In the Spotlight

Planet Diving Indonesia and Scomi Marine Group

June 2010 -154 employees of Scomi Marine Group enjoyed a weekend of conservation at Seribu Islands, Jakarta, Indonesia.  Teams took part in a beach and underwater cleanup, coral reef monitoring and transplanting, sea grass and mangrove planting and sea turtle breeding.  Coinciding with Dive for Earth Day, Scomi employees collected 432 kilos of rubbish. "It has been an amazing experience and an opportunity to contribute towards marine conservation which relates to the business activities of Scomi Marine Berhad," said staff. "We had the opportunity to meet our fellow colleagues and also work hand in hand with them in ensuring the conservation of marine life."

Dance For Earth Day 2010 

June 2010 - To commemorate the 40th birthday of Earth Day, a number of leading diving centres in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, joined up to create an event raising money and awareness for Project AWARE and marine conservation. The theme of the night was the 70's, taking people back in time 40 years to when the Earth Day concept originated. Not needing much of an excuse to party, 350 people hit the beach and "Danced for Earth Day". The inspiration for the event was from Vicki Jarman at Red Sea Diving College and supported by seven other leading dive centres providing sponsorship, advertising, enthusiasm and people. Raising over £ 850 a HUGE thanks goes out to: Red Sea College, Anthias Divers, Camel Dive Club, Colona Divers, Emperor Divers, Ocean College, Oonas Dive Club and Sinai Divers (read more ...).

London Night Hike 2010

June 2010 - Thirty two million, one hundred and eighty six thousand, eight hundred and eighty millimetres - or 20 miles - is a long way to walk but that is the distance that Glenn Regan and his girlfriend walked to raise money for two good causes: Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres and Project AWARE Foundation. The walk was made all the harder by the fact that it started at 9:30pm (yes, that's 9:30PM, ie. at night!) and ran through until 8:30am, with no sleep in between!. "Marine conservation, and the state of the seas is something that worries me greatly and raising money for Project AWARE is one way for me to feel like I am contributing to making a change for the better in the declining state of the seas" commented Glenn (read more ...)

Ohio State University's PADI X Club Races for Conservation

May 2010 - The PADI X Club at the Ohio State University, Columbis, Ohio, USA supported conservation by raising awareness and donations for Project AWARE Foundation during their 5K race. Walkers and runners participating in the event paid an entry fee to enter into the 5K distance race, raising $160 benefiting Project AWARE Foundation. Thank you OSU PADI X Club for your creative awareness and fundraising work.

Deep Ecology's Cleanups Focus on Sea Turtle Rescue

May 2010 - Deep Ecology, Haleiwa, Hawaii, USA runs underwater cleanups on a monthly basis recovering all types of debris including fishing line and hooks. But their care of the marine environment doesn't stop there. Recently they were also contacted to help rescue Kai, a sea turtle from the nearby Anahuli River. Kai's rear left fin was missing and was clearly in distress. They transported Kai to the Turtle Stranding division at Surf and Sea who will nurse Kai back health. Deep Ecology and their volunteers eagerly await further reports on Kai's return to the ocean.

Scuba Extreme of Florida is Helping the Gulf

May 2010 - Fisheries, marine life, barrier islands and coastal shores are being impacted by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, threatening areas from Florida to the mouth of the Mississippi River. Scuba Extreme is is active in relief efforts, working with several groups acting as a donation location and the search continues for other sponsors to support this urgent action. At this time the following items are being called for donation to help with the oil spill cleanup zones:

Linens, sheets, Dawn Dish Soap, Pepto-Bismol, new toothbrushes, heavy rubber gloves, kennels (S-XL), adhesive bandages, food and water for volunteers.

Volunteers and donors are urged to assist with fuel card donations to offset transportation costs to the Gulf Coast. Volunteers with HAZWOPER and Wildlife certifications would be of great help. Volunteers wishing to assist with the oil spill that may come in contact with crude will have to be trained and certified prior to helping. Please call if you are interested in helping.

Volunteer: 1-866-448-5816

If you have a boat: 425-745-8017

To report oiled wildlife: 1-866-577-1401

Spill-related damages: 1-800-440-0858.

For additional information please call 904-269-8021 or email neflgulfspill@gmail.com

Downbelow Marine and Wildlife Adventures, Malaysia

April 2010- Rubbish collected by 40 volunteers at Tunku Abdul Rahman Park included 180kg of glass bottles, 50kg of plastic items and 40kg of aluminum and tin cans.  "We joined the Dive for Earth Day Fundraising Challenge in support of Project AWARE's mission to conserve underwater environments through education, advocacy and action," said Evelyn Bernadinus, Downbelow's Manager.  The fundraising challenge is a great opportunity for divers to raise vital funds to give back to aquatic conservation. "Project AWARE would like to thank Downbelow and all the volunteers involved in local efforts for their dedication.  We urge everyone to commit to improving the health of our ocean every day," said Asia Pacific Project AWARE Foundation Director, Henrik Nimb.

Calypso Dive Resort, Boracay, Philippines

April 2010-The team organized a morning AWARE Kids activity, afternoon cleanup and evening sunset drinks with a Project AWARE fundraising raffle. "The day was lots of fun and also made everyone think about what action they can take to help protect our underwater environments. Regular cleanups take place on our reef, so the amount of trash was quite small, which was great!  It was fantastic to see volunteers, schools and companies getting involved to help conservation," said Sue Gibbins, Calyspo Marketing Officer.  Children from Boracay's Island International School learned about aquatic ecosystems and joined discussions about diversity, symbiosis and coral reef conservation, as well as playing fish ID games and entering the ocean art competition.

Two Fish Divers Lembeh, Indonesia 

April 2010 - The Lembeh Straits is known as the 'Muck Diving Capital of The World' in diving circles and on Earth Day 2010, it certainly lived up to its name. A small group of seven guests, one instructor and three dive guides pulled up over 50kg of rubbish.  Noodle packets and plastic bags galore are a big concern here, where the team focused on plastic rubbish. More unusual items included a kiddies splash pool and numerous handbags.  In the barren Lembeh Strait, many critters use glass bottles and tyres as their home so the team avoided disturbing aquatic life and left these items below the surface.  "We aim to continue our efforts and organize cleanups on a regular basis. We will try to educate the people of the Lembeh Strait to not use the water as their dustbin," said Helen Golding of Two Fish Divers.

Bonaire's Underwater Cleanup improves Kralendijk's Yacht Anchorage, Netherland Antilles

April 2010-Despite the cloudy skies, the enthusiastic group of divers and snorkelers from Dive Friends Bonaire and NetTech worked together to cleanup the shallows of Bonaire's Cha-Cha-Cha Beach as part of the Dive for Earthday event this April. The group received a briefing to explain what items of trash should be recovered and what should be left behind, as well as how to keep from damaging any marine animals.  Once the full bags surfaced, the shore support volunteers checked items carefully to be sure marine life had not been inadvertently collected before counting and tallying the trash and then responsibly disposing of the waste.

It had been a year since this stretch of shallows was last cleaned, and the group was able to gather a large number of items including beverage cans, bottles, clothing, monofilament fishing line, and chemical light sticks. Project AWARE commends this inspired team as they are already planning their next event for Saturday, July 10, 2010.

Dive Bus, Curacao collects Mark`s weight in trash!

April 2010-Dive Bus local divers cleaned up Dive Bus Mark's body weight in trash from the reef. Between the 17 divers and 2 shoreline volunteers heaps of cans and bottles were found, as well as some very stylin' (ex) sunglasses, the remnants of an iron chair, metal piping, a tyre - and almost half a kilometer of fishing line wrapped around the corals and sponges on Pierbaai Reef. Volunteers have noticed that Dive Bus' regular cleanups are making a difference as the reefs are cleaner every year, especially since the local grocery store has stopped providing plastic bags, reducing the amount recovered underwater. A huge congratulations to the entire team.