U/W Clean ups

[dreams4divers]

I would like to start a thread for people to voice their opinions and advice on u/w clean ups. I,ve been on quite a few now and with sept 16 just gone I,ve witnessed the good and bad again. I believe u/w clean ups are a great idea, Though I feel they need to have a very strict structure and maybe even some training before participating, every time I get involved I witness divers surfacing with articles that may have been down there for many years with healthy coral growth already covering them, On this years clean up I witnessed divers finding a few strands of old rope and then proceading to dig it out of the sand as they pulled, the area got bigger and bigger dragging very well established soft coral and sea fans which had attached themselfs to said rope. On the boat afterwards I would say atleast 50% of the rubbish recovered possed no threat to marine life and had a great deal of life attached to it, I,ve seen this many times and feel that on clean ups some of those organising them should provide a much better briefing including a detailed explanation of what should and should not be disturbed.
I hope this message makes a difference to those planning on taking part in clean ups to take some time to differenciate between rubbish and marine life.
Thanks all

 

[k4man]

I would like to start a thread for people to voice their opinions and advice on u/w clean ups. I,ve been on quite a few now and with sept 16 just gone I,ve witnessed the good and bad again. I believe u/w clean ups are a great idea, Though I feel they need to have a very strict structure and maybe even some training before participating, every time I get involved I witness divers surfacing with articles that may have been down there for many years with healthy coral growth already covering them, On this years clean up I witnessed divers finding a few strands of old rope and then proceading to dig it out of the sand as they pulled, the area got bigger and bigger dragging very well established soft coral and sea fans which had attached themselfs to said rope. On the boat afterwards I would say atleast 50% of the rubbish recovered possed no threat to marine life and had a great deal of life attached to it, I,ve seen this many times and feel that on clean ups some of those organising them should provide a much better briefing including a detailed explanation of what should and should not be disturbed.
I hope this message makes a difference to those planning on taking part in clean ups to take some time to differenciate between rubbish and marine life.
Thanks all

thanks for your info. I am planning to attend one of these clean up days tomorrow, in fact, MY FIRST. Perhaps you can share some of your comments with the people in Sandusky, Ohio and the Put-in-Bay area (Lake Erie) as they have been working on this project for 15+ years. Here's a link for a local shop that helps to organize this event on the "North Coast" of Ohio.

http://www.newwavescuba.com/

Thanks.

 

[Amadeus023]

I just participated in my first beach cleanup of the Greenwood Street Beach (Evanston, IL) - Lake Michigan yesterday. Unfortunatley, my LDS that organized it did not get the word out early enough so the turnout of divers for the U/W cleanup was not good. It turns out that the visibility was like 0 - it was amazing! We could not see anything to pickup so we simple returned to shore. We did not get any guidelines to follow though. It would be nice to have them. I would think that Project AWARE should have something - are there any Project AWARE people out there?

 

[spectrum]

Good point dreams4divers

A few weeks ago my wife and I discovered a cache of golf balls on a local clay reef. The spot seemed to be a collection basin for lots of other junk as well. When we went back with a catch bag and lift bad we decided to gather and remove some of the many beer and soda cans. We tossed them into the public trash can. When we got home and dumped out the golf balls for a count (123) we found a little rock gunnel who must have escaped from his can (home?). Unfortunately getting him back to the ocean was not possible.

We learned a lesson that night. It may be litter, but it may also be someone's home.

Pete

 

[Mako Mark]

Years ago I actually wrote and submitted an outline for an U/W cleanup diver. It covered many of the things you mentioned. What to take and what to leave for both environmental and safety issues.

I think dive site cleanups are generally effective, beach cleanups OTOH are not. Their educational value though is huge. Get the kids involved.

 

[scubatexastony]

we've made several cleanups now here on the island and it's well planned and breifed that nothing gets removed that disturbs growth. Bouyancy control and use of shears vrs knives for removing fishing line are good points too.

You can view a lot of photos here:http://the-dive-bus.com/index.php?spgmGal=Eco Trips&option=com_mambospgm&Itemid=10

tony

 

[timegan]

I'ts a good thing I feel. We did it in fresh water so most all of it was just that> JUNK. Ya know I have only just started diving. And the most shocking thing that I've learn:11: ed is what un-caring, slobs us humans are to the underwater world. And on our cleanup we were very careful to shake the crawdads out of the tires before we trashed them

 

[rawls]

This is a good post dreams...And..nice butt We have cleanups a couple of times a year and I haven't seen anything like you saw. But it is a very good point you make...Thanks

 

[dreams4divers]

cancun mark, If you have a copy of the outline, I'd really like to see it,
I try to instill in my students a passion for the marine enviroment, and as part of my courses I always include a little bit about collecting the rubbish, what is and whats not so that they can help clean up any divesite there on even if their just fun diving. It only takes a few seconds if you see a plastic bag or small items of rubbish to pick them up and pop in a bc pocket.
Every little helps
Thanks for the replys

 

[Amadeus023]

cancun mark - I would love to see it too! Here is the article submitted by my LDS from our beach cleanup project this past Saturday. I hope to be better prepared for next year - the date for next year's cleanup will be Sept 15, 2007.