveling to different popular dive locations and cleaning up trash underwater while

scuba diving. Along the journey, we’ll film, record data, and hopefully, collect at least 20lbs of

trash. In the end, we will collect all of the data and create a map of the trash we collected around

the island. I like to believe this project is unique because I have a lot of passion for this
particular issue. Like many people, I want this island and it’s oceans to stay beautiful for

generations to come.

Introduction

“How can I help preserve the beauty of underwater Maui for future generations?”

This is the question I would like to answer during the course of this project. I understand

that I can’t solve the entire worlds marine debris problem, that would be a lot of scuba diving.

But I want to make this a fun adventure, I want to show that cleaning up the environment isn’t a

chore but something to enjoy.

As soon as I was old enough I was a certified scuba diver, with over 30 dives under my

belt you can say that I have seen my fair share of the underwater world. During those 30 dives,

I’ve seen more and more trash build up at some of my favorite beaches. For this project, I

combined two of my passions and made a plan to make something I am proud of.

Even though I have been diving for a long time there are still key aspects I have to learn

about before completing this project. This information is more for my safety while diving but it

is still important to the overall project, and ties in with planning out my trips. Mostly this

learning will be focused on current and the layout of the different beaches I plan on making apart

of my project. The currents can also help me predict which dive sights would have the most

marine debris.

Over the course of this project, I will use a number of different 21st-century skills.

Most commonly I will be using interpersonal skills along with communication and

self-directional skills. These will show when I am communicating with my partner as well as

dive leaders. I have to be self-motivated when having to do work on my own. Problem-solving

skills will come into play when we experience setbacks such as the weather. The weather is

unpredictable and therefore we may have to work out schedule around to be able to dive at our

beaches. This could be a possible set back because if the bad weather spreads across the entire

island, example a hurricane, this could put us in a time crunch.

Along with a data map displaying our information I am also presenting a video that

shows our information as well as showing off how we got it. I’m hoping the video will be about

six to ten minutes long with clips from each beach we go to. This will be what I present and will

contain all my information in a fun and new way. In the past when making and watching marine

debris videos they are always so depressing and hopeless. I would like to make my video

different by showing the hope we have and how beautiful the ocean is as well as why we should

protect it.

Project Details

There are many different aspects of scuba diving, cinematography, and even beach

cleanups. These all require different resources and manpower to complete. Scuba diving is

difficult because not only do you need equipment, air tanks, and planning but, you also need a

dive leader or someone who knows the layout of the beach your diving at. Scuba equipment is

able to be rented out at multiple dive shops but I have a connection at Maui Dive Shop in

Lahaina where we can get a discount. This is most likely where my partner will rent equipment

since I have my own personal equipment.

Along with hauling scuba gear around I also need my video supplies. This is fairly easy

since I own most of the equipment and the rest I borrow from friends. The video will mostly be
filmed with a GoPro along with my Canon camera for the dry land scenes. This video will be

partly like a vlog due to it shows our days of getting to the beach and ‘suiting up’.

As I mentioned earlier it is difficult to plan dives more than two weeks in advance due to

weather. Here is a rough outline of our timeline throughout the project:

October

Goal: Start getting into a routine

Week 1: Oct. 1-7 - planning out which beaches to go to first, possible meet times.

Week 2: Oct. 8-14 - (Fall Break!!), Dive (weather / plans permitting), creating a plan of

transportation for the first beach, planning out video

Week 3: Oct. 15-21 - Dive (weather / plans permitting), gather equipment

Week 4: Oct. 22-27 - Dive (weather / plans permitting), video edit, organize data

November

Goal: Have at least 2 dives done

Week 5: Nov. 5-11 - planning out which beaches to go to first, possible meet times.

Week 6: Nov. 12-18 - Dive (weather / plans permitting), creating a plan of transportation for this

months beach, planning out video

Week 7: Nov. 19-25 - Dive (weather / plans permitting), video edit, organize data
December

Goal: Start organizing data , have 5 dives done

Week 8: Dec. 3-9 - planning out which beaches to go to this month, possible meet times.

Week 9: Dec. 10-16 - Dive (weather / plans permitting), creating a plan of transportation for this

months beach, planning out video

Week 10: Dec. 17-23 - Dive (weather / plans permitting), gather equipment

January

Goal: Start the video editing process

Week 11: Jan. 7-13 - planning out which beaches to go to this month, possible meet times.

Week 12: Jan. 14-20 - Dive (weather / plans permitting), creating a plan of transportation for the

first beach, planning out video

Week 13: Jan. 21-27 - Dive (weather / plans permitting), gather equipment

February

Goal: Finish up data collection

February will mostly be self directed work, such as video editing and creating data map.

So, now you know you see my issue and now you know my plan. This is an issue that is

current and something I am truly passionate about. Marine debris is a huge problem but the

solution is not out of our reach if we are proactive ​now​. This means getting involved with your

local communities and maybe we might be able to make a difference. And who knows, maybe

one day one of us might save our oceans.

 Annotated Bibliography

“Eat Less Plastic | Learn|.” ​Eat Less Plastic - International - Nat Geo​,

www.eatlessplastic.com/learn​.

Eat Less Plastic is a campaign for spreading awareness about marine debris. They have

many different facts about plastics in the ocean as well as where the plastics were taken by the

current. This source is useful to me because it shows different currents around Maui and where

the trash is most likely to end up. They also include many worldwide facts and easy to read

infographics.
“Project AWARE.” ​Project AWARE Homepage​, ​www.projectaware.org/​.

Project AWARE is my junior project but on a global scale. They provide equipment and

information to divers all around the world as in exchange they clean up the dive spots they scuba

dive in. Project AWARE connects the passion for ocean adventure with the purpose of marine

conservation. They are pairing up with scuba divers to help clean the oceans of the world. This

source is useful to me because it gives me information about different dive sights and which

sights need the most help.

Research, Plan and Share Your Scuba Diving Experiences in ScubaEarth​,

www.scubaearth.com/dive-site/dive-site-overview.aspx?divesiteid=48279​.

Scuba Earth is a website for PADI divers worldwide. This website provides different

PADI certified dive locations as well as multiple real-time reports such as weather, current, water

temperature, and even water clarity.

“Tim Lara from Hawaiian Paddle Sports.” ​YouTube,​ 25 July 2018, youtu.be/qLduYEm4fWQ.

This interview was filmed at Maui Canoe Club which is located at Kahului Harbor. This

is one of the dirtiest beaches on the island. This beach has been the source of a lot of

controversies due to the plastic in the water. There is also a lot of debate since the trash in the

water gets so bad that it sometimes affects the paddling teams.

“Tracking the Sources and Sinks of Local Marine Debris in Hawai'i.” ​Egyptian Journal of

Medical Human Genetics​, Elsevier, 10 Dec. 2012,

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141113612002206​.

This article was about the Pacific trash gyres and how they are affecting Hawai’i directly.

They talked about marine debris as a global problem and how it is slowly becoming a new reality

to the Hawaiian island chain. This article is useful because it talks about Maui in particular and

how it is impacting Maui’s beaches specifically.

Weiner, Carlie S. “Hawaii's Real Life Marine Park: Interpretation and Impacts of

Commercial Marine Tourism in the Hawaiian Islands.” ​Taylor & Francis Online,​ Taylor &

Francis Online, 2 Dec. 2010,

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13683500902736855?scroll=top&needAccess=true​.

This article talks about how tourism can also affect marine debris and marine ecosystems.

This talks a lot about how the incline of tourism is directly correlated to the decline of the marine

health. They talk a lot about how many problems they have but not about any solutions. This

article is useful because it helps me identify direct problems and focus on the smaller ones that I

can change, here on a local scale.

Malia Cahil, Expert Interview

 Malia is my former cinematography mentor as well as an environmental activist. She is

the leader of Maui Huliau Foundation, an environmental student film group and has taught for

over 10 years. She knows about Maui’s specific problems including marine debris and has

helped me make multiple videos about such topics, seven of which have been accepted into film

festivals around the country.