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Project Aware Reef Clean Up (September 2006)

Report written by Rabbit.

The sun was shining and the sea was good to us. September 16th’s reef cleanup was planned to coincide with the Ocean Conservancy’s International Clean-up day, and was a very successful project. The clean up took place at Hat Nuan, on the island of Koh Larn and 28 scuba diving volunteers took part in the operation. Koh Larn is a near island off of Pattaya bay in Thailand. 

Not only did we feel we were making a difference with the 22 bin liners of underwater rubbish, 1 kitchen sink, a Thai style toilet, a small corroded anchor and an amplifier speaker which were removed from the reef, we also had a fun and rewarding day. 

As part of Mermaids ‘Go Eco’ bid, Sue had organized a whole day of conservation orientated fun. The intern divers were given an environmental orientation in the morning on the way out to the clean-up site. This orientation included information about the local eco-system and how important it is the take responsibility for our rubbish. It is all about education. Sue, our most active project aware representative (and miss National Geographic Diver), also briefed the volunteers about the kind of rubbish they were going to come in contact with, the dangers involved and how to protect themselves and the coral reef. They were then taught about the Project AWARE ethos, armed with bin bags, gloves, knives and scissors and given a mission - To collect as much litter as possible. Each team was given a specific dive area to explore, observe and clean in the morning.

Divers taking an orientation on the way to the dive site.	Bags of rubbish delivered. Marco.	Paul brining back some plastic rope sleeves.	Piles of rubbush!

After the exhausted interns had eaten and had a cat nap a few of them swam out to the shore of Hat Nuan for the beach clean up portion of the day where a further 10 sacks of rubbish were collected in under an hour, consisting mainly of drinks cartons, empty bottles and Styrofoam. On the swim back to the boat the guys and girls were skin diving and snorkeling for rubbish along the break water. For the second dive the now recharged interns were again armed with bin bags and given a new area to work on. On the boat trip back each dive team accounted for the rubbish and each filled out a Project A.W.A.R.E data collection sheet. This helps researchers back at Project Aware track and analyze the condition of delicate coral reefs from all over the world. Once at the pier we transferred the bin bags to our kit bus and bought the back to Mermaids HQ for sorting and recycling.

A small engine, fishing nets and a number of tyres and inner tubes were found. This will come down to local education also as most of this is from the local fishing boats that pass.
It is astonishing what can be found - a toilet and a sink!

We have not yet found a use for the kitchen sink or Thai style toilet but it has been suggested that we turn them in to flower pots. As a result of feedback from everyone who took part in this clean-up, and also as part of Mermaid’s Go ECO and Project A.W.A.R.E commitments, we are planning to conduct further clean-ups at local dive sites on a monthly basis. This has now been implemented.