Marine debris is our waste in the ocean. From everyday litter like plastic bags, food wrappers, drink bottles, and cigarette butts, to car batteries, kitchen appliances, enormous fishing nets, and industrial waste, the trash we allow in the ocean is turning our beautiful reefs, beaches, and seagrass meadows into rubbish dumps.
Where does it come from?
Rubbish moves to the ocean from both land and sea, but most of the debris in our ocean comes from land-based sources. Regardless of where it comes from, humans are the source of all marine debris - either through accident, carelessness, or purposeful dumping. Rubbish enters the ocean due to a lack of or poor waste management. Town dumps located next to the sea, untreated sewage discharging directly into the ocean, and poorly managed buildings or industrial waste all contribute to the marine debris problem.
How volunteers can help tackle marine debris:
Yes, we can, by working together locally, nationally, and internationally on the many changes needed to fix this mess:
Our conservation program is 70 % underwater-based, diving 8 times to our coral reef, seagrass bed, and sandy bottom to collect the marine debris from Monday until Thursday in different dive site projects, and 30 % theory community-based, educating the next generation and helping to spread the word in local schools on Friday, we take marine conservation education into our partner schools. Volunteer and our team will do a survey for the site and choose a site known to have marine debris. When the site was chosen, during our dive collect the marine debris you encounter when back on land sort, and record what you removed from the seafloor only. Consider removing non-natural items that could harm marine animals as they break down into smaller pieces, even if doing so will cause a short-term disturbance. In these cases use your judgment of what action will cause the least harm. Items in this category include hard plastics, fish traps, and packaging material. If eggs are attached to a marine debris item mark the location and return to remove it once the eggs have hatched. We would take pictures to tell the story. Photos are great for convincing non-divers and decision-makers that marine debris is a real problem. Our photo can illustrate impacts on marine wildlife and the environment and help build a library of images that show people the scope and scale of the problem.
Step 1: Weigh
Weigh all your marine debris while still in the mesh bags. If the weight of the mesh bags is significant weigh them separately once they are empty and subtract their weight to arrive at the true weight of your debris.
Step 2: Sort
Empty your mesh bags and sort your debris into piles under the nine categories: plastic, glass & ceramic, metal, rubber, wood, cloth, mixed material, and other debris items. Sort your debris out of the wind to avoid rubbish being blown back into the water. Emptying your mesh bags onto a tarpaulin will help keep your debris items together.
Step 3: Dispose
You removed it and counted it - great job! Now take a moment to dispose of it properly so it cannot return to the ocean.
Volunteers and our team help to rescue ocean and coral reefs from entanglement nets, fishing lines, ropes, and other debris that pose a huge threat to wildlife, especially those that live near or on the water. we look at the damage caused by marine debris and how divers can help fix this mess.
Volunteers and our team take action and keep trash out of the marine environment and we would educate children from school every Thursday about the marine debris class. Every piece of debris and litter found in our waterways at one point involved a person who made an improper decision. In a way, it can be said that every piece of debris has human fingerprints on it. Knowledge is key for consumers to make appropriate choices when it comes to using and disposing of waste items. Diving Against Debris not only has obvious positive effects on marine life and our ocean but it is also now helping drive political changes for a cleaner future. Dive Against Debris empowers scuba divers to remove marine debris from our oceans, lakes, and rivers and report data on the types, quantities, and locations of materials collected.
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