Huki: To pull, as on a rope; to draw, stretch, reach.
On a Friday morning earlier this month, more than 100 seventh-graders from Kamehameha Schools donned tabi and gloves and waded into Maunalua Bay to pull leather mudweed from the reef.
By morning’s end they had pulled close to 10,000 pounds of algae out of the ocean to haul to a local farm to be composted.
It was all part of an ongoing effort by nonprofit group Malama Maunalua to restore the bay to the thriving habitat it once was.
The work continues in the bay, which stretches from Diamond Head to Koko Head, three years after a major federal grant boosted the group’s efforts.
The students also spent the morning at Paiko Beach learning how to spot the difference between native and invasive algae, which include gorilla ogo and prickly seaweed.
From now on, volunteer groups will go out twice a month for these educational, hands-on, mudweed-pulling sessions, called "huki," according to Rae DeCoito, Malama Maunalua’s executive director. They include volunteers from schools, hula halau, businesses and community groups.
It started seven years ago with just a few individuals who cared enough about the bay to get in there and pull out the invasive algae, according to community coordinator Kimo Franklin.
Others joined in and it became a movement.
In 2009, Malama Maunalua received $3.4 million in federal stimulus funds to clean up the bay in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, which refers to the effort as "The Great Huki."
With the funding, full-time workers from Pono Pacific came in to help volunteers, eventually clearing 2.9 million pounds of the invasive algae from 27 acres.
But the work isn’t done — there’s another 54 acres to clear, according to DeCoito. Malama Maunalua also needs to monitor and maintain the bay.
To address the larger picture, the group this year launched "Pulama Wai — Every Drop Counts," an ongoing, community-led effort to clear out waterways and storm drains that flow into the bay.
Whether by adopting a stream or building a rain garden, volunteers from Niu Valley to Hahaione have helped keep about 20,000 pounds of debris from the bay this year, according to DeCoito.
In June the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded $59,000 to Malama Maunalua to build two demonstration sites for best stormwater management practices at Koko Marina Center and Koko Head District Park.
Today there are signs that Maunalua Bay’s health is being restored, according to Karen Gleason, who was born and raised in a home on Paiko Beach.
Gleason, 70, remembers what the bay was like before the water became choked with mud. She grew up swimming in the bay, when there were plenty of mullet, crabs and sea life.
As new homes popped up on the hills surrounding the bay, the silt resulting from the construction drew the invasive mudweed, which in turn trapped more mud.
Gleason never thought she would see the bay restored, but now she has hope.
"We find clutches of little octopus eggs," she said. "A few little fish and crabs are returning. It was never pristine, but it’s coming back to what it was. Until now I never thought it would happen."
Her children never swam in the bay because it had become so muddy, but today she brings her grandchildren there to play.
To learn more about how you can help, visit malamamaunalua.org.
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Nina Wu writes about environmental issues. Reach her at 529-4892 or nwu@staradvertiser.com.
