OUR MISSION
Aloha friends and neighbors,
Have you ever grimaced at the sight of uninformed snorkelers, swimmers, or divers standing on coral reefs and wondered in exasperation why more beach parks and hotels do not prominently display signs about human caused damage to coral reefs?
Have you ever felt dismayed at the sight of ocean-borne and non-ocean-borne trash littering the beach and wondered why there wasn't more of an effort by our beachgoers to remove at least a few pieces of garbage every time they leave the beach?
Have you ever wondered if there are more ways in which you could be involved in efforts to protect our ocean and our beaches?
Well, so did we.
Until now.
Hawaii Ocean Ambassadors is a self-funded, loose network of friends and neighbors centered around a mutual passion for protecting the beauty, health, and life of our oceans and to better avail ourselves of the various channels already available to us but so often overlooked - our voices, our hands, our energies, our minds, our ideas, our votes, and our behaviors to improve the health of our marine ecosystem.
We are citizens, people who love the ocean and our beaches, and are interested in preserving our fragile ocean ecosystems in every way reasonably available to us.
Hawaii Ocean Ambassadors focuses our energies around encouraging individual and collective efforts to:
1. Host informal beach clean-ups and invite as many friends and neighbors as possible and share the joys of volunteering, meeting new friends, and helping to protect and even improve this special place.
2. Create and post sample letters that can be copied by our Ambassadors and sent to hotels, tour companies, airlines, and our representatives in government requesting more targeted and effective steps be taken to better educate both visitors and locals alike about protecting and even improving our local environment.
3. To harness and utilize social media to provide efficient avenues to communicate ideas, post and share volunteer opportunities, and in hopes of better educating our readers on ocean related topics.
4. To leverage social media 'likes' and 'shares' to pressure hotels, tour companies, airlines and government officials to take action on specifically targeted issues and requests.
We hope above all that we are able to encourage others to want to participate in their community, to better understand our ocean and beach environment, and to also perhaps find new ways of communicating their ideas and wishes regarding public - and private - policy as it relates to our oceans and beaches.
Mahalo nui loa and look forward to seeing you at a clean-up soon!
Al Smith
Hawaii Ocean Ambassadors
Founder & Ambassador, Kailua & Lanikai
Aloha friends and neighbors,
Have you ever grimaced at the sight of uninformed snorkelers, swimmers, or divers standing on coral reefs and wondered in exasperation why more beach parks and hotels do not prominently display signs about human caused damage to coral reefs?
Have you ever felt dismayed at the sight of ocean-borne and non-ocean-borne trash littering the beach and wondered why there wasn't more of an effort by our beachgoers to remove at least a few pieces of garbage every time they leave the beach?
Have you ever wondered if there are more ways in which you could be involved in efforts to protect our ocean and our beaches?
Well, so did we.
Until now.
Hawaii Ocean Ambassadors is a self-funded, loose network of friends and neighbors centered around a mutual passion for protecting the beauty, health, and life of our oceans and to better avail ourselves of the various channels already available to us but so often overlooked - our voices, our hands, our energies, our minds, our ideas, our votes, and our behaviors to improve the health of our marine ecosystem.
We are citizens, people who love the ocean and our beaches, and are interested in preserving our fragile ocean ecosystems in every way reasonably available to us.
Hawaii Ocean Ambassadors focuses our energies around encouraging individual and collective efforts to:
1. Host informal beach clean-ups and invite as many friends and neighbors as possible and share the joys of volunteering, meeting new friends, and helping to protect and even improve this special place.
2. Create and post sample letters that can be copied by our Ambassadors and sent to hotels, tour companies, airlines, and our representatives in government requesting more targeted and effective steps be taken to better educate both visitors and locals alike about protecting and even improving our local environment.
3. To harness and utilize social media to provide efficient avenues to communicate ideas, post and share volunteer opportunities, and in hopes of better educating our readers on ocean related topics.
4. To leverage social media 'likes' and 'shares' to pressure hotels, tour companies, airlines and government officials to take action on specifically targeted issues and requests.
We hope above all that we are able to encourage others to want to participate in their community, to better understand our ocean and beach environment, and to also perhaps find new ways of communicating their ideas and wishes regarding public - and private - policy as it relates to our oceans and beaches.
Mahalo nui loa and look forward to seeing you at a clean-up soon!
Al Smith
Hawaii Ocean Ambassadors
Founder & Ambassador, Kailua & Lanikai
Al Smith - Founder
Al graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park with a BS in Finance. Following a 10 year career that included work at both investment banks and technology start-ups in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco, Al moved to Hawaii and fell in love with the Windward Side of Oahu. He successfully ran for office and now serves on the Kailua Neighborhood Board and is the Chair of the Parks and Recreation Committee. He has a passion for long distance ocean swimming and may jokingly hold the record at Kuilima Cove on the North Shore where he once swam 68 laps for a total of 8.25 miles. While there is no doubt that others can and have swum further, most of his friends contend that no one else is likely to have been determined (or strange) enough to have done so in such a small cove. Al applies that same determination in his efforts as the Founder of Hawaii Ocean Ambassadors, as well as overall direction of HOA's beach cleanups, letter writing, petition, and political campaigns. In addition to HOA, Al servers as the Chairman of the Parks & Recreation Committee for the Kailua Neighborhood Board.
Al graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park with a BS in Finance. Following a 10 year career that included work at both investment banks and technology start-ups in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco, Al moved to Hawaii and fell in love with the Windward Side of Oahu. He successfully ran for office and now serves on the Kailua Neighborhood Board and is the Chair of the Parks and Recreation Committee. He has a passion for long distance ocean swimming and may jokingly hold the record at Kuilima Cove on the North Shore where he once swam 68 laps for a total of 8.25 miles. While there is no doubt that others can and have swum further, most of his friends contend that no one else is likely to have been determined (or strange) enough to have done so in such a small cove. Al applies that same determination in his efforts as the Founder of Hawaii Ocean Ambassadors, as well as overall direction of HOA's beach cleanups, letter writing, petition, and political campaigns. In addition to HOA, Al servers as the Chairman of the Parks & Recreation Committee for the Kailua Neighborhood Board.
Zack Merrick - Ambassador
Zack is originally from Baltimore, Maryland but has lived in Hawaii for over 10 years. When not cleaning beaches, Zack tours the world performing as the bass player for the legendary band, 'All Time Low.' He is passionate about protecting the environment and hardly a day goes by that he is not removing litter from running trails, hauling plastic and netting off the beach, and looking for new ways to help spread awareness about the dangers of our reliance on single use plastics. He is currently in talks with government officials about self-funding plastic sand-sifting tractors for Oahu's heaviest hit beaches and is always looking for new and innovative ways to reduce waste and raise awareness.
Zack is originally from Baltimore, Maryland but has lived in Hawaii for over 10 years. When not cleaning beaches, Zack tours the world performing as the bass player for the legendary band, 'All Time Low.' He is passionate about protecting the environment and hardly a day goes by that he is not removing litter from running trails, hauling plastic and netting off the beach, and looking for new ways to help spread awareness about the dangers of our reliance on single use plastics. He is currently in talks with government officials about self-funding plastic sand-sifting tractors for Oahu's heaviest hit beaches and is always looking for new and innovative ways to reduce waste and raise awareness.
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Kassidy Kawa - Ambassador
Kass is originally from Brick, New Jersey where she grew up in a family of passionate surfers and swimmers. After taking 2nd Place at Roxy Women's Surf Competition in Montauk, Kass moved to Hawaii to pursue her passion on the world's greatest proving ground! When not surfing Kass enjoys cleaning Oahu's beaches and creating art from marine debris she collects. To see some of her incredible art, please visit Trash Art Hawaii. |
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Kalei Ehlers - Ambassador
Kalei is originally from the Bay Area in California. Her passion for the environment started senior year of high school while taking a class on environmental science. In college, a photography project for social change opened her eyes to the plastic problem facing the shores of Hawaii. Eventually, she joined the Ambassadors and has been working with them ever since. While not cleaning beaches she can be found in a kitchen or at the local farmers market searching for new produce and ingredients for her sustainable fermented soda and hummus business Kalei's Food Inc. here on Oahu. |