Dive Against Debris
Rebecca Daniel
Have you ever come up from a dive in a beautiful location, only to hit the thermocline and be surrounded by pieces of floating rubbish, catching in your hair, your regs, and just generally tainting your whole experience?
Photo: Madeleine St Claire Baker @mads_ocean
Dive Against Debris®, a flagship citizen-science program by Project AWARE, is helping clean up the ocean by encouraging scuba divers to remove marine debris on each dive they take, as well as record the type, quantity and location of each item picked up.
The program launched in 2011, and since then almost 50,000 people from across the world have taken part. Over 1 million pieces of rubbish, including plastic, metal, rubber and other materials, have been reported. Not surprisingly, the most common items found are plastic, but everything from books to fireworks are recorded. All this “stuff” from our daily lives eventually ends up in the ocean, sometimes miles away from its origin, and it’s affecting marine life. Nearly 6000 animals have been found entangled in debris by volunteers. SIX THOUSAND. That number is heartbreaking and far too high.
Volunteers upload their data to a global database, which is vital as it helps to develop policy for improved waste management, both locally and nationally. By having information about the volume and type of debris found, Project AWARE can put pressure on governments to get their act together.
You can share photos, videos, and stories of your Dive Against Debris® with other divers on My Ocean, an online community. We’d love to hear about your experiences, tag us #themarinediaries.
You can help create a clean, healthy ocean, to be enjoyed by the world well into the future.
Join the movement today!
Next time, why not grab your mesh bag, and start making a difference!