Divers scoop up 20 kilos
of underwater trash
LITTLE BAY--Eighteen Ocean Care volunteer divers and Mohican Scouts divers bagged twenty kilos of trash found on the sea floor off Fort Amsterdam at Little Bay and at Mullet Bay as part of the International Coastal Cleanup Saturday.
The volunteers removed a large amount of plastic, clothing, building materials, cans, half a beach chair and a tyre from the water. At least five kilos of fishing line were found and removed. An octopus had been entangled in one of the lines.
Top items collected both on land and underwater included cigarettes, beverage containers and food wrappers in the past. Data also revealed that entangled animals were often recovered, many harmed by discarded fishing line.
The divers were divided between Sea Rescue, St. Maarten Tender Services and Island Divers boats. Dive equipment was provided by Dive Safaris and Scuba Fun, and water was donated by Heavenly Waters.
The items collected were tallied and sent to Project AWARE Foundation to be combined with the data from other underwater cleanups carried out around the world.
The data will be combined with the land-based information collected by Ocean Conservancy volunteers such as the 215 volunteers who cleaned Mullet Bay Beach. (See related story)
Project AWARE organises the underwater portion of International Cleanup Day in cooperation with dive professionals in more than 100 countries and territories around the world. The thousands of divers who volunteer as part of these events are a vital part of the effort to remove aquatic debris and help solve debris issues.
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