Massive tangles of debris — much of it rope and nets lost or discarded by fishing boats, contaminating the oceans with plastic particles and threatening sea life — have been washing onto Hawaii coasts at higher-than-usual rates.

The Hawaii Wildlife Fund (HWF) removed about 350 tons of this trash between 2003 and 2023. But since late 2023, HWF teams have encountered the tangles with increased frequency. Ongoing climate patterns lead cleanup teams to predict more of the same in 2025, as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, where much Pacific ocean debris accumulates, drifts closer to Hawaii.