The clean up crew
View(s):Staff and volunteers from the International Diving Centre tackle the demanding, yet rewarding task of removing waste and debris from the ocean
It took three hours and nine trained divers from the International Diving Centre (IDC) to remove the 250kgs of underwater debris at Swami Rock in Trincomalee – a dive site just about 200 meters long and 20 meters wide. “From the smallest piece of plastic to massive fish nets, the amount of waste ending up in the ocean is enormous,” said Lydia Mueller of the International Diving Centre team. “Most Sri Lankans will never see how bad it looks under the surface, and how such debris damages marine life. There are so many fishnets covering the place and on every dive we find fish entangled in lines, which are also hazardous for divers.”
The IDC crew with volunteers. And above (right) divers in the process of clearing debris. Pix courtesy IDC/ Mongoose Adventures
For Lydia and the team, the decision about what to remove wasn’t always easy to take. Fishnets, it turns out, can be a protection for juvenile and small fish but they can also trap larger fish and choke corals, slowly killing them. “First of all the trash might be grown into coral or a new home for some underwater creatures. When removing we have to decide carefully if it might not be more a harm than a use to take it away,” says Lydia, adding emphatically, “we want to help, not destroy.”
The greater problem of plastic debris is evident in figures that Lydia quotes, studies that show fish and birds are consuming and being killed by some of the estimated six million tons of marine litter that ends up in the world’s oceans every year. While conceding that the problem is almost too large to solve, Lydia believes we should focus on protecting what we can of Sri Lanka’s threatened reefs.
Nishan Silva, Managing Director of Mongoose Adventures, who partners with IDC echoed the sentiment: “The waters around Sri Lanka’s coast are rich in diverse species of fish and coral. As such, it is critical to address the issues of debris and clutter to protect marine life.” Reef clean-ups were organised as part of Project Aware Foundation’s ‘Dive Against Debris’ campaign.
The Foundation is a growing international movement of scuba divers for protection of the ocean. They provide training materials, instructions and guidelines to secure well organised conservation activities; they also connect divers and collect the reported data. The groups’ ‘Dive against Debris’ project is done in collaboration with Cinnamon Nature Trails, Chaaya Blu Hotel, The Dive Shop, Sri Lanka Diving Tours, Ypsylon Diving Center, Deep Blue Diving Center and Posiedon Diving Station. IDC is also involved in a coral restoration project in Hikkaduwa.
Having concluded another ‘Dive Against Debris’ session last week, Lydia says they hope to organise a monthly cleanup and would like to invite volunteers to give a helping hand. “Disposing, all though it sounds like an easy job, is a smelly task with a lot of responsibility,” Lydia cautions. “Last time the nets were filled with entangled molluscs which we had to cut out and bring them back to the reef.” It’s a demanding, yet rewarding task. All the garbage eventually ends up with the municipal council of Trincomalee who finally dispose of it.
Lydia and her colleague Malinda (both IDC Open Water Scuba Instructors) are also offering to visit interested schools and talk about the impact of marine debris or the underwater ecosystem in general. A German national Lydia says she fell in love with Sri Lanka instantly and that in undertaking this work, she’s continuing with different conservation efforts undertaken during her travels in Cambodia, Philippines and Australia.
For more information, contact Lydia or Ishani on +94 11-4346800
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