Scientists and divers returned last week from Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument with a large haul of marine debris weighing nearly 124,000 pounds, or 62 tons.

Staff from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration teamed up with local nonprofit Papahanaumokuakea Marine Debris Project on a 30-day mission to the monument. There they collected research data and removed marine debris from the shallow reefs and shorelines of the remote islands and atolls.

In all, the team of 16 divers removed nearly 43,000 pounds of marine debris from Maro Reef, 24,500 pounds from Midway Atoll, 23,650 pounds from Pearl and Hermes Atoll, nearly 16,000 pounds from Kure Atoll, nearly 11,500 pounds from Lisianski Island and more than 5,000 pounds from Laysan Island.

The highlight of the trip, according to James Morioka, project lead of NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, was being in the right place at the right time to remove a fishing rope stuck around the midsection of a Hawaiian monk seal at Kure Atoll, or Holaniku.

The monk seal, identified by her tag as VH26, is about 5 years old and had given birth to a pup earlier in the summer. After the release she was seen swimming freely in the ocean.

“Each female, especially within an endangered mammal species like the Hawaiian monk seal, is so critical to protect because of their ability to rear offspring,” Morioka said in a statement. “Saving an adult female seal can effectively save a whole new generation of monk seals.”

On an earlier cleanup mission in April, a team from NOAA removed a fishing net that was wrapped tightly around another female monk seal’s neck. On that trip the team removed 47.2 tons, or about 94,400 pounds, of marine debris from the monument.

Because of its location, Pacific currents carry lost and abandoned fishing nets and gear to Papahanaumokuakea and wash plastics, which break down into smaller fragments, onto shorelines. Among the plastic items that wash ashore: buoys and floats, bottles and bottle caps, oyster spacers and cigarette lighters.

During the spring expedition the team removed nearly 5,300 pounds of plastics, mostly from Pearl and Hermes Atoll, or Manawai. Of the total haul, the team found more derelict fishing nets than any other type of marine debris by weight — about 118,400 pounds, including 295 large nets. Most of them were found at Maro Reef, or Kamokuokamohoalii.

“Nearly 124,000 pounds of marine debris is now off of the reefs and shorelines, and out of harm’s way, but that’s just a drop in the bucket,” Morioka said. “Until major changes occur globally, there’s going to continue to be a need for marine debris removal operations in Papahanaumokuakea for the wildlife and habitat.”