Unfortunately a worldwide problem but our divers are helping to make a difference locally. September is officially Project AWARE’s Debris Month of Action with 100’s of underwater clean up schedule by dive stores and clubs. It also coincides with Keep New Zealand Beautiful Week.
So once more into the breach…
We headed back to Petone Wharf for our annual beach and underwater clean up.
The day was unexpectedly sunny and calm which ensured a fantastic turn out, with 10 divers and 15 volunteers on the beach and as surface support.
As the divers filled their catch bags with fishing gear, metal pipes, phones, knives, Hindu statues and bullets… they could surface alongside the wharf where our support crew used ropes to haul the load up to the trolley. This saved some long swims and meant the divers could collect more rubbish!
In total the divers collected ~138kg from under the wharf.
Along the beach the volunteers picked up 1000’s of small pieces of plastic and food wrappers. All of this hard work resulted in another 38kg of rubbish removed from the beach. Along the grass area by the wharf 327 cigarette butts were collected with many more just by the wharf. It appears that people stop to smoke and admire the view before dumping their cigarette!
Afterwards we had the opportunity to inspect our finds, relax, chat to other divers and like minded people while enjoying a BBQ and a cake!
