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Divers Battle Marine Debris on International Cleanup Day

Topping the list of weirdest underwater finds this International Cleanup Day was a 250cc motorbike pulled up from Wellington Harbour, New Zealand. And across the globe thousands of Project AWARE Foundation volunteers removed dangerous debris from our coasts and underwater environments.  At Snapper Island Queensland, Australia volunteers found 237 shoes. Down the coast Byron Underwater Research group pulled out 40 shopping trolleys, 4 push bikes and 1 scooter from the Tweed River.

More unusual finds include deck chairs in Australia, a television in Brazil, an IV bag with needles in Mexico, gallons of diesel in Costa Rica, toilets in New Zealand, scaffolding poles in Cyprus, a computer hard drive in Norway, and a gravestone in the Rhine River, Switzerland. The list of marine debris is growing daily as data from 1000 cleanups across the globe is submitted. "The data collected by Project AWARE Foundation contributes to the Global Marine Debris Index. All data helps policy makers identify ways to bring about change and find solutions to this global crisis," said Project AWARE Foundation Director, Jenny Miller Garmendia. 

With a sixteen year track record spearheading underwater and beach cleanups Project AWARE has a long history of collecting data on marine debris. Some divers have reported less rubbish in their local waters but the fact remains that millions of tones of debris continues to pollute our precious aquatic ecosystems.

"It is exciting to see so many divers inspired to have fun and cleanup year after year. The community minded team spirit of divers on International Cleanup Day cannot be matched.  With the health of the ocean their top priority divers continue to prove collecting data can make a difference in the fight against marine debris. We congratulate all the coordinators and volunteers for their amazing contribution to the biggest underwater cleanup of its kind," said Project AWARE Foundation Director, Jenny Miller Garmendia. 

Divers collect data on unique rubbish found in the ocean as well as hundreds of thousands of everyday items like plastic bottles, bags and cigarettes.  Volunteers also list dead or injured wildlife including sea turtles, sea lions and stingrays.  In Depth Scuba cleaned up Batemans Bay, Australia and reported rescuing sea creatures like brittle stars and octopuses from entanglement and removing 6 shopping trolleys from the seafloor. Meanwhile in Sydney Plunge Diving and Eco Divers were kept busy hand cutting and untangling an estimated 180 kilometres of fishing line from Clifton Gardens Wharf.  

All data will feature in the Global Marine Debris Index to be released in 2010 which is the most comprehensive snapshot of marine debris to date.  Project AWARE thanks all the volunteers and coordinators for their fantastic contribution to International Cleanup Day and remember divers can cleanup on every dive and report marine debris data year round.  Join the movement to keep waters debris free and take action today!

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