The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) and the Hawaii Coral Reef Initiative of the University of Hawaii have put together an aerial survey looking at and studying debris along the coastlines.
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The analysis of the high‐ resolution imagery identified 20,658 marine debris items in total. Areas of the highest concentration of debris were found primarily on northern and eastern facing shores. The island of Niihau had the highest concentration of debris (38%), and all other islands accounted for less than 14% each with Oahu having the lowest (5%). Debris was categorized by type; plastics were the most prevalent, accounting for 47% of all shoreline debris statewide. The study’s findings may assists regulatory agencies and local community partners to plan further management actions, to identify marine debris from the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and tsunami, and to evaluate accumulation patterns in the MHIs over time.
[My emphasis]
The impetus for this study was the 2011 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that ravaged Japan. The survey found that for the most part, the tsunami in Japan did not affect the Hawaiian Islands very much. But, as you can see above, they discovered that when tourists or locals say “There was a ton of shit on the beach today,” they are probably talking about plastic waste. So if you want to visit the beautiful beaches of Hawaii, you should support anti-plastics activism, or get there fast.