International Beach and Underwater Cleanup Day
Added to website: 17 December 2002
September 21st 2002 was International Beach and Underwater Cleanup Day. Sponsored by PADI Project AWARE, more than 30 countries throughout PADI International Limited’s service territory got involved. Thousands of dedicated Volunteers helped to collect rubbish from the sea, rivers, lakes and beaches in their local areas.
The event was highly successful and helped raise local awareness to the irresponsible discarding of unsightly and dangerous debris and the importance of caring for fragile aquatic environments
Coral Cay Conservation was awarded a Project AWARE plaque in recognition for the efforts made by Local Participants and Volunteers on the Fiji Coral Reef Conservation Project and Project Bay Islands, Honduras. Data recorded on rubbish collected has been sent to the Ocean Conservancy and will be used in their International Coastal Cleanup annual report.
Summary Report by Di Walker, Project Scientist, Fiji
The day started off with Coral Cay Conservation Volunteers giving the children from the Malalo District School a lecture on the effects of rubbish on the environment and the break down times of various materials such as plastic bottles and bags, batteries, fishing gear, cigarette butts, tins, paper and so on. The Students filled an answer sheet after the lecture and then went out to collect rubbish along the length of the beach. On return to the classroom they analysed the rubbish collected. The children created bar charts on the different sorts of rubbish collected. They concluded from the event that there was too much rubbish in Solevu and came up with ideas on what should be done to reduce the problem- after the classroom session finished a younger brother of one of the girls opened some sweets and threw the wrapper on the floor, all the classroom children turned round and told him to pick it up!
Summary Report by Bex House, Expedition Leader, Honduras
The event was organized by Bay Islands Conservation through the help of Coconut Tree Divers and dive shops in West End and West Bay on Roatan, Honduras. Litter was collected from the West End lagoon- used by tourist vessels, dive companies and private yachts and from its beaches boarded by bars and nightclubs. In total, fifty divers were allocated clean-up areas covering thousands of square meters. They swam from the reef crest, across the lagoon to the shore, collecting litter- from plastic cups to car batteries. During the event, small remoras, a nurse shark and even a mature hawksbill turtle, surrounded the divers! At the end of the day, divers were collected from along the coastline by vehicle and dropped off at a local bar/restaurant where all the rubbish was piled up and photographs were taken. Nobody came back empty handed and the West End lagoon is looking better for it!
