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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Swim effort aims to fight pollution

Photo gallery: "Keep the Oceans Blue"

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser North Shore Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Surfer Alec Cooke prepared for another leg of his "Keep the Oceans Blue" around-O'ahu swim yesterday in front of the Outrigger Canoe Club. He plans to finish the 100-plus mile swim in 10 to 11 days.

BRUCE ASATO | The Honolulu Advertiser

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AROUND-O'AHU SWIM

Yesterday marked Day 5 of Alec Cooke's around-O'ahu swim. Here's a look at where he's been and where he's going:

Day 1, Friday: Swim Hale'iwa to Mokule'ia, 6 hours. Boat around Ka'ena Point to Yokohama Bay.

Day 2, Saturday: Swim Yokohama to Poka'i Bay, 6.5 hours.

Day 3, Sunday: Poka'i Bay to near Ko Olina (Tracks), 7 hours.

Day 4, Monday: Boat Ko Olina to Kewalo Basin, swim to Black Point, 8 hours.

Day 5, Yesterday: Swim Black Point to Maunalua Beach Park, 7 hours.

Day 6, Today: Boat to Sea Life Park, swim to Kailua Beach.

Day 7, Tomorrow: Boat around Marine base, swim Kualoa Beach Park to Kahana Bay.

Day 8, Friday: Swim Kahana Bay to Malaekahana.

Day 9, Saturday: Swim Malaekahana to Sunset.

Day 10, Sunday: Swim Sunset to Hale'iwa.

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Five days into an around-the-island swim to draw attention to shoreline pollution, Alec Cooke of Waialua said the waters from Hale'iwa where he began to Black Point where he camped Monday night were worse than he expected them to be.

The big-wave surfer and waterman started his swim around O'ahu and along its shores Friday using only fins, mask and snorkel. He expects to finish the more than 100-mile swim in 10 or 11 days. In the process he is collecting water samples and recording his progress with a video camera attached to his snorkel and plans to share his findings with the public.

At age 52, Cooke said the swim is a personal challenge as well as an opportunity to raise awareness about trash along the shoreline and on the reefs. The swim has been an eye opener, he said, even though he didn't expect to find the best conditions out there.

"Right outside of Kaiaka Bay (in Hale'iwa) is some of the dirtiest spots," said Cooke after his swim Monday. "It's 70 percent human trash coming down from the Kaukonahua. ... I don't want to point fingers about where the trash comes from but it's rushing down.

"The only real clean water was just inside Kewalo where the surf wasn't breaking," he said.

Cooke began his swim at Hale'iwa and is swimming counter clockwise around the island. He is escorted by a boat and takes rest breaks in the water. Nights he returns to land to sleep, usually at a beach park.

Today, he planned to swim from Sea Life Park to Kailua Beach.

At several points the swells were a help and a hindrance, said Capt. Na'i Ahuna, who skippered the escort boat on day four. But on that day Cooke was looking strong and his all-summer conditioning effort carried him through, Ahuna said.

"It's amazing he can swim against that much current and swim through the surf," Ahuna said, adding that Cooke's spirits were up and positive.

And although Cooke was concerned about the water, the air quality between Ko Olina and the airport was also a problem, Cooke said, comparing it to Long Beach, Calif., where oil refineries and fill the skies with a curtain of pollution.

"You just don't see it (the air pollution) unless you go out into the ocean," he said.

Cooke said that at several points he expects he'll have to jump into his escort boat to avoid sharks, as well as military installations and boat harbors. Sharks are considered a problem at Ka'ena and Makapu'u, Cooke said.

"Between Barbers Point and Honolulu Harbor we got stopped by police in a boat so we'd get out of the way of a sub going out," he said. "You don't want to be swimming when there's a nuclear submarine coming and going. Also the water is really, really dirty between Barbers Point and Kewalo Basin where the sharks are known to be heavily populated. And North Beach, (at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i) they'll blow you out of the water if they think you're a machine swimming with a pack of explosives."

Cooke said he'll no doubt gain attention for his feat, which he said he is the first to do, but, more importantly, he wants to bring awareness about the problems facing the ocean and the life there from the smallest plankton, at the bottom of the food chain, to the largest whale.

"If the ocean dies and all the plankton dies, we're gone," he said. "We'll be like fish on the beach."

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.